American Idol: Season Seven Top 11

More Idol, more Beatles! Will Kristy Lee Cook manage to make me feel high again with the insanity of her choice? And can tiny Ramiele live up to her last slot of the night billing? Here we go!

Amanda Overmyer takes on Back in the U.S.S.R. with a little southern rock blues kick. Reality check: most of Idol's audience doesn't know what the U.S.S.R. is. Weird. I don't like this song on Amanda as much as last week. It's Paul, so it's very melodic, and she needs to sing more. She also doesn't seem as comfortable. The end gets stronger ("come and keep your comrade warm," the greatest commie pick-up line ever writ?). Ok overall, not great. Randy agrees: 7 out of 10. Paula says she was ahead of the beat a bit, but uniquely so. Simon calls it predictable and a mess in parts: he's tired of the same thing every week.

Kristy Lee Cook looks cute as always, and even cuter, she's got photo albums that keep her company at night. Aww. She's singing "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," and she picked it from the title. Parents: teach your children Beatles songs. Her voice sounds good, but what is this arrangement? Another disaster? And then she misses a note, badly. Ugh. The "hey!" part is the worst. She hits a big last note -- does that means we are stuck with her for another week? Randy didn't like it except for the last night. Paula says she's pretty. Simon thinks she needs hypnosis, because she's not a good performer. She's musical wallpaper.

She says she can "blow Simon out of his socks" if she's around next week. Weird.

David Archuleta is singing "The Long and Winding Road," and hopes to remember his lyrics. Me too David, you're sweet and last week was sad. This is a nice fit for him, it's a nice a reminder of how pure and strong his voice his. He doesn't have to go nuts, it's all just there. Also -- he seems to have learned how to minimize us hearing his sharp intake of breath. Randy says David brought the hotness back. Paula loves the purity of his voice, and that he rose above last week's adversity. Simon thinks he was amazing.

Michael Johns loves the Beatles, and it comes through in his song choice, "A Day in the Life." How to cram all that sound into a 90 second performance? I am afraid. This is something I imagine Simon calling "indulgent." Too bad, I like it. He sounds great on the "ah-ah-ah-ahs." And the transitions aren't as weird as I thought they'd be. He messes up the lyrics at the end (swapping verses) and he knows it, but other people really might not. Randy wants him to just sing and let it go. Paula says it was great in dress rehearsal and thinks the ear monitors are messing with him. Simon says it doesn't matter, he was a mess regardless.

HA! It turns out, Michael isn't wearing a monitor.

Brooke White is all yellow and fluffy. She's going to sing "Here Comes the Sun." Smiley! She starts out on the steps and she sounds nice. Then she gets up and does an incredibly awkward spin accompanied by an even awkwarder "woo!" Then at the mic, she dances a bit and reminds me of a high school art teacher. It's weird. It's like, I can listen to her, but I can't look at her. Randy agrees. But so does Brooke: she says she shouldn't have wooed and she is an awkward mover. Paula says it still made her smile, and it showed off the lower range of her voice. Simon thinks it was predictable, the performance was terrible.

I like Brooke's candor, but maybe she should stop talking.

David Cook is doing a Whitesnake version of "Daytripper." He plays guitar on it. He's so confident now, it's nice to watch. I like this because it's different without kind of destroying the melody the way he did lat week. OH SHIT. Now he's doing the Frampton mouth thing. WTF. Crazy. Then he hits a big last note, raises his guitar in the air and tells the judges to suck it. I mean, in his mind, I imagine. Pretty sweet. Randy thinks it was solid. Paula says he's ready to go sell records. Simon doesn't think it was as good as David thinks it was. He was smug and the vocoder was stupid. The element of surprise is gone.

Ryan doesn't want to try the vocoder. Come on, dude. relax.

Carly Smithson is singing "Blackbird," which is obvs gorgeous. I like her in this softer, lower song -- something that usually troubles lesser singers. It's weird, I don't know if she's quite as successful in the key change. I'm not crazy about all the arrangement either. The end is nice, and more than anything, she shows off her amazing vocal control. Brooke should have chosen this song! Randy thinks it was great, Paula loves it, but Simon thinks it was silly to choose a song about a blackbird. Umm, wha? Carly defends it and makes Simon feel uncomfortable.

She has a sweet season 7 tat on her finger.

Jason Castro is singing "Michelle," which is full of French, he learns! This is the strongest his voice has sounded in awhile, and he isn't hiding behind his guitar, which allows for some slightly off Brooke-ish moments. It's all just very cute and small. Randy thinks he didn't connect. Paula compares his swaying to a polka, and says he's lost without his guitar. Simon thinks this week's Beatles show is ruining last week's Beatles show. That said, Jason sold the song with his goofy charm, according to Simon.

Syesha Mercado looks lovely in green. She's singing "Yesterday." She does it with an acoustic guitarist on a stool. She's singing it very delicately, and up in her head voice. I might actually like Syesha tonight. Even when she pushes the vocals, it feels genuine. Wow. Sorry I said you should go Syesha! Randy thought it was very very very good. Paula loves the vulnerability, but wants her to connect more with her eyes. Simon thinks it was her best performance so far.

Chikezie is doing "I've Just Seen a Face." He slows it down, and already, I'm wishing that he could have left us with the memory of last week. Then he harmonica's his way into an sped up hoedown version. OMG, did Kristy Lee put this together? He's off on the notes, it's all a bit odd. Randy says there was good and bad. Paula disagrees and loves seeing the scope of who he is. Simon thought it started off ok, until the harmonica took it to achy breaky heart territory.

Ramiele Malubay is singing "I Should Have Known Better." Yay for her, getting upbeat. What is up with her clothes, by the way? Am I just too old to get it? She sounds good, but it's not exactly mind-blowing. Very straightforward delivery, with a few big notes thrown in. The performance is very cutesy, lots of face-making and and head-bobbing. Randy was happy to see her confidence and thinks it was aiight. Paula says it was better than last week. Simon starts by dissing the harmonica player and then goes on to call the song mediocre. He likes Ramiele, but it wasn't the ish.

One more time, I am going to say Kristy Lee is going home. I'd put Ramiele in danger, along with Chikezie and possibly a surprise Michael. What do you think?