'American Idol' - 'Top 8 Girls Compete' Recap

We start things out with an awkward scene of Ellen sitting on Simon's lap and making out with him. But as Ryan said, Ellen's taken. And so is Simon, apparently. Oh, and I really like Kara's straight hair, and whoa! We jump right into performances. Follow me after the jump...

Katie Stevens ('Breakaway'). She does a pretty good job, but it's a little karaoke. And of course, it's hard not to compare her to Kelly Clarkson, who had such a big hit with this song. Randy Jackson said as much: "It paled in comparison, and it's almost like karaoke to me." Ellen loved that Katie came back with a young song, but she didn't really feel it: "It's a singing competition, but let's see some personality." Kara said Katie has a great radio voice, but she doesn't really know who she is as an artist. Simon agreed, noting, "You haven't worked out what kind of an artist you want to be ... and you kind of sucked ... the energy out of it and made it a bit gloomy." I'm glad he added that little bit at the end, instead of just saying it sucked. Katie said she IS trying to break away because she comes from a small town. And what the hell, judges, you asked me to sing a young song, but then you knock it down! (Those are my words, reading between Katie's polite comments.)

Sioban Magnus ('House of the Rising Sun'). She starts off slow with no backup music, which is interesting. I really like it, and she's making it her own. We'll see if the judges agree with me. Randy said, "I love what you do because you take every risk and every chance ... keep doing it, because it's hot!" Ellen was captivated and called her "spectacular." Kara loved the "acapella vibe at the front ... I really liked it tonight." Simon wasn't as big a fan of the song, calling it all "a bit weird" and "you didn't do anything different with the song." What?! It was completely different!

Lacey Brown ('The Story'). I LOVE this. Adam Lambert fans will probably slay me for this comment (bring it, people!), but it seems like a little bit of a "moment," like some of his from last season. It seems to come from her heart, she does it effortlessly, and it's just awesome. Randy called it "a little sleepy," but thought it was her best performance to date. Ellen loved it, Kara called it "effortless" (yes!), and Simon didn't "love love" the song, but said "you sang it really well."

Katelyn Epperly ('I Feel the Earth Move'). Oh man, she's standing up playing a keyboard and even has her hair like Carole King. How weird is that? She does an ok job with the song, but I can't get past the whole Carole King thing. Randy didn't feel a connection, though she sang it well enough. Ellen said it wasn't a great song to wow people with. Kara said Katelyn was just going through the motions, and Simon said it was like "request night at a restaurant." I think Katelyn might be gone by next week.

Didi Benami ('Rhiannon'). I still love her Duffy-like voice, and this song was a good choice, though it sort of faded off dreamily at the end. Maybe too dreamily. Randy said it was "a whole lot better than last week," but no wow moment. Ellen loved that Didi came back after being torn apart last week. "You're always gonna be torn apart by somebody, so you have to get back up and sing again." Kara said it was "one of my favorite moments of the show this season." Simon agrees with Kara, calling it "head and shoulders above anything else we've heard tonight."

Paige Miles ('Smile'). She seems a little nervous at the beginning, not to mention pitchy. Randy said "it just didn't work," and said it seemed like a banquet song with the bossa nova. Ellen said it was sad and heavy, rather than uplifting. Simon agreed with the others and hated the arrangement. "It was the sort of thing you'd hear in a Holiday Inn in 1974." He called it a "peanut song," where people would be in a bar eating peanuts and not paying attention. I fear for Paige this week.

Crystal Bowersox ('Give Me One Reason'). As usual, Crystal wows me with her performance of the Tracy Chapman classic. At this point, Crystal is so far above the other contestants that there's really no comparison. She's effortless, and I love the electric guitar. She could easily win the competition. Randy loved it, loved the honesty, "I'm a fan." Ellen said she needs new adjectives for Crystal, calling it the "best performance of the night." Kara loved the song choice and is starting to see what kind of album Crystal would make. Simon said she's "one million billionth percent going to be in the Top 12 next week ... It's yours to lose." Go, Crystal!

Lilly Scott ('I Fall to Pieces'). Interesting. I'm not as big a fan of Lilly's as some of the judges, but she's definitely different. Plus, I'm distracted by the scrunchies she's wearing as earrings. Randy loved the mandolin and the song, calling Lilly "in the zone." Ellen loved her voice and originality. Kara said she made Patsy Cline feel current and contemporary. Simon said she's very brave to choose that song on a night like this, and felt it didn't have "the wow factor."

Tomorrow Night: The Top 8 Guys with Kona!