Rough night for ‘Idol’ women

Lindsey Cardinale, 20, Ponchatoula, La.: Cardinale went out with Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing," the theme from the blockbuster film "Armageddon." The film was a lot more interesting than Cardinale's rendition of the song. It was a mostly dull performance that didn't allow her to show off her personality, but it did showcase Cardinale's voice. That voice is still one of the best in the competition, and she'll be reliant on that to overcome a series of average nights onstage.
Grade: C+
Sign: Aquarius
Slam: "You're the musical equivalent of Ryan Seacrest." – Simon's less-than-positive feedback.
Stay or go? Despite Simon's soundbite, the judges were a lot more lenient on Cardinale than they could have been. She's shown enough potential that they look content to wait a couple of more weeks to see if it can reveal itself. She's vulnerable, but more likely than not to survive.

Mikalah Gordon, 17, Las Vegas: From Billie Holliday to Barbra Streisand, Gordon seems to pick the songs farthest from the pop music genre. She sang "Somewhere" from West Side Story, as sung by Streisand. It was a risky pick and didn't start off well, but Gordon probably saved herself from elimination with a strong finish.
Quote of the night: "It looks like you've gone into an aging machine." – Simon, comparing her performance in the auditions to the ones over the past couple of weeks.
Sign: Capricorn
Grade: B
Stay or go? She'll probably stay, but Gordon's definitely gone from Avril Lavigne to high-school theatre within the past month. For her to go much further, she'll need to swing the pendulum back to those earlier performances.

Jessica Sierra, 19, Tampa, Fla.: Many, many bands have sung "The Boys are Back in Town," but Sierra's version did all of them proud. That's not just because of the outfit Sierra was in, low-cut enough for Simon to comment that given what she was wearing she "could not have picked a better song." Prime-time inappropriate comments aside, Sierra's performance was part rock, part country and part rhythm and blues, and impressed the audience and the judges.
Sign: Capricorn
Grade: A
Stay or go? It would be a major, major upset if Sierra wasn't one of the final 12. Moreover, it might cause Simon to die of a broken heart.

Craig Berman is a writer in Washington, D.C.

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