American Idol: Season Seven Top 12

New intro (weird), new stage (weird), but it's the same old Idol. It's Beatles night, and "the best top 12 ever!!" has a lot to prove. Did they do it?

Syesha Mercado: Got to Get You Into My Life. Just don't like her, y'all! Randy calls it the "Earth Wind and Fire" arrangement. He and Paula think the start of it was off, but from the middle part on, it worked. Simon really liked it though, if she wasn't so nervous, it would work.

Chikezie Eze: She's a Woman, down-home style. He sits down with a fiddler, a banjo player and does it all countrified. And then he gets up and it turns into a rock song. Brave, and pretty cool. He definitely made it his own. Randy and Paula love it. Simon is really surprised, but he agrees. Chikezie woops it up. Ryan joins him.

Ramiele Malubay: In My Life, dedicated to Danny Noriega. The whole crowd is waving their hands back and forth -- I think that pretty much speaks volumes about the performance. Dull, and not that impressive vocally. Randy thinks it was pretty...boring! Simon agrees, he was bored to tears.

Jason Castro: If I Fell. Love this song! Plays the guitar, and sits on a stool onstage. Cute, and not bad, but doesn't this kind of belong in your local coffeehouse, circa '94? Randy liked it apart from the melody switches. Paula disagrees. Simon thinks it feels like a college dorm room performance. I agree!

Carly Smithson: She sings Come Together, and rocks it. I think THAT could be a hit right now that way. I like when she does soul/rock stuff, and not the Celine-ish stuff. Simon finally thinks she's chosen the right song. Damn straight.

David Cook: Eleanor Rigby, very different arrangement. Not sure I like it...he's a little bit off on the notes, but I also can see this as his coming out party as the show's rocker, and the ladies will love it. Add to that the fact that the chorus and end note are pretty awesome. Randy likes the rock, Paula says he's the dark horse, and a thoroughbred. Simon thinks it was brilliant.

Brooke White: Let it Be, sings it at the piano. She's so sincere, it works. I was totally expecting her to sing "Good Day Sunshine" or something equally upbeat. Randy doesn't think it's her strongest, but he loved to see it. Simon thinks it's again one of the best performances of the night.

David Hernandez: Ok. In David's video, he talks about his regular day, and doesn't say a thing about stripping. Come on dude. He sings Saw Her Standing There. He's the first one to try out the in the crowd performance area. He's the first person in awhile to sound a bit dated and uninspired. Simon tells him: no.no.no.

Amanda Overmyer: You Can't Do That. Amanda fixed her hair since last week, it's kind of nice. This song actually is a decent combo of her Janis impression and maybe a teensy bit of real singing. Not bad. Simon thinks it's not as good as the previous performance, but still up to snuff.

Michael Johns: Across the Universe. Straightforward and simple, sounds great. Randy thinks it needed more, Paula disagrees. Simon is on Randy's side, and he wants Michael to let himself go a little bit.

Kristy Lee Cook: 8 Days a Week, as a full-on country song. Like, a Dolly song. Interesting concept, but it's a bit frenetic. She's super cute, but is it enough? Randy is iffy on it. Paula didn't get it. Simon thinks it was horrendous..."like Dolly on helium."

David Archuleta: We Can Work it Out. Aw. He's really nervous. He forgets his lyrics. Over and over again. It's a shame, because I like the arrangement, and he sounds good. He gets blasted by all three judges. I guess I was duped, because I didn't know the Stevie Wonder version.

Ramiele, Kristy, David Hernandez and Syesha are in trouble, in my opinion. What say you?