Kristy Lee Cook Should Survive Another Week on American Idol

Ever since the end of Hollywood week, Kristy Lee Cook has been my least favorite American Idol competitor. She lacks personality and originality, and can't seem to break from her good ol' country girl routine.

This week's performance was not much different. The theme of the week was inspirational songs, and her selection was Do It Anyway by Martina McBride - Another country song for the country girl...but at least she's consistent.

Aside from picking a predictable song, her performance was actually good. Her voice was much stronger than normal, proving that she does have genuine talent. In spite of having given a strong vocal performance this week, though, Kristy is still lacking personality in a big way. Though Simon said that he thought she looked like a star for the first time, I thought she had no stage presence, no personality, and didn't connect with the audience. She was good, but she didn't stand out from the crowd at all.

The overall reviews by the judges this week pretty much echoed this sentiment. Randy thought she had pitch moments, but loved it. Paula thought she outdid herself vocally. As mentioned before, Simon thought she looked with a star, and that her song choice was very smart and appealed to her audience, but that her performance was not unbelievable, but it was good.

I have to agree with Simon - she was smart to choose a song that would appeal to her fans, but I don't think she gave any new life to the song, or showed any originality. As Simon also mentioned, at this stage in the game, and with a broad song selection to match the inspirational theme, Kristy really had an opportunity to show who she is as an artist, and I think she played it safe.

All of this said, I think she may have redeemed herself for another week, and put the performers who didn't rise to the occasion tonight at risk for elimination.