Carly Smithson's Mariah Carey American Idol Performance Heads Downhill

Last night, Carly Smithson, took on "Without You", by Mariah Carey. The performance started with beautiful promise. Her voice was clear and resonant but as she progressed, everything seemed to go downhill. Her tentativeness and mistrust in her voice in the lower registers was palpable. It bears mentioning that singing material by Mariah Carey must surely be a formidable task. With her five octave range, Mariah makes tripping from note to note seem a simple task. In pure Carly fashion she tried to power through the parts that she was comfortable with but it didn't make up for the less than stellar parts.

The judges alluded to the notion that Carly has to trust herself and just give in to the music. I would have liked to see her do something different with the songs' arrangement a la David Cook or Brooke White. By changing the arrangement she would have garnered a level of control over the song that was lacking. As it was, she tried to change a few vocal runs and pacing. These modest changes only made her performance seem more unsure.

There is a part of me that feels that Carly has become disenchanted with the process or at the very least she is dealing with some unnamed distraction. Whether she's disenchanted or distracted or just undone by nerves it anyone's guess; I am only privy to my intuition. Assuredly, the idol stage is a nerve wracking place. However, at this point in the game she has to make friends with her fear and let it be a motivator.

Last week Carly seemed reconciled to her fate and believed she was going home, but instead it was Michael Johns. Her performance this week was passable, but it was enough to buy her another week. Based on the stunned shock on her face during tonight's elimination round, she fully expected that she'd be in the bottom three. That is no way for someone who started out so strongly that it seemed she could win the who shooting match to be behaving. As I've said before, I believe that Carly has the skills to deliver that flawless performance that will cause Simon's nipples to peak the threadbare fabric of his oft worn black V-neck. Now that the voters have given Carly yet another reprieve, it is up to her to get out of her own way. I can only hope that she is back on track.