At 8 p.m., FOX's "American Idol" burst out of the gates with a 15.9/24 for the first performances by the Top 12 women. CBS was a distant second with the 9.0/13. On ABC, 40 minutes of "My Wife and Kids" plus 20 minutes of "George Lopez" equaled a 4.8/7, better than the totals for NBC's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" repeat. The WB's "Gilmore Girls" had a 3.7/6 to take fifth. UPN's "All of Us" and "Eve" were sixth with a 1.7/2 average between them.

Carrie gives off a Trisha Yearwood vibe to me, just without as much twang in her singing voice. To me, she makes it seem effortless when she goes for the soaring notes. Her voice gives me the tingles down my spine that make me take note when she's singing, it's just one of things I notice when I listen to singers. Clay Aiken had that same quality to his performances on AI 2 seasons ago. Fedorov has the same type of impact on me, but to a lesser extent, plus, he's less polished than Clay as a live performer.

This could come down to another Kelly-Justin showdown (Carrie vs. Mario), where it contest is between a belter, and a showman/dancer. The difference is that Mario can carry a tune, though he sings a little higher that I like from male singers.

To me, I don't need/want a song/dance person to win the competition, I would prefer the person who's got the better studio recording voice to win because I'll be more apt to listen to them/their album in the car driving around, then watching them perform in concert.

I think Carrie gives a lot of people "tingles," just not necessarily in the spine...and it's not necessarily her voice that's doing it.

Well, for me, it's her voice (Carrie's). I think she's more cute and pretty, than hotness redefined.

I like looking at Lindsey a lot more, but her voice doesn't cut it for me. She's like the more understated Julia Demato of this season.

I absolutely agree. I was pretty concerned during the last audition when she sang a Martina McBride song. She wasn't quite as effortless as she had been. She pulled it off, but I started to wonder if her voice was strong enough. She showed last night that it is, and I love that kind of singer. Obviously, personality plays a big factor in the show and she doesn't have an outgoing one, but I hope that her voice keeps carrying her through. The problem with belting out songs, though, is that you'll get raked over the coals for singing ballads every week.

I agree about the top 3 performances. Aloha came out of nowhere to blow me away. I had zero memory of her from earlier episodes (did they ever show her?) and she tore the roof off the mutha . And I knew Nadia was going to be good. I told my wife right before she came out that "Nadia is going to rock the house" and she did just that. She has the pop/rock star look too.

I already predicted in the guys' thread that Mikalah won't last much longer. I won't change my prediction now - her personality is abrasive. She's a little too sure of herself. She'll make it past these first 2 cuts but I think that's probably it. In actuality, outside of those top 3 I thought the rest were mediocre at best (at least compared with the guys).

I'm another on in agreement with this sentiment. There are lots of people that have vocal ability, but to become a pop star and American Idol you need more than pretty face and some pipes. A balance of the two is needed.

I don't know. Nadia's got the look and attitude, but I'm not sold on her voice. Mikalah..I liked her moxie the first time, but she's going to have to calm that down..way down..immediately. Simon was so annoyed this time around. Why don't people know when to stop?

I liked Aloha...but hopefully she won't channel Beyonce too much. She's cute, she can sing, she has presence.

That being said I'm still not totally blown away by any of the girls.

That's why this 6/6 business is such b.s.!

I liked Nadia, Aloha and Lindsey the best of the women.

I don't like Amanda, but Simon's comment to her was highly offensive and he owes her a private apology.

I hope Mikalah goes tonight, as I am part of the (popular) group that finds her VERY annoying. I hope she doesn't, but I have a feeling that she will make the top 12.

I like Carrie Underwood the same way I liked Julia DeMato in Season 2.





Except Carrie is more talented.

I was very shocked at Cowell's "microphone" comment. In some eyes, people could have interpreted the comment as sexually harassment. He has to be really careful.

I'll still take a great singer to somewhat who performs well on stage. Are we done with singers like Britney Spears? A singer who can hold your attention with his/her voice is better than one who barely manages to hold a note and has all the dance moves down.

Two should have gone who weren't voted off. Janay for the girls and Constantine for the boys. What an awful version of Seal's song.

Agreed on both counts. At least I was right about Melinda but Janay was definitely worse than Sarah - and that's saying something.

Constantine butchered Kiss for a Rose. What an odd choice. A "rocker" picks a balad that is a very difficult song to sing. I would give him credit for taking a risk if he hit the notes. He didn't. Judd took a risk, hit the notes and was booted .

^^ At this point, it's just as much a popularity contest, unfortunately, as it is a vote based on talent.

I can see a bunch of middle-aged ladies who once swooned over the likes of Warrant, Def Leppard, Poison, and Cinderella vote for the likes of Bo and Constantine.

I liked Bo's performance, to be honest. I liked his choice of singing "Drift Away". A song like that is not going to crown him American Idol, so it'll be interesting to see what else he decides to sing later on.