Dish Of Salt: Thursday TV Dish (‘Idol’ Top Ten Girls Perform)

The guys stepped up their game on Tuesday’s nights “American Idol” and the girls came to play as well last night. Following are my thoughts on what went down.

Plus, just hours before the results come out, which four contestants do I think I’ll be seeing tomorrow morning (for a post show interview) after America unfortunately votes them out.

Despite telling Ryan Seacrest she was concerned she would not make the show last night, Crystal Bowersox rallied back from her trip to the hospital on Tuesday (for reported complications from diabetes) with a stellar version of “As Long As I See The Light” by Creedence Clearwater Revival. The judges were impressed with her and Ellen begged her to, “Please stay healthy. We need you here.”

Haeley Vaughn’s version of Miley Cyrus’s “The Climb” was just a disaster from the first note. After dancing around it for a few seconds, Randy Jackson finally hit her with the brutal truth, “It was excruciating.” She sure is chipper though. I’m on the fence about whether or not I think she could be going home after this. Her young fans might have gone into voting overdrive for her, but having gone second, people might have already forgot about her by the time the show ended.

All I can think when Lacey Brown is singing, “Kiss Me” is that it’s going to be “Kiss Me” Goodbye for her.

I let out an exhaustive “ugh” when Katie Stevens says she is singing Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Put Your Records On.” How many times have we heard this song during the audition shows? I’m sick of it already! She sounded fairly decent to me, but I was distracted by her look tonight. Note to the makeup artists on the show – stop trying to make a 17-year-old look 25. Poor thing looked devastated when Simon and Kara were berating her with negative comments.

If Paula Abdul were still a judge on this show, the first think she would have said to Didi Benami after she sang “Lean On Me” was, “You look beautiful tonight.” Then she would have launched into her circular critique slamming her in a gentle way. I miss Paula. Kara just comes across as mean and not in a nasty British Simon way. Didi looked like the minute the show went to a commercial she would burst into tears.

When Randy Jackson tells you that, “your outfit is hot,” you know you are in trouble. Randy and Ellen were not kind to Michelle Delamor, who tackled a ballad version of Creed’s “Arms Wide Open.” However, Simon and Kara thought she did well. My favorite part of the night was when Simon admitted what I said last week, that the judges have been talking out of both sides of their as*%! this season. “To be fair we give a lot of contradictory advice. You have to do this and if you do it we don’t want it.” Exactly, Simon.

I’ve just figured it out. Cross Jewel with Adele and you’ve got yourself a Lilly Scott. I like her though. I’m still a fan.

I think I will just pull a Paula and say Katelyn Epperly looked very pretty tonight. I love that song. But I hated how she sang it.

Was that a defacto commercial for Glaceau water that Paige Miles and Ryan just did? Weird.

Paige welcome to the competition! Despite her lack of airtime during the audition rounds, I’m with Ellen DeGeneres and I think Paige’s take on Kelly Clarkson’s “Walk Away” finally showcased that she has got some true talent. I realize that Kara wrote the song (about some ex who wronged her) but telling Paige that she didn’t sing it right because she should have known it was an angry song and that she should have sang it more angrily, really irked me. Kara is just getting on my nerves tonight.

Siobhan Magnus is my Sanjaya. I love her quirkiness. I don’t care what she sings or how she sings it. Plus, just like Sanjaya I hope she rocks a mohawk (which we learned from her video, she used to rock!) on the show one night. I just hope she keeps her own style and doesn’t let the hair/makeup and wardrobe people change her.

Prediction to go home: Michelle Delamor, Lacey Brown
(and from Tuesday night, Jermaine Sellers and John Park)

Prediction to make top 12: Crystal Bowersox, Siobhan Magnus, Katelyn Epperly, Paige Miles, Katie Stevens, Lilly Scott