Las Vegas - Girl's Night, Part 1 - 2/20/13

Hello all. Well we finally made it to the last step before we get to the voting rounds. This step involves each of our top 40 singing one song in front of a "live" audience in Las Vegas, Nevada. I must say after viewing last night's episode I actually liked this format. The main reason being is we get to hear everyone sing that remains in the competition. A real plus for sure as many of this final 40 have not had any screen time.

After Ryan Seacrest welcomes our judges; Keith Urban, Nicki Minaj, Randy Jackson and Mariah Carey, we learn that 10 girls will sing and then 5 will be eliminated from the competition. This is pretty much the same scenario they have had in the past only the contestant does not have to walk that last walk to find out their fate. In the event of a tie, Jimmy Iovine (who looks like he shrunk) will break the tie. One last note is our contestants are appearing at the Mirage in front of the live audience. The girls are introduced as a group first. Now let's get to the solo performances.......

First up is a girl we have seen very little. Her name is Jenny Beth Willis and she looks cute in her ruffled dress, complete with cowboy boots. Her song is "Heaven, Heartache and The Power of Love" originally by Trisha Yearwood. It was just okay for my ears although the very last note was very good. The judges pretty much felt the same way with Keith saying he had mixed feelings about the song. Nicki chimes in with her comment that Jenny's voice really did not come alive until the last note. Randy calls it jerky while Mariah is kind and calls it nice.

Next is 28 year old Tenna Torres. This is the last year she can qualify for this show. Sorry but I could not back the judges thoughts on this woman. I did not like this song by Natasha Bedingfield called "Incompatible" or maybe I just did not like this version by Tenna. The judges however viewed it differently with Keith calling it beautiful and liking her control, Nicki saying great song and tone, Randy liking the connection to the lyrics and Mariah finishing it off with loving the emotion. Definitely not my cup of tea.

17 year old Adriana Latonio who is from Alaska is doing the song "Ain't No Way" by the great Aretha Franklin. It had kind of a bluesy tone to it but I was not totally blown away. Keith and Randy were as they give her a standing ovation. Nicki feels she commands the stage and Mariah simply says she loved her version of the song. I feel this girl has potential to get better with each show.

Brandy Hotard is 26 years old and opts to sing the song "I Don't Love You Anymore" originally by Travis Tritt. Before the judges said a word I wrote down she is too happy for this sad love song. Plus I felt she was boring and did have some pitchy notes. Keith felt she had no consistency with the emotion of the song. Nicki called it a pageant delivery. Randy flat out does not like it and Mariah mainly talks about how beautiful Brandy is but she too does not feel the connection. Bye, bye, bye are my final thoughts for this woman.

Another 17 year old is up next in the form of Shubha Vedula. She starts her performance seated at the piano. Her song is "Born This Way" by Lady GaGa. It starts out okay but then she gets up and is all over the place with the song. It was just too much in my book. The judges felt the same with Keith and Nicki confused by how much action and voice she tried to cram into the song. Randy mentions she had too many runs in the song. Mariah agrees but like Randy felt this girl had potential.

I liked Kamaria Ousley in the group round segment of this journey however on this night she makes a huge mistake singing "Mr. Know It All" made famous by Kelly Clarkson. She appeared to be struggling the whole time and several of her notes were off-key. Mariah mentions the struggle in her comments. Keith agrees with Mariah that this was the wrong song. Nicki calls it throaty and twangy. Randy simply says the singing never caught on. Doubtful Kamaria will survive this round.

Kree Harrison is one I am hoping makes the top 5. She shows she has lots of potential by singing "Up To The Mountain" by Patty Griffin. Both Keith and Nicki give her a standing ovation with Nicki adding she felt Kree made love to this song. Randy calls Kree a natural born singer and Mariah calls her amazing. Of all the girls we see tonight, Kree is my top favorite.

Angela Miller was so good in the last round we saw her in playing the piano and singing an original. However, tonight I was disappointed with her performance of "Nobody's Perfect" by Jessie J. I think the judges were also as many talked about her last performance in comparision to this one. Both Nicki and Mariah cautioned her to not overdo and feel her potential is limitless. She is a favorite of the judges so I am almost sure she has secured a spot in the top 5 tonight.

Side note: Ryan Seacrest recognizes both Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson for winning Grammies last week.

Now comes the girl simply known as Isabelle. Her song is "God Bless The Child". I thought she did okay and could see potential for the future. Keith liked it. Nicki called it pretty. Randy however felt it was too old-fashion. Mariah thought she should have done more than the simple version that Isabelle sang. Sadly, I think Isabelle is a goner.

Last of tonight's performances is 18 year old Amber Holcomb who was cut in the Las Vegas round last year. She is singing "My Funny Valentine" tonight. Frankly I did not like it at all. The judges did and give her a standing ovation which floored me. Their comments were the exact opposite of what I had written down. Guess we know that Amber will definitely be making it to the live rounds in the future.

Now comes the decisions. Jenny Beth Willis is going home. Brandy Hotard is going home. Tenna Torres is safe. Kree Harrison is safe (yea). Isabelle is going home (not happy about this). Angela Miller is safe. Kamaria Ousley is going home. Amber Holcomb is safe. Shubha Vedula is going home with Adriana Latonio taking the last safe chair.

I was glad to see that both Kree Harrison and Adriana Latonio made it as these were the only two girls I see that have potential. On Thursday's show it will be 10 guys who will face the music with the same format as we saw on this night. Next week we will be seeing the rest of the top 40 that were chosen before we get to the voting rounds.

So with that being said I will now close and be back tomorrow with the Thursday re-cap. Until then take care all!