'American Idol' girls turn in mixed bag

By Stone Martindale Mar 8, 2007, 15:11 GMT

American Idol kicked off the girls again this week, and the contestants secrets were revealed with host Ryan Seacrest.

Jordin Sparks was the first performer. Her secret was that football is a huge part of her life and that she even wears facepaint for games. She performed Pat Benatar's "Heartbreaker".  Randy Jackson said that it was not Jordin's best performance, Paula said that the energy she brings to the stage is getting better and better and Simon said he was not quite as enthusiastic as the other two judges. He found the performance to be a bit manic and a bit shrieky.

Sabrina Sloan was next. Her secret was that in high school she wanted to be like Katie Couric.  Sabrina performed "Don't Let Go" from En Vogue.  Randy said that it wasn't his favorite performance but that it was solid and that he loved the song choice. Paula said that one thing was consistent and that was that Sabrina could sing, sing, sing. Simon said it felt a bit robotic to him and that the whole performance felt a bit of a hotel resort performance. He advised her to bring more personality.

Antonella Barba was next. She shared that her secret was that she has played the violin. She sang Corinne Bailey Rae's "Put Your Records On".   Randy said it was a pretty good song choice, and found it a bit pitchy in the middle. Paula thought it was the right song choice. Antonella should watch out where she stands with the range of her voice as the lower notes were bad, and Simon sighs at the beginning and then said that Antonella got as far as she would go. He said it wasn't her worst performance and wished she could sing better.

Haley Scarnato's secret was that she was a gymnast when she was younger. She performed Faith Hill's "If My Heart Had Wings".   Randy said that the song choice was very interesting and could see that the song was her.  Paula said the song choice showed the kind of artist that Haley is and Simon commented that that expression "helped", Simon said he thought it was horrible.

Stephanie Edwards was next. She revealed that she sang since the age of three but that she only sang in front of her parents. Her performance was of Chaka Khan's "Sweet Thing".   Randy said he gave it an A for effort but that the performance was just OK for him. Paula said she thought Stephanie was near flawless, but then pointed out that she fell behind the music. Simon said that she was one of the best. He warned her though that she has a tendency to become a copycat and to him she has 100 percent sang her way into the top 12. .

LaKisha Jones was next. She shared her secret that she is afraid of animals. She sang Whitney Houston's "I have Nothing". Randy said he didn't know if it was the best but that it was another great performance by the great LaKisha. Paula said that LaKisha already made us love her and that she was going to stay in the competition and Simon said that LaKisha brought what was missing at that point; Passion, Talent, Believability. She looked great too, and must have taken my "find a gay husband to style you" advice seriously from last week.

Gina Glockson was next. Her secret was that she always has a small troll in her pocket.  She sang Evanescence's "Call me When You're Sober".  Randy said that finally the real Gina came out and to keep the "Yo!" going. Paula said she completely agreed with Randy and added that she should watch pitch and Simon said he could see that Gina enjoyed performing and that it was the first time that he saw her comfortable on the stage. He said that he thought she tended to scream but that he really hopes that she would make it through to next week.

Melinda Doolittle was the classic "best for last." She revealed that she did some quirky things and that her friends called it OCD.  Melinda singing Peggy Lee's "I'm a Woman". Randy said that everyone was jumping up and down and that Melinda was the hottest one of the night and that she was ready to go into the studio to make a record. Paula said she was phenomenal, loveable and brilliant on stage and that she just wants to see what Melinda is going to do every week. Simon started out with saying: "You Little Tiger! I thought we had a pussycat. I love that." He then said that it was quite obvious how good of a singer Melinda is but and was a million percent sure that we would be seeing Melinda back next week.  She really shone last night.

Tonight we will know who made the cut. Ex Idol contestant Carrie Underwood will be performing at the result show tomorrow.