Michael Giltz: American Idol Top 20: The Women

Well, since the first five guys were weak and the last five guys were strong, the women decided to mix it up. The first five women were fine and the last five women were weak to awful. But the judges were in an especially nice mood. When they weren't urging women to pigeonhole -- I mean, "define" -- themselves, they were ignoring awful vocal performances and accentuating the positive. Maybe they feel bad because they can see the steamroller that is David Archuleta getting ready to flatten any female contestants in his path? The theme tonight again was the Seventies. It sure would be nice to get peak at the list of songs the contestants get to choose from. There's such a boring repetition of artists and songs I'd like to know whether to blame the singers or the producers. Carly Smithson -- another so-so performance from Smithson. In an earlier season, maybe she would have been dubbed as having that magical "studio" voice, which usually meant her appeal wasn't singing live but she had something ... (link)