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We start things out with an awkward scene of Ellen sitting on Simon s lap and making out with him But as Ryan said Ellen s taken And so is Simon apparently Oh and I really like Kara s straight hair and whoa We jump right into performances Follow me after the jump Katie Stevens Breakaway She does a pretty good job but it s a little karaoke And of course it s hard not to compare her to Kelly Clarkson who had such a big hit with this song Randy Jackson said as much It paled in comparison and it s almost like karaoke to me Ellen loved that Katie came back with a young song but she didn t really feel it It s a singing compet

tion but let s see some personality Kara said Katie has a great radio voice but she doesn t really know who she is as an artist Simon agreed noting You haven t worked out what kind of an artist you want to be and you kind of sucked the energy out of it and made it a bit gloomy I m glad he added that little bit at the end instead of just saying it sucked Katie said she IS trying to break away because she comes from a small town And what the hell judges you asked me to sing a young song but then you knock it down Those are my words reading between Katie s polite comments Sioban Magnus House of the Rising Sun She starts off slow with no backup music which is interesting I really like it and she s making it her own We ll see if the judges agree with me Randy said I love what you do because you take every risk and every chance keep doing it because it s hot Ellen was captivated and called her spectacular Kara loved the acapella vibe at the front I really liked it tonight Simon wasn t as big a fan of the song calling it all a bit weird and you didn t do anything different with the song What It was completely different Lacey Brown The Story I LOVE this Adam Lambert fans will probably slay me for this comment bring it people but it seems like a little bit of a moment like some of his from last season It seems to come from her heart she does it effortlessly and it s just awesome Randy called it a little sleepy but thought it was her best performance to date Ellen loved it Kara called it effortless yes and Simon didn t love love the song but said you sang it really well Katelyn Epperly I Feel the Earth Move Oh man she s standing up playing a keyboard and even has her hair like Carole King How weird is that She does an ok job with the song but I can t get past the whole Carole King thing Randy didn t feel a connection though she sang it well enough Ellen said it wasn t a great song to wow people with Kara said Katelyn was just going through the motions and Simon said it was like request night at a restaurant I think Katelyn might be gone by next week Didi Benami Rhiannon I still love her Duffy like voice and this song was a good choice though it sort of faded off dreamily at the end Maybe too dreamily Randy said it was a whole lot better than last week but no wow moment Ellen loved that Didi came back after being torn apart last week You re always gonna be torn apart by somebody so you have to get back up and sing again Kara said it was one of my favorite moments of the show this season Simon agrees with Kara calling it head and shoulders above anything else we ve heard tonight Paige Miles Smile She seems a little nervous at the beginning not to mention pitchy Randy said it just didn t work and said it seemed like a banquet song with the bossa nova Ellen said it was sad and heavy rather than uplifting Simon agreed with the others and hated the arrangement It was the sort of thing you d hear in a Holiday Inn in 1974 He called it a peanut song where people would be in a bar eating peanuts and not paying attention I fear for Paige this week Crystal Bowersox Give Me One Reason As usual Crystal wows me with her performance of the Tracy Chapman classic At this point Crystal is so far above the other contestants that there s really no comparison She s effortless and I love the electric guitar She could easily win the competition Randy loved it loved the honesty I m a fan Ellen said she needs new adjectives for Crystal calling it the best performance of the night Kara loved the song choice and is starting to see what kind of album Crystal would make Simon said she s one million billionth percent going to be in the Top 12 next week It s yours to lose Go Crystal Lilly Scott I Fall to Pieces Interesting I m not as big a fan of Lilly s as some of the judges but she s definitely different Plus I m distracted by the scrunchies she s wearing as earrings Randy loved the mandolin and the song calling Lilly in the zone Ellen loved her voice and originality Kara said she made Patsy Cline feel current and contemporary Simon said she s very brave to choose that song on a night like this and felt it didn t have the wow factor Tomorrow Night The Top 8 Guys with Kona Which of the Top 8 Girls gave the best performance Crystal BowersoxKatelyn EpperlyLilly ScottPaige MilesDidi BenamiSioban MagnusKatie StevensLacey BrownVote