So it seems that, largely, 70s week was a bust for the American Idol contestants. The theme of both the Tuesday and Wednesday performances seemed to be “pick a better song next time.” But for four of them, there will be no next time.

Carly Smithson ended last week’s performances, slating her in the first place position Wednesday night. I loved her black outfit and the power she put into “Crazy On You,” but there were times when everything didn’t quite sound in key. Randy Jackson called her performance “good toward the end,” but said that she “over-hit” some of the notes. Paula told Carly, “you are an amazing singer” which started off the tone of her mostly generic comments for the rest of the evening. Simon liked Carly’s performance better than last Wednesday’s, but thinks she hasn’t quite found the right song. He did give her one piece of praise, saying none of the other girls in the competition “can touch you vocally.”

Syesha Mercado put a female spin on “Me and Mrs. Jones” (re-titling it, naturally, to “Me and Mr. Jones”) and changed the arrangement to suit her own style. The big finish was impressive, but the judges didn’t care for the song choice. Randy wants to hear Syesha belt it out more, Paula Abdul likewise wanted Syesha to sing with more power, and Simon lit into her. He called the song choice “a bit indulgent” and said it was “probably a silly thing” to change it the way she did. Moreover, Simon went on to say he was “put off” right when she started.

Blonde Brooke White - a favorite among fans but for some reason I can’t stand her - was next on stage, singing Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” as she played guitar. The song rocketed Carly Simon to fame and became one of the best-kept secrets in Hollywood, and I totally wasn’t blown away with the average performance from Brooke. The judges were, however. Randy laughingly asked if the song referred to Simon Cowell, Paula “really loved it” and the song choice too, and Simon Cowell piled on the accolades. He “absolutely loved it,” thought it was the “perfect song” for Brooke and said it “absolutely connected.” Brooke then smilingly thanked the judges and the band, and I was reminded again of why I don’t like her. I just don’t buy this angelic act. The sweetness pill is getting a little hard to swallow all the time, Brooke.

Petite Ramiele Malubay hit some huge notes during her rendition of “Don’t Leave Me This Way,” a disco-era tune she put a ton of energy into. Randy thought it was a weird song choice and “just okay” vocally. Paula said Ramiele is “one to beat,” even though she didn’t care for the song choice either. Simon Cowell said he hears the song all the time at “ghastly weddings” and won’t remember Ramiele’s performance, though he does think she’s one of the top three singers in the competition.

Country girl Kristy Lee Cook came out next to perform “You’re No Good.” I loved her outfit but not her lack of originality - she didn’t do much with the song, though she performed it fairly well. Randy called it an “100% improvement over last week,” and said it was “pretty in-tune.” Paula liked the song choice, and Simon seems to like Kristy. He suggested she take a more countrified route to singing and said she has “a lot of potential.”

Then it was time for Amanda Overmyer, who is quickly falling from grace with the public as another Idol scandal begins to break. I still love everything about her, though I did find her performance of “Carry On My Wayward Son” to be totally strange. Her dancing was a little epileptic and she had obvious trouble hitting the lower notes. Her look and the song were both kinda strange, I’ll give you that, but she brought a lot of enthusiasm to the performance and that’s always fun. In a way, the whole thing was a bit scary, even off-putting - but it certainly was unique. Randy called it “pitchy” and said it wasn’t the right song choice. Paula liked her dance moves and said Amanda is a “brilliant artist.” (Paula Abdul, as usual, got more and more inane as the night wore on). Simon said the whole thing “felt contrived,” called it an “indulgent song,” and hated her hair. Simon finished by saying he “really, really didn’t get that.”

Alaina Whitaker appeared after Amanda to mangle her way around “Hopelessly Devoted to You.” Throughout the performance, I was sort of wishing for Olivia Newton-John to appear suddenly and start smacking Alaina around on stage - and I absolutely hated her blue dress. Randy called the song pitchy and again didn’t like the song choice, while Paula encouragingly told Alaina she “did a real good job.” Simon likes Alaina but found the performance “very, very old-fashioned” and didn’t find it current. He said it was a little “pageanty” but said Alaina is a bit of a dark horse in the contest.

Ryan Seacrest took the opportunity, then, to ridicule Simon’s wardrobe. This is particularly funny as I’ve often seen Seacrest looking any old way on the show - don’t wear a tie and blue jeans at the same time, Ryan.

Next came Alexandrea Lushington, who delivered an enthusiastic performance last week. This week she sang the slower “If You Leave Me Now,” ballad-fashion…and didn’t sound all that great. Once again, I’ve got to say something about this girl’s wardrobe. What is really going on here? Seriously - ditch the military stuff. Today, right now. Her performance lacked charisma and was horribly pitchy to boot, too slow and boring to keep the crowd involved. Randy thought she played it too safe and told her “never make safe choices.” Paula is impressed with Alexandrea and thought she made the song her own. Simon said he was a “big, big fan” of Alexandrea in the early stages but thinks she’s struggling now. Alexandrea admitted to Seacrest that she feels “like an underdog.” I feel like she’s had more camera time than some of the other girls.

Kady Malloy started her performance on the stairs and nearly fell (wouldn’t that be awful?), but she sounded even rougher than she was walking. Her outfit was adorable, at least. I found her “Magic Man” re-make to be really poor, though Kady pulled it together toward the end. Randy called the night one of “interesting song choices” and said Kady “never found the pitch.” In the end, he said the whole thing “just didn’t work.” Totally. Paula liked it when Kady “powered through” (Paula said this so many times through the evening I just started to zone out when she opened her mouth). Simon thinks Kady is great on film, but he didn’t like the song.

In the last place position was Asia’h Epperson, who delivered a great performance last week. She tried to belt out Celine Dion’s “All By Myself,” a song I love, but had a bit of a stumble near the beginning. Randy liked the performance, though he said it was a “difficult song.” Paula thought “it was great,” and Simon thought the song was just too big for her. He said Asia’h isn’t “that good a singer” for that particular song, and called it a “silly decision” on her part to have sung it.

All that’s left now is the Thursday results show, where four more will be axed. Will your favorites survive?