Carly Smithson Should Hang on at Least Another Week

Having one of the strongest female voices on American Idol, I was looking forward to seeing Carly Smithson's performance tonight. She's found herself in danger a few times this season, falling into the bottom three, but has managed to hang on so far. Tonight's performance had its good points and its bad points, but I think she did enough to keep herself in the competition.

The inspirational song she chose to match this week's theme was The Show Must Go On by Queen, saying that it has special meaning to her, and she finds the message that life must go on in spite of speed bumps you may encounter to be inspirational. I think this was a wise song choice for her.

She definitely looked the part of the rock star tonight, like she was in her element. Vocally, she sounded really strong, though Simon thought she over-sang it to the point where she lost control of the song, and almost sounded angry. I agree that she did sound angry at parts, but not angry in a negative way. I think the anger in her voice conveyed a passion and tenacity, that the show must really go on! I felt it was very appropriate given the song choice, and made for a very believable performance.

This is where I disagree strongly with Paula and Randy, who both felt that she was disconnected from the song. I think she was truly into the song, held the message in her heart and sang from a deeply personal place.

If this wasn't somehow conveyed to the audience, though, I think Carly Smithson will be safe this week because the audience seems to love when a performer takes a stab at Simon. Carly did this smartly this week, telling Simon that looking at his face threw her off in the middle of the song.

Good for you, Carly, I think you have a strong chance at remaining in the competition for another week.