Lilly Scott (left) and Katelyn Epperly (right): barely missed the judges' save.

With American Idol 9′s overwhelming lack of talent, awkward judges panel, and bumpy return to the Top 24 format, it’s been kind of a weird year for Idol. Even weirder, capping off the disappointing semi-finals round were the (maddeningly) eliminations of most of the few talented contestants competing this year: Lilly Scott and Katelyn Epperly (and Alex Lambert).

Two weeks ago, I said that a Top 10 without Andrew Garcia, Lilly Scott, or Crystal Bowersox would be a travesty for the show, and now with Scott out, well it is. I really, really liked Scott’s version of Patsy Cline’s “I Fall to Pieces.” I thought she would by, because well, she could sing, and like Kara said, she made Patsy Cline sound contemporary. Meanwhile, Katie Stevens and Paige Miles, who bombed their performances Tuesday night, stayed. The show could redeem itself over the next two weeks by sending these two gals home over any other contestants. Randy needs to stop telling Miles she has a big voice, because she doesn’t.

Having said that, Andrew Garcia really needs to step it up. The judges have been beating him over with the “it’s-not-as-good-as-your-Paula-cover” stick all semi-finals, and their right. He’s made it on the Paula song fumes alone. His “Genie In A Bottle” cover just didn’t work. (BTW, if he was gonna stick with an Xtina song, he should’ve done “Come On Over Baby,” it totally would’ve worked better.) The Rolling Stones catalog should give him a chance to break out of the acoustic guitar schtick, and he shouldn’t throw that opportunity to waste.

Things I didn’t get to last week:

Haeley's voice just couldn't climb.

Haeley Vaughn (left) and Lacey Brown (right): Let's get it together, ladies.

It’s pretty safe to say that last week Idol season 9 contestants set the bar pretty low. Maybe it will take a little longer for this season’s competitors to find their groove, maybe like a few weeks into the finals, like Top 10 week.

Meanwhile, any Top 10 without Andrew Garcia, Lilly Scott, or Crystal Bowersox would clearly be a travesty. They are the best singers and the only ones who have demonstrated any kind of artistry.

The lackluster performances last week leave me kind of worried for some who need to get their act together quick.

Haeley Vaughn. That Beatles song she tried to sing was light and simple, and yet her performance of it was a mess, and as Ellen DeGeneres should know, a hot mess isn’t exactly a compliment. She should focus her attention on her vocals for now, instead of her being distracted by her guitar.

Lacey Brown. I really like her voice, even though she may not be the strongest, biggest vocalist, there still some thing interesting about her tone. I don’t know if “Landslide” was necessarily a bad song choice, as much as it was the arrangement that was bad for her voice. I don’t know who advised her to do that run at the end, but that didn’t work. “Landslide” is about humility, and singing it as a scorched anthem just eviscerated the meaning of the song. Hopefully, a better song choice and listening to the lyrics, and calmer nerves will help her this week.

That being said, some contestants just have to go this week to make the next couple of weeks slightly more bearable:

Jermaine Sellers. He clearly intended to impress audiences with vocal acrobatics, but most awesomely failed at delivering an enjoyable performance. A toned down performance may help him.

Tim Urban. It was nice and all, I guess, for him to come back after originally being cut from the Top 24. But Simon really said it best, they did make the right decision the first time. His “Apologize” was atrocious, with him trying to sing in a falsetto he most obviously didn’t have and couldn’t pull off.

Katie Stevens. It’s annoying that she’s getting the Diana DeGarmo/Jordin Sparx edit, but you know what, Diana and Jordin at least could sing. Stevens will probably get in the Top 12 on personality alone, but seriously, the producers have got to stop shilling for her.

Katie Stevens: That was not soundin' or "Feelin' Good"

The first night of American Idol‘s semi-finals round got off to a bumpy start. Save for three contestants, all the other girls vying for six spots on the Top 12 performed pretty poorly. Basically it all came down to song choice, and some wildly overestimating their vocal abilities. The sad part is that, like Simon Cowell has correctly said about this season, the girls are stronger vocally than the guys, so if the girls had a bad night, it’s not difficult to predict a not-so-good night for the guys.

The worst:

3) Lacey Brown’s “Landslide.” – It was tough seeing Brown, who last week I deemed a frontrunner, trying hard to sing the Fleetwood Mac song and fail. She wasn’t in-sync with the music, she was singing ahead and then tried to let the music catch up, but it didn’t work. There may have been some technical malfunction, Kara said as much to another singer, but it was still a mess.

2) Ashley Rodriguez’s “Happy.” At this point in American Idol‘s run, everybody who watches the show knows that choosing to sing a song by Mariah or Whitney is a pretty dumb move if you don’t have the voice. Rodriguez made the same no-no, except she made it worse by picking a song by Leona Lewis, Simon Cowell’s protege. Needless to say, Rodriguez’s vocal chops are no where near to those of Lewis’s.

1) Katie Steven’s “Feelin’ Good.” There were so many things wrong with this performance. First of all, why would anyone sing this song knowing that Adam Lambert gave a pretty memorable performance of it last April? It’s just begging for comparisons, which (of course) the judges didn’t make. Second, why would a 17 year old pick this song for Billboard hits theme week? Two things that made this bad performance a tiny bit worse: A) Fox’s giving her the “Jordin Sparx” edit; and B) Her getting the “pimp spot,” i.e. the last spot on the show.

The best:

3) Katelyn Epperly’s “Oh! Darling.” She may not be all that likable–she has an icy personality to her–but she can sing. Her performance showed she has excellent vocal control. She gets points for being technically on point (maybe a little too much). It’s too bad there was no emotional connection to the song.

2) Crystal Bowersox’s “Hand in my pocket.” I guess it may have been an oversight of me to leave Bowersox out of the list of frontrunner’s because she does have an amazing voice. Technically, her performance was great. However, Bowersox should be careful of trying to soundalike. Bowersox’s tone is part of what makes her appealing, she’s not trying to sound diva-esque. Here, she started to mimic Alanis’s tone and intonation to the point where it was kinda eerie. Nevertheless, never underestimate anyone who can sing and play two instruments at once on stage.

1) Lilly Scott’s “Fixing a Hole.” After all the wedding singer performances, diva-wannabe performances, WTF? performances, Scott’s reworking of the Beatles song was refreshing.  You couldn’t even tell it was a Beatles song. She was on key, and didn’t try to do any ridiculous vocal acrobatics. Her voice was understated but not underwhelming. It was easily the best performance of the night.

That being said, no one gal delivered a knock-it-out-of-the-ballpark performance like Allison Iraheta did last year:

Predictions:

Bottom four: Paige Miles, Siobhan Magnus, Didi Benami, Ashley Rodriguez.

Going home: Paige Miles*, Ashley Rodriguez

Paige Miles performed first, and history shows that’s the Idol spot of doom, especially when, like Miles, you have a so-so, forgettable performance.

Haeley Vaughn (left) and Andrew Garcia (right)

This week, American Idol judges finally revealed the Top 24. This is the part of the show that’s really worth watching, because, for the most part, the show’s producers no longer want to make some contestants look like clowns–I know some people tune in for that, but honestly, I’ve always thought unappealing the silly auditions part of the show.

Moving on, this year American Idol returns to the Top 24 format. Last year, the show had a Top 36 (like it did the first three years), but that gave it an awkward stop-start rhythm, so this year it’s back to 12 guys and 12 girls.

It’s kinda silly to pick frontrunners at this early point of the contest, but nonetheless, Hollywood week showed us who had the talent and who didn’t. (That didn’t stop a few who didn’t have the talent from making it to the Top 24.)

At this point, for the guys, Andrew Garcia is the frontrunner, and will no doubt glide into the Top 12, when the show “officially” starts. He wowed the judges with his cover of once-judge Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up.” The song is silly, but it’s also a slice of brilliant pop. (However, for Garcia, it’s not exactly a good sign to set the bar that high for himself this early in the game since there’s less room for him to show progress or growth in the next 13 weeks of the show.)

For the girls, it’s a bit tougher to pick a clear frontrunner since all of them are not only strong but also diverse vocally. It depends, really on what kind of music and voice you like hearing. I think it’s a three-way tie between Lacey Brown, Lilly Scott, and Haeley Vaughn. Both Lilly Scott and Haeley Vaughn are hometown talent, with Scott hailing from Littleton, and Vaughn from Ft. Collins. (Yeah, Vaughn messed up during her Hollywood performances, but in her Denver audition, where she performed Carrie Underwood’s “Last Name” showed promise, and moxie.) All three women should have no problem making it to the Top 12.

For the next three weeks, the women will perform on Tuesday, and the guys on Wednesday, and two guys and two girls will be eliminated each week.