I’m re-watching Season 7 on the Fox Reality Channel, and here are a few of my thoughts on tonight’s reprise of the Top 20:

• I still think Alexandrea Lushington was robbed.   “If You Leave Me Now” wasn’t the flashiest song, but she did mange to make it her own. It’s too bad that girl didn’t stick around the competition longer. She had something special.
• It’s coming back to me now, Asia’h Epperson had a great first week, and then promptly began to falter.   “All By Myself” ended the show, but it was a hot damn mess, and the judges didn’t really call her on it.   The following week, she performed a Whitney Houston song, and that pretty much sealed her fate.   It’s too bad, ’cause with the right songs, that girl could sing her face off.
• Let’s see…Kady Malloy was absolutely dreadful.   Her “Magic Man” was woefully out of tune and just plain weird. Alaina Whitiker’s “Hopelessly Devoted to You” was just plain dull.   It’s better to be terrible than to be boring, so it’s no wonder Alaina was eliminated rather than Kady.
• Carly Smithson did a decent job singing “Crazy on You”, but she sang it even better on tour over the summer. Brooke White gets Simon’s seal of approval after she sang “You’re so Vain.”   I forgot how much he liked her performances at the beginning of the competition.
• Syesha Mercado got reamed for reigning it in for “Me and Mrs. Jones”. After that, she made sure to bust out the glory notes for every performance.   I, for one, appreciated her restraint.
• Kristy Lee Cook’s “Your No Good” was a vast improvement from the previous week.   I have to say she performed better than both Kady and Alaina.
• Amanda Overmyer.   OMG. “Carry on My Wayward Son” was such an effing trainwreck.   Everything about that performance was wrong.   She should have been eliminated for that hairdo alone. This was the week VFTW chose her as their pick.

• Michael Johns picked the wrong song and then phoned it in. Horrible. “Go Your Own Way” was out of his vocal range for starters.   Choosing a song just because you like it = not thinking strategically.   This was a mistake Michael made over and over again, to his detriment.
• I liked Jason Castro’s “I Just Want to be Your Everything”.   He should have kept it acoustic–bandzilla drowned him out in the middle–but I thought it was a clever choice.   I laughed out loud when the judges told him not to play guitar the following week. As a challenge.   As if he couldn’t pull it off.   He performed “Hallelujah” the following week…
• I also laughed when Simon told David Cook that his video declaring himself a “wordnerd” was a mistake.   Simon can be clueless sometimes.   Paula said simply, “Girls like smart guys.” DING! I think Cook’s “wordnerd” video was the beginning of his turning point on the show.   Also, David learned real quick not to argue with Simon.
• Listen to Robbie Carrico and Jason Yeager sing with your eyes closed.   They both have fantastic voices.   Now open them.   EEP.  Ãƒâ€š   Robbie and Jason’s cheesy, contrived presentation is what did them in.   And sheeit, Robbie was definitely wearing a wig.   Oh, and girls generally like wordnerds better than gearheads.   Make a mental note of that, Simon.
• Danny Noriega. Ish. LOLZ.   That is all. Except, his performance of “Superstar” was better than the judges gave him credit for.
• Chikezie came out swinging with “I Believe to my Soul”.   He really needed to stick to the upbeat stuff to stay in the game.   David Hernandez impressed me less the second time around–I now think his “Papa Was a Rollingstone” was a bit overwrought.
• I haven’t changed my mind about David Archuleta’s version of “Imagine.” I’m still not feeling the ballady, run-infested arrangement.   It’s not a song that stands up to having verses cut out.   David’s vocal’s are solid, but I don’t think it’s the best Idol performance evah as Randy claimed.   Your mileage may vary and all that good stuff.
• Even more crying tonight.   Alexandrea running off the stage after she was eliminated to console a teary David Archuleta was really sweet and sad.   Alaina Whitiker’s sobbing reminded me how young, inexperienced and in over their heads some of these kids are.   Jason Yeager was eliminated, and he gave a rather bitter interview about it later.   Robbie Carrico lost the battle of the Season 8 rockers to David Cook.

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