American Idol 7: Top 11

Sometimes a second helping of something is one helping too many. When that something is The Beatles, that wouldn't seem possible, but that was the case last night on American Idol, as the remaining eleven contestants tackled songs by the Fab Four for the second week in a row.

Almost everybody had weaker performances. The few who improved only did better because their last performances were so bad, there was no practical way to be worse.

In honor of the continuing stock market unrest, let's run the American Idol ticker tape and see whose prices rose, fell, or remain unchanged after last night's episode.

Advances

Kristy Lee Cook - She performed a safe rendition of "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away", a marked improvement over last week's hoedown (which was nothing like the classic hoedowns on Whose Line Is It Anyway?). Shares of KLC nearly doubled in value from 4.00 to 8.00, despite Simon calling her "musical wallpaper" and "unmemorable, except when she's terrible".

David Archuleta - The Wunderkind rebounded this week with "The Long and Winding Road", which was no surprise. He excels at ballads. They allow him to show his sensitivity. He should stick with slow songs because anything with a fast beat or remotely resembling a rock song seems to overwhelm him. DA rose 10 points to close at 77.50.

Syesha Mercado - I almost didn't recognize her with her hair in such a subdued and stylish state. She sang "Yesterday", which showed her vulnerability. With the exception of one randomly belted line, I liked it. Simon praised her song choice, but then took it back by saying it was the song Brooke should have sung. Shares of YES finished unusually strong, considering the backhanded compliment, at 18.85.

Ramiele Malubay - After a string of rather disappointing performances, Ramiele bounced back with "I Should Have Known Better". The happy-go-lucky song finally allowed us to see what was missing the last few weeks: her great voice and personality. Shares of RAMA rose to 45.50, including a tiny bump because of her fashionable chapeau.

Unchanged

Amanda Overmyer - Every week, Amanda claims to sing a different song, but I swear it's the same one every time. Last night, she sang "Back in the U.S.S.R.". The Overmyerized version sounded exactly like last week's "You Can't Do That". How can somebody with so much energy be so boring? OVER ended the day unchanged at 22.52. Any potential dip in price was offset by her classic remark, "Ballads are boring."

David Cook - Simon called his performance of "Day Tripper" predictable. If by predictable, he meant Cook delivered another solid performance showcasing his vocal and musical abilities (including a nice riff using a talk box), then I completely agree. Except, I don't think he meant that at all. Any "predictability" or "smugness" was offset by Cook's use of the words "euphoric", "epitome", and "appreciative" during his interview. Shares of DC remained even at 85.00.

Declines

Michael Johns - I think Johns should let somebody else pick his songs. The songs he chooses would be great if they could be sung in their entirety, but contestants only get ninety seconds to perform, which means songs must undergo major reductive surgery to fit the allotted time. In the case of "A Day in the Life", Johns botched the job. Based on befuddled reactions by the judges, shares of MJ fell from 75.00 to 72.50.

Brooke White - Coming in, Brooke seemed doomed to disappoint, especially after last week's "Let It Be". Her rendition of "Here Comes the Sun" wasn't bad, but it wasn't blow-me-away good either. If she spent her remaining weeks performing with a guitar or piano, I'd be happy. She's in her element when she has an instrument. The price of BW dipped to 80.25 due to awkwardness during and after the performance (talking over the judges = not good).

Carly Smithson - I don't know what she was wearing, but it looked like a red blouse with a wreath of roses around her collar. The whole thing distracted me from her phone-it-in performance of "Blackbird". Simon called it self-indulgent, but Randy and Paula loved it. I don't know why, but I feel like they're trying to sell me a 10, when Carly is clearly a 7 (as evidenced by the new "7" tattoo on her right ring finger). Shares of CRPY fell to five points to 65.00.

Jason Castro - Castro is a likable guy. Admittedly, I like him more when he's performing with his guitar, because when he's without it, I tend to notice his goofiness. Of course, likable and goofy worked for a few past contestants (Taylor Hicks comes to mind), so maybe he's onto something. He sang "Michelle". His French was fine, but his pronunciation of Michelle (an exaggerated "mee-shell") made me laugh every time. DRLK dropped four points to finish at 69.00.

Chikezie - He tried to recapture last week's magic with "I've Seen a Face", but failed miserably. Actually, he was doing a decent job until he started playing the harmonica. Everything went downhill from there. It was a schizophrenic mess. As one of the judges said, it was like watching six different performances -- none of them good. CHKZ plummeted from 65.00 to 52.31.

Prediction

Amanda, Kristy Lee, and Chizekie will be in the bottom three. Horrified that she is still in the competition, America will send Kristy Lee home... finally... hopefully.