MUSIC: American Idol 08: women's semifinals, week 3

The women tackle the 80s tonight, and though there aren't any moments of genuine excitement to be found in their performances, there are no moments of horrible embarassment, either. Tonight each shows what she does best, which was much needed after the inconsistent performances of their first two weeks.

The rundown:

Asia'h, "I Want to Dance With Somebody Who Loves Me" -- It's a comfortable, relaxed performance; I'm still not sure whether or not I like the throatiness of her voice, which sounds a bit strangled at moments. Not an exciting or especially memorable performance, but solid and pleasant.

Kady, "Who Wants to Live Forever" -- Technically, her best yet; it's generally in tune, and she's audible throughout. But her voice is too small, and her personality is much too small, to give the song the intensity and the drama it demands. She also has a bad tendency to get very hissy with "s" and "sh" sounds at the ends of phrases.

Amanda, "I Hate Myself for Loving You" -- Another "best so far" performance; she's actually singing instead of just shrieking at us, and it's (mostly) on tune. But I still have a hard time getting past the sheer ugliness of her voice, and she has the sloppy enunciation of a barroom drunk at 2 am.

Carly, "I Drove All Night" -- This performance is definitely more about demonstration of technique than about personality or charisma, but as such it's quite good; points off for the major bobble at the very end, though, when she has to gasp for breath to hit the highest note on the word "inside."

Kristy, "Faithfully" -- The judges are right on to point out the country edge to her voice, which gives the song an unexpected sweetness that works well. The big notes at the end are a bit off, but on the whole, it's a charming piece of work.

Ramiele, "Against All Odds" -- OK, we get it. Ramiele can do the soft-to-loud thing very well. Whoopee. Randy nails the big problem: we can see her thinking. And she's so busy thinking and preparing for each perfectly placed pitch that not an ounce of charm or pizzazz comes through. She'll survive to next week, but she desperately needs to do something lighter and higher in energy.

Brooke, "Love Is a Battlefield" -- Last night, it was David Cook; tonight, it's Brooke who gives us an unexpected reinterpretation. The guitar-only accompaniment is very effective, and Brooke held my attention throughout with a lovely, memorable performance.

Syesha, "Saving All My Love for You" -- Some of the same problems as Ramiele, really -- the technique is fine (though there are scattered pitch problems), but it's all technique and not much personality. It's like a very good Whitney impersonation.

For the night: Brooke, Carly, Kristy, Amanda, Syesha, Asia'h, Ramiele, Kady.

Deserving those Top 12 spots: Brooke, Carly, Syesha, Kristy, Ramiele, Asia'h.

Deserving the trip home: Kady and Amanda; as with the bottom two guys, it's not even close.