Idol Recap: The Top 12 Women And Lakisha Vs. Hudson

I do have a very strong feeling that behind the scenes the producers had a hand in this song choice. It was way too convenient that she closed the show with it. I'm a producer and I know it would be a great next day story that would have everyone talking and it did. It even had Miss Jennifer Hudson herself talking. We found her out celebrating her Giant magazine cover story with Jamie Foxx and Janet Jackson where she told Access Hollywood she had just come from watching "Idol," "Just hearing her sing the song.. I loved it. She did a fabulous job! My favorites are Jordin, Lakisha and Melinda. Those three ya'll better sing! I was about to throw something at the TV. They reminded me of Fantasia, Latoya and myself. Everybody was great but those three were my favorites."

Stephanie Edwards was up first last night and got the night off to a great start with "How Come You Don't Call Me" by Alicia Keys. Considering she has had no airtime, except for the night she got through to the Top 24, she had to give a winning performance otherwise by the end of the show she will be forgotten. She pulled off a great performance and Randy thought she started off the night way better than the guys. Paula told her, "You are a star." Simon told her, "She was a million times better than any performance we saw last night." He thought it was a good choice of song and that it looked as if she came out and said "I want to win 'American Idol'."
Dish of Salt says: Her knockout performance has given this unknown a huge push towards the Top 12.

Another never before seen, 'til last week, was up next, Amy Krebs, who tackled Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me.". Following in Stephanie's footsteps she paled in comparison. Randy told her she chose too safe of a song. Paula agreed with Randy and told her she lost her bluesy style. Simon told her when she sang she had the personality of a candle, "You are just like this thing that sings and then two singers later I'm going to forget you."
Dish of Salt says: "So long Amy". It's tough when Idol chooses not to show you during auditions rounds and if you don't kill it on the first night its usually over.

Three barely seens in a row! Leslie Hunt has one thing going for her popularity though in that she was shown over the summer in countless "American Idol" promos. Her rendition of "Natural Woman" did not win her any points with the judges. Randy thought the song was too big for her. Paula thought she did ok but told her she shined in better songs during the auditions. Simon thought she looked "embarrassed and ungainly when you perform.. a bit all over the place when you perform as if you don't want to be here."
Dish of Salt says: This dog walker won't go back to scooping poop just yet.

Ok, so now I'm convinced they threw all the newcomers up first for a reason. Sabrina Sloan was up next and showed off her Broadway pipes (she performed in "Hairspray") with Aretha Franklin's "I Never Loved A Man the Way I Love You." Randy mused, "America we finally got ourselves a competition." Paula loved that she was a fellow valley girl and gave her a standing ovation. Simon told her it was the best performance he had seen so far.
Dish of Salt says: I love that she is a fellow Valley girl too but even with this standout performance this LA girl has an uphill battle on her hands. West coasters don't vote and pay attention the way the southern states do. Remember how many times Katharine McPhee fell into the bottom three before America finally caught on?

Its the end of the newcomers and on to Antonella Barba who so far has the biggest fan base on the internet. She sang Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing". She seemed nervous and Randy told her he was going to keep it real and let her know, "It wasn't good. It was really pitchy. It was really bland." Paula, as usual, went for the beautiful girl comment since she too thought it wasn't a great performance. Simon went for the looks comments too telling her, "The good news is your attractive. The bad news is it didn't work. I think this has seriously damaged your chances of remaining here another week."
Dish of Salt says: You will absolutely see her next week. Her fan base is too big to let her slip away just yet.

The shows youngest gal, Jordin Sparks was up next and took on "Give Me One Reason" by Tracy Chapman which the judges all liked but Randy told her she needed to challenge herself more with bigger songs. Paula thought it was fun and she has natural talent. Simon thinks she has a great voice and told her to push herself because she may surprise people in this competition.
Dish of Salt says: She is cute and has that America Ferrera like sweetness to her. She should earn a spot in the Top 12.

The final never really seen, Nicole Tranquillo, took the stage and though high on energy her vocal fell flat. She came back towards the end but overall it was rough. Randy told her, "Dawg it wasn't really working for me." Paula asked the guys what they thought who cheered and clapped. Paula strangely thought her performance was "Out of this world.". Simon thought it was "Indulgent, it was aggressive. It looked unnatural, it looked fake to me. It didn't feel like it was you at all."
Dish of Salt says: She tackled the song "Stay" but she won't be staying.

Haley Scarnato made the terrible mistake of trying a Celine Dion song when she tried "All Coming Back To Me." Randy sighed and told her "It was just ok for me really. Wow me a little bit more." Paula thought she did a nice job but was hoping she picked a different song. Simon told her she sounded like she was 40 not 24, "It was like being at a reasonably good hotel and that's the last song of the evening. Everything about you tonight was old."
Dish of Salt says: She's unmemorable but will most likely live to see one more week.

Melinda Doolittle may be shy but oozed personality when she hit the stage tonight with a killer performance. Randy loved it and told her "She blew it out the box. All you need is to have confidence and believe in yourself because you have the natural gift. That was the bomb." Paula told her, "No more background singing for you!" Simon loved her and echoed what he said in the auditions, "Over two nights I have seen people come out here with little talent and a huge amount of arrogance and you are the opposite."
Dish of Salt says: She went for Aretha Franklin's "Since You've Been Gone." She won't be gone. The Top 12 is calling her name.

Alaina Alexander wins the cute factor award but her rendition of "Brass in Pocket" by The Pretenders was less than fabulous. Randy thought it wasn't great. Paula told her she didn't, "Put her oomph into it.". Simon nailed her with this comment, "The irony was you kept singing that line 'I'm special' and it wasn't. I thought actually it was a mess."
Dish of Salt says: She is cute though in dire need of a stylist. What was that outfit? She will most likely get one more chance.

Gina Glocksen put an interesting spin on the usually sappy love ballad, "All By Myself." Randy made this comment, "Big girl. Big voice. Big song." This apparently was a compliment. Paula thought it was the right song but Simon didn't think she nailed it.
Dish of Salt says: She's got a great fun personality and should live to see at least two more weeks.

Final Predictions: Unless some unknown Amy and Nicole fans crawl out of the woodwork, their gooses are cooked.