Two more girls will leave American Idol 9 this week, which gave the remaining eight females only one chance to win the hearts of the nation: Tuesday’s performance round. Only six of them will win a position in the Top 12, when voting becomes a free-for-all for the males and females equally.

As the show opened, Ellen DeGeneres was on Simon Cowell’s lap. “This is quite uncomfortable,” Simon was exasperated with Ellen’s joke. “I would say this is probably the worst night to go,” he said of the upcoming performance round.

The show began with Katie Stevens, who chose Kelly Clarkson’s banner hit “Breakaway.” This was a bold choice, and Katie started out a little hard to understand and weak. She sounded much better when she hit the chorus, but the performance was still messy. Katie was a little ahead of the music, incredibly wooden on stage and she still reeks of insincerity. Randy Jackson found the performance a little “karaoke,” saying “it wasn’t great.” Ellen DeGeneres was pleased with the song choice, but found that Katie was singing but not feeling. “We have people who really know themselves, and people who don’t,” Kara DioGuardi summed it up. Simon Cowell agreed with Kara, saying Katie made the tune “a little bit gloomy.”

Siobhan Magnus picked “House of the Rising Sun,” another odd song choice from her. The song holds special meaning for Siobhan, according to her sit-down with Ryan Seacrest. She started the tune in a high soprano with no accompaniment. There’s something captivating about Siobhan, and there is no question that her well-trained voice is positively gorgeous. “I love what you do,” Randy Jackson declared. “You are why I love music,” Ellen DeGeneres told her, adding “you are spectacular.” “You are so unique and different,” Kara DioGuardi observed. “I wasn’t quite such a fan of that,” Simon Cowell said, finding everything from the interview to the outfit to the song itself “weird.” He declared himself to be “under-impressed.”

Lacey Brown chose “The Story,” and sounded better than she has in the entire competition. The song suited her unusual sound, and for once she managed to stay in tune (most of the time). The low-energy performance was technically sound for a change, but her lack of showmanship could hurt her on results night. Randy Jackson found the song “a little boring” but opined that it was her “best performance.” “It is your best performance to date,” Ellen DeGeneres agreed with him. “This is the kind of record you need to be doing,” Kara DioGuardi found. “I didn’t love love the song, but you sang it really, really well,” Simon Cowell told her.

Katelyn Epperly appeared on stage to sing Carole King’s “I Feel the Earth Move.” It was a bizarre song choice, and Epperly was very airport piano bar. Her vocals were okay, her energy was high, but nothing was amazing or exciting. “I just didn’t feel the right connection, the vibe,” Randy Jackson told her, saying it all “felt kind of put-on.” Ellen DeGeneres didn’t like the song choice, saying “it just wasn’t enough.” “I didn’t feel like you were competing tonight on that stage,” Kara DioGuardi commented. “Let me start with the positive. I like your hair,” Simon Cowell told her before he ripped the performance apart, saying “It was kind of like request night on a Friday night in a restaurant.”

Didi Benami appeared on the Idol stage playing her guitar while singing “Rhiannon,” another brave song choice. Benami sounded much better with this tune than she did last week, but there’s still something so inauthentic about her it’s off-putting. The boring performance will probably be enough for Benami, however, because her unique-sounding voice is actually rather nice to hear. “It was definitely a whole lot better than last week, that’s for sure,” Randy Jackson told her. Ellen DeGeneres praised Benami’s ability to handle criticism, finally finishing with “good job.” “One of my favorite moments of the show so far this season,” Kara DioGuardi commented. Simon Cowell agreed with Kara, calling it “head and shoulders” above the other performances of the night. “The wow moment was actually the whole performance,” he found.

Paige Miles stepped up to the mic to softly sing “Smile,” which has been a bad luck song choice in the past (Gina Glocksen of Season 6 belted the tune for her AI swan song). Miles has a gorgeous singing voice and absolutely zero charisma, and this will be her downfall. If Paige learns how to perform, she could be a diva. If she doesn’t…well, she won’t. Randy Jackson loves the song, but “it just didn’t work” for Paige in his opinion. “It just went, like, completely flat,” he found. “That song is supposed to be inspiring,” Ellen DeGeneres told her, finding “it was just sad and heavy.” “What can I say? They’ve said it. …It was all wrong,” Kara DioGuardi sighed. Simon Cowell thought it was “a horrible choice of song,” and called the arrangement “something you would find at the Holiday Inn in 1974.” Paige Miles explained to Ryan Seacrest that she loves the song, and “maybe the arrangement wasn’t the best.” Even in her stand-ups and sit-downs, Paige is boring.

Crystal Bowersox started out a little shakily on Tracy Chapman’s “Give Me One Reason,” but immediately grew stronger as the audience got into the performance. Her strong vocals, her energy and her high performance value are sure to make Crystal a huge star. It was another great song choice and another memorable performance. “This is what the show is about for me. Love that, love you, love the song!” Randy Jackson waxed enthusiastic. “I need new adjectives for you,” Ellen DeGeneres said, adding “best performance of the night.” “Every time you step up there, it’s easy for you,” Kara DioGuardi told her. “You are, one million, billion percent going to be in the Top 12 next week,” Simon Cowell predicted. “Right now, you are the one everyone has to beat, I’m telling you. It’s yours to lose.” Big words from the toughest judge.

Lilly Scott attained the most coveted position of the night, making the most out of her moment with Patsy Cline’s “I Fall to Pieces,” a bit of a surprising choice. Scott also started the number with a bit of a stumble, but her interesting voice quickly righted itself as she opened up in the song. Lilly has talent, but her voice might be a little too interesting to take on a straight-up country joint like this one. “I think it was hot tonight,” Randy Jackson complimented her. “Love your voice. Love your originality, you style. Loved it. Love you,” Ellen DeGeneres told her. “You kind of made Patsy Cline feel current,” Kara DIoGuardi observed. Simon Cowell found Scott to be “very brave,” but added “that didn’t have the wow factor. It was cute, it was quirky…but that could have been a risky thing to do.” I agree.

Wednesday’s performance round will give the remaining 8 male competitors the chance to sing for our votes. The results for all twenty-eight of them will be revealed live on Thursday. Will your favorite make it into the Top 12? Keep up on all the news, songs and gossip - check out our American Idol 9 posts.