12 girls, 10 spots: it's like christmas...

The flu was the star of Wednesday's first female semi-final, as many of the ladies were reported to be at death's door just prior to belting out the songs of the 60s in the hope of advancing to next week when the theme will be heaven knows what.

Some of them pretty much assured themselves of moving into next week and possibly onto the summer tour, while a couple pretty much assured themselves of having next Wednesday free.

Because THIS is American Idol.

And this is my assessment of the first female outing, a little late, as will be the custom this season, but, as always, from worst to first.

Amy Davis (Where the Boys Are). This song can be done well. It can be. It wasn't. At all. Enough said.

Kristy Lee Cook (Rescue Me). Kristy Lee, who has sickness written all over her face and gets zero sympathy from the judges, has to lead off and fulfills the prophecy. She's begging to be rescued. So am I.

Joanne Borgella (Say a Little Prayer for You). No mention of illness for Joanne, and that's too bad, because it would have been a plausible explanation for what she did to this Dionne Warwick classic. Randy says the first half was bad, but the second half okay. Simon says the second half was worse than the first half. I put them both together and call the whole thing wrong.

Kady Malloy (Groovy Kind of Love). Kady picks another one of my favorites, but slows it down to the point that it took a few bars to recognize it. This is not a ballad, Kady. Randy is exactly right that the song had a start, middle and end that never varied. That equals boring. The most enjoyable part of Kady's stage appearance was the look that could, shoulda, woulda struck Simon dead.

Brooke White (Happy Together). Another retread from the boys night before, but no complaints from me because I love the song, and I enjoyed both performances, although I think Brooke could have ended with a word other than "baa."

Alexandrea Lushington (Spinning Wheel). While Randy and Paula were drooling over this performance, I found myself siding with Simon. I love Alexandrea's attitude, but the vocals and the arrangement of this number just left me unsatisfied. But Alexandrea (and I'm practicing saying the name) should advance based on the poor performances that preceded her and her winning style. I'm sold.

Alaina Whitaker (More Today than Yesterday). With only 50 songs from which to choose, it was inevitable that some of the gals would repeat selections from the guys. Alaina drop kicks Chickeze Eze's version, and, for the first time, leads me to think that another teenager could just slip through to the finals.

Syesha Mercado (Tobacco Road). My biggest issue with Syesha is her need to sing at the constant level of loud. She has proven she's got a great voice but she, like Amanda, needs to color it up a bit. But I don't think she has any fear of leaving anytime soon.

Carly Smithson (The Shadow of Your Smile). I love this song. And with as much hype that Carly has gotten since day one of this season, I really was hoping for a great rendition, especially since the apparent anointed one was given the pimp spot, and after Ramiele had already proven that staying true to the simplicity of the melody can pay off ten-fold. Randy and Paula's drooling aside, Simon was right: it just didn't live up to any semblance of expectation.

Amanda Overmyer (Baby, Please don't Go). Amanda tells us pre-preformance that she's going to boycott the Janis catalog, on the advice of Simon. So she scats through, impressing once again and, for the first time, delivers a friendly, funny and animated post-performance interview. I really hope, though, that she switches up the hairstyle, because I find it distracting.

Asia'h Epperson (Piece of my Heart). Asia'h picks up the Janis catalog that Amanda threw aside and delivers, possibly, the best big stage version of this song that the show has seen, both vocally and performance-wise. Simon calls it his favorite of the night, and on a night that Simon is being stingy with praise, that's saying a lot.

Ramiele Malubay (You Don't Have to Say You Love Me). This performance may have just plopped her at the top of my favorites list. Proving that ballads don't always have to bore, Ramiele grabbed my attention and never lost it. Excellent.

And here I didn't think the girls could be any worse than the guys. They weren't worse, certainly, but they weren't a whole lot better either.

So who leaves? With any luck, we will be waving bye to Amy Davis and Kristy Lee Cook. But, my money will be on Amy and Joanne, since Kristy needs to buy back her horse.

So, who leaves tonight? I will be simulblogging the results, so, if you want to join - or want to be spoiled - stop by and dish with me.