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Hi Folks,

Well, the week 2 doldrums attack again (it's happened before.. last year week 2 was horrible as well). This was pretty weak all around.

Top 3 performers of the night (not of the competition)

David Cook: He sounded like a current artist. But keep in mind, it wasn't his arrangement and he does the same thing every week. At least he did it well which is more than can be said for the others.

Carly Smithson: It started out rough but then she kicked it up a notch. She's clearly the most powerful voice in the competition this year. I still don't think she's even come close to her best performance. She needs a home run soon to challenge at the end.

Chekezie Eze: The funny this about this performance is that he was way more country than most previous year country performers. He can do R&B, Pop, Funk, Roots and Country. And if you listen, his vocals were really strong, aside from just the performance and arrangement. He never should have mentioned the Harmonica or that he'd just learned it before the performance, it set him up to look bad playing it.

The Bottom 3:

This is a toss up because everyone else was pretty weak.

Kristy Lee Cook: Her time has come to go. Oddly enough, she's got a great voice and easily could be a country singer with a great album. Her weakness is connecting with the audience and live performance. But on a country record with really strong songs, her voice is actually outstanding. But she's tanking on this show week after week. Bye Bye.

Brooke White: Her one trick pony style is wearing thin. The whole "I'm going to twirl around like an earth mother in the sun" schtick was vomitous. No range, no dynamics. But she's the most popular female contestant, so she's not going anywhere.

Ramiele Mulabay: She's the biggest underachiever in the contest. I just don't think she can handle the big stage and the bright lights. If she doesn't bring it on soon, she'll be gone.

Also Rans:

Jason Castro: He should have done the Ritchie Haven's-esque version of Here Comes The Sun. For the first time he blew the song selection and he was exposed. He has John Travolta eyes and a John Travolta stoner-dumb personality that apparently little girls find attractice just like their moms did when they were little girls with John Travolta.

Michael Johns: He's got a huge voice. Why he doesn't choose to use it I don't know. But he's gotten worse every week since Hollywood week. His luck will run out in about 5 weeks at this rate.

Amanda Overmyer: I thought she was really weak at the start of the show.. until I SAW the rest of the show and then played her back and she was clearly not in the bottom 3. She's become very comfortable on stage. I know she's on the chopping block however. I kind of hope she can hang on at least 1 more week so she'll make the AI tour this year as I think that would be a wonderful opportunity for her. She's clearly not going to win, but I still find I look forward to her performance each week and last week she was in the top 2 clearly.

Syesha Mercado: She ALMOST made the top 3. Unlike Ramiele, she crept closer to her potential. But it may be too little too late for her. If she can crank it up another notch next week, she might hang around past Ramiele and Kristy and Amanda and Chikeze and even Michael Johns. We'll see.

David Archuleta: Once again, he did EXACTLY the same thing vocally he's done every week. Limited range. Breathy. Ho Hum. His mass hysteria support makes him annoying. After having the worst performance of the week last week, he was still the leading vote getter on every poll I saw. That means, as Simon lamented, this is a popularity contest this year rather than a singing contest. We may have our first truly undeserving winner. And if it's such a forgone conclusion.. it won't be much fun watching this all season. I can't possibly imagine running out to buy an album from him. But I am sure the Disney/Miley Cyrus crowd will .

Let's hope next week isn't such drudgery. Week 2 is always a downer year after year.

Deserves to go: Kristy Lee Cook

At real risk of going: Kristy, Amanda and Chikeze with a slight risk of Ramiele being a surprise.

Brian