American Idol Top 12 Girls Perform on Ladies Night

American Idol kicked off its first semi-final round of competition with "Ladies Night." For the next three weeks, the contestants will be performing songs they have selected from Billboard's Top 100. Tonight, the top 12 girls took the stage. American Idol judge, Simon Cowell, has said this year belongs to the girls. There is a lot of strong talent in the top 12, but several allowed their nerves to get the best of them tonight and will need to prove themselves next week. See how your favorite contestant performed.

American Idol Top 12 Girls: Performance Evaluations

American Idol Top 12 Girls: Paige Miles-First up to sing tonight was Paige Miles, a preschool teacher, who chose "It's All Right Now" by the English rock group Free. Simon said that of all the top 12 girls on American Idol this season, Paige has one of the stronger voices. But in this performance, Simon felt she made the wrong song choice. As we've heard in every season past, song choice is very important. Kara didn't agree and thought the song was a good choice but wanted to see Paige put more feeling in the song.

American Idol Top 12 Girls: Ashley Rodriguez-Twenty-two year old, Ashley Rodriguez selected "Happy" by Leona Lewis as her choice for "Ladies Night." Ashley struggled with the song, having a few good moments but also having several bad. The judges were not overly positive in their reviews of her rendition. Simon said that performance put her at risk for going home this week.

American Idol Top 12 Girls: Janell Wheeler-Next up was Orlando, Florida resident Janelle Wheeler. Janell performed "What About Love" by the popular rock group Heart. This song actually was a comeback song for the group in 1985. The judges were not too favorable on her song choice with the exception of Ellen. I think Ellen is taking the "Paula approach" and trying to say mostly favorable comments to the American Idol contestants. The judges like Janell but feel she needs a better song choice next week. Though not giving a great performance, they still felt Janell would make it through to the next round.

American Idol Top 12 Girls: Lilly Scott-Another twenty-two year old, Lily Scott made a bold song selection with "Fixin' A Hole" by The Beatles. With guitar in tow, Lily gave a strong and unique performance that seemed to impress the judges. Ellen let everyone know, that's what they were looking for on American Idol-something that makes the contestants stand out, something different. Finally, "Ladies Night" was living up to the billing.

American Idol Top 12 Girls: Katelyn Epperly-Singing another Beatles song, Katelyn Epperly chose "Oh Darlin" to show the audience what she can do. Receiving fairly positive comments from all judges, Katelyn gave a strong vocal performance. Kara's only negative comment was on Katelyn's new look. Kara prefers Katelyn's more natural style with less makeup. I tend to agree, she seemed overly made up and less fresh then she did when she performed during "Hollywood Week." Katelyn defended herself by saying she likes to mix it up and was going for a more rocker look. I think she'll get more votes in the long run if she sticks to one style, especially one that works well with her voice. Oftentimes when they switch up their style each week, it gets a tad gimmicky.

American Idol Top 12 Girls: Haeley Vaughn-Hailing from Denver, Colorado, Haeley celebrated "Hollywood Week" with a nose piercing. Haeley's song selection was "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles. I was surprised so many of the contestants had chosen Beatles songs. It almost seemed like "Beatles Night," instead of "Ladies Night." While some of The Beatles songs can show great range of voice, most are not suitable for a competition such as American Idol. Kara, Randy and Ellen all felt that Haeley needed some work in the technical aspect but overall had great potential. Simon, on the other hand, thought it was terrible. Infamous Simon quote, "A complete and utter mess."

American Idol Top 12 Girls: Lacey Brown-Making it to the top 50 last year, Lacey Brown is hoping this year will be her year. Lacey sang "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac. Lacey gave an uninspired and lackluster performance. All four of the judges were equally unimpressed. Lacey had shown during "Hollywood Week" how much stronger she had become over the past year. Unfortunately though, this performance was not good and didn't show any growth. Again, wrong song choice.

American Idol Top 12 Girls: Michelle Delamor-Having impressed the judges with her rendition of "Chain of Fools" when she first auditioned, Michelle Delamor chose "Fallen" by Alicia Keys. Michelle has a very commercial look and wore the perfect outfit: skinny jeans, black satin top and short spiky boots. But if you're singing Alicia Keys, you better be good. The judges always hate if you can't live up to the song. Surprisingly, the judges liked Michelle. They felt her performance was a little safe but overall did a nice job.

American Idol Top 12 Girls: Didi Benami-Choosing an Ingrid Michaelson song, Didi Benami did not "wow" the judges with her rendition of "The Way I Am." The judges were in agreement that Didi has a great voice but the song choice, again, was not suitable for her. I wish the contestants were able to have some type of coaching on how to choose the right song for their vocal range and for its performance value. So many of them are very talented but then choose a song that is horrible for their voice or is too subdued for an audience such as this. Oftentimes, that's what does them in and gets them voted off American Idol.

American Idol Top 12 Girls: Siobhan Magnus-Cape Cod, Massachusetts resident Siobhan Magnus chose Chris Isaack's "Wicked Game" as her song tonight. Siobhan can certainly hit the notes and has a very smooth sound to her voice. The judges were hoping for more of a power song but overall they liked her vocals.

American Idol Top 12 Girls: Crystal Bowersox-Single mom and rocker, Crystal Bowersox, chose "Hand in My Pocket" by Alanis Morissette. Crystal rocked the guitar and the audience in this great rendition of the popular song. The judges were all equally impressed. It was obvious that they've liked Crystal from the beginning and told her to start taking risks. Every year the top 12 has a rocker that stands out. Crystal is this year's rocker.

American Idol Top 12 Girls: Katie Stevens-Finishing out the top 12 girls was 17 year old, Katie Stevens. Katie chose "Feeling Good" by Michael Bublé. Though Katie has a great voice and will probably go deep in the competition, the judges did not think she did well tonight. They want to see her act more her age, more typical of a teen recording artist. Randy felt she was pushing too hard and her notes were getting too sharp.

The top 12 girls now have to wait until Thursday night to find out the results. The bottom two girls and the bottom two guys will be going home.

During the results show on Thursday, viewers will get the chance to see Chris Allen (last year's American Idol Season 8 winner) as he heads to Haiti with the United Nations Foundation. American Idol will be asking viewers to support the recovery efforts by donating to the Idol Gives Back Foundation. Allen stated, "I am truly honored to be traveling to Haiti to see the UN's relief efforts firsthand and to help out in any way that I can."

This season's Idol Gives Back will air Wednesday, April 21, 2010 during the Top 7 results show. To find out more about Idol Gives Back, click here.

To see how the top 12 guys did, click here.

Sources:
http://www.americanidol.com/news/view/pid/2671/