Birth year theme is just '80s part 2

With eight of the Top 10 finalists being born in the 1980s, last night seemed like just a continuation of Top 16 week. The performances were leagues better than the ones delivered last week, which at least made up for the repetitious repetition that seems to be weighing this season down.

Ramiele Malubay opened the show with her take on Carrie Underwood's...erm, I mean Heart's power ballad "Alone." Vocally she was alright, though she kind of fell flat on one of the critical high notes. According to the judges, she was better than last week but Simon had a bone to pick with Randy's critique, which he deemed a bit harsh. Was Simon being honest or using his signature reverse psychology tactic? No one can ever really tell.

Next was Jason Castro and his snorefest that was Sting's "Fragile." Jason must really want to impress the foreign language-speaking voting population, only this week he reached out to Spanish-speaking Americans rather than those who speak French. Odds are it won't do him any good, as Randy and Paula said he did well but there was no "wow" factor, while Simon said his guitar playing was sloppy and he has to start taking himself seriously because he has the potential to be a contender but not if he performs like that week after week. Look for him to make a "shocking" appearance in the bottom 3 tonight.

Syesha Mercado then took on Stephanie Mills' "If I Were Your Woman," over-singing included. The judges [aka Randy and Paula] gave her unconditional praise for her performance, Paula going as far as calling her a "dark horse," but it was really overrated. Syesha has had much better performances in the past, and this week she was just a glory note machine. Simon caught on to this, saying she was good but there is a limit to where her vocals can go, which riled Paula up.

Next up was Chikezie, who took a departure from his usual country rock hoedown arrangements and did a boring ballad. It was not that he did a bad job vocally on Luther Vandross' "If Only For One Night," he just seemed out of place, like he reverted back to the semifinals with his lifeless soulfulness. Randy complained that he missed the up-tempo Chikezie, calling the performance "not hip or cool." But he can't do country rock every week, now, can he? Amanda Overmyer didn't get away with singing the same style every week. But David Cook is, so maybe Randy is on to something....

After some more blatant iTunes pimping by Ryan, Brooke White takes the stage and takes on The Police classic "Every Breath You Take." Brooke caused every heart in America to skip a beat when she halted the beginning of her performance, realizing she started in the wrong key (if anything, it just proves the show is live). The first half of the performance was very angelic and moving, but once the band came in it kind of lost its touch. The judges made note of this (and the do-over), but Simon said it was "definitely enough to keep [her] in the competition." Brooke twice said her do-over was "not a good thing to do," but the judges told her it was the right thing to do. Why can no one ever agree on this show?

Michael Johns struck a chord with the studio audience when he burst out singing the Queen classic "We Will Rock You," complete with seizure-inducing light shows and a full band and back-up singing brigade surrounding him. But when he changed to the "We Are the Champions" portion of the performance, the audience went wild. Michael showed why he deserved to be in the competition, with Simon even saying Michael's performance was the only memorable one of the night.

And then Carly Smithson's mom talked about how she named her daughter after hearing a Carly Simon song on the radio on the way to the hospital to give birth to her. Following that fun fact, Carly tackled Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart," which, minus the painful run at the end, was very well done. Randy and Paula fought over whether the run at the end was good, and Simon gave his two cents, saying Carly needs to "lighten up." Carly added to the awkwardness by exclaiming that she had to go to the bathroom before her performance, prompting Ryan to ask if she flushed.

The awkwardness did not end there, though. When Ryan asked David Archuleta what he missed about school, he said he missed his school dances and that he might not get to go to his prom. Ryan then took this opportunity to ask if the girl sitting next to David's dad was who he wanted to take to his prom, which immediately put a target the size of Texas on her. David tried his best on an obscure song choice - David Foster and Jeff Pescetto's "You're the Voice." The song sounded like it was out of an early '90s Care Bears episode, and Paula thought she'd be funny by asking David why he didn't pick an American composer. That's Paula, always trying to psych out the 17-year-olds! Simon said the song choice was something he'd expect to see "animated creatures gathering around him and start singing" on, and that it wasn't for him. Simon should be careful of that girl sitting next to David's dad.

And then there was Kristy Lee Cook, who managed to recover from being in the bottom 2 for the second week in a row. Kristy Lee was right at home when she chose the durable "God Bless the USA," and actually sound pretty good. That coupled with Simon's profusely-flowing praise will give her a one way ticket to Dollywood next week.

Finally, the rock star took to the stage. David C. and his abnormally-huge baby skull took on Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean," completely turning the song upside down and using a slow but steady rocked out arrangement. Upon finishing, Randy said he could actually win the whole thing. Paula remained standing because she was "blown away." And Simon said it was "amazing." All in all not a bad night for the resident rocker.

Predictions
Bottom 3: Jason, Chikezie, Ramiele
Bottom 2: Chikezie, Ramiele
Eliminated: Ramiele