Alaina Whitaker talks to Ryan in the red room. They discuss that she is the youngest contestant and also that tomorrow is her birthday. Her biggest wish, of course, is to not go home on her birthday. She is from Tulsa, Okla., and a junior in high school. Aha, she is the one who responded, "Shoot!" after Simon said he didn't think she was as good as she thought she was during the first round of auditions. I remember that. For her song tonight, she sings "More Today Than Yesterday." She starts slow and quiet and then launches in, and she's definitely the strongest one so far. Randy says season seven is "turning out to be the year of the young ones." He says once she got started, it was like, "What?" Paula says she nailed it, and that she had the best ending she's heard on that song. Simon: "I think you're very good. First time tonight we haven't seen any nerves." But he says he doesn't personally like the song because it's so corny, but if she can make "that bad of a song" sound good, she will do great with a good song.

Amanda Overmyer, the rock n roll nurse from Mulberry, Ind., is next. She says she is going to lay off the Janis Joplin because, like Simon said, she doesn't want to pale in comparison to her. She comes out to rock to "Baby, Please Don't Go" complete with scatting and lots of camera cuts. Randy wants her pants (literally, he likes her patchwork trousers), and likes her blues-rock sound. Paula likes her, too. Simon: "I really like you because I genuinely think you're authentic." He accuses her of forgetting the words halfway through, but it was one of the scat breaks. She asks him whether he's ever heard the song before, but he hasn't really. Even so, he still enjoyed her performance. Ryan says she seems pretty unflappable and asks if anything has unnerved or intimidated her. She says, yes, "When I had to dance in front of the camera after they announced the Top 24, and they show it like all the time on TV; it's embarrassing." Ha! That is great!

Amy Davis of Lowell, Ind., says being in the Top 24 is like "100 Christmases for a 6-year-old girl packed into one." She sings "Where the Boys Are." It's, um, pretty awful, and Randy starts laughing before she is even done with the last note. Randy says when you "scoop up to the note" like country singers do, you have to hit the note exactly, and she didn't, so it wasn't great. Paula says the camera loves her, but that overall, the performance was "lackluster." Simon: "You looked great, but you didn't sound great." He adds that it was pretty boring, and that "it wasn't you at all." Amy tells the best way to describe how she felt before she started is "shaky." That definitely came through in the performance, unfortunately.

Brooke White (pictured above) from Mesa, Ariz., sings "Happy Together," which she does a little more traditionally than David Cook's version last night. Randy says the first part of the song was decent, but in the second part of it, she started "slaying" it. Paula says this competition is all about originality and that she has a really unique voice. Simon says it was a good song choice, but he is starting to feel like he's trapped in a commercial for "washing-up liquid" from the 1960s because of all the "happiness." "It was very you, but I'm struggling with the relevance. ... I just presume you're going to be nice throughout the competition." "Is that all right with you?" she asks. "No, not really!" he replies. Ryan makes Simon clarify that washing-up liquid is dishwashing soap, which usually has sunny, happy commercials.

Alexandrea Lushington from Douglasville, Ga., is 16. She's the one whose great-grandmother was there during her audition. She sings "Spinning Wheel" and she tears it up. She's confident, engaging on stage and has a great time. What is going on with the teens tonight? Randy: "You blew the doors off that. ... You stayed on the notes, you got it, it was hot!" Paula says, "You took control of your entrance and your performance. ... I saw more confidence in your performance tonight than any others." Simon: "I didn't get it. I didn't think the vocals were great. It reminded me of one of these horrible little shows you see where people do an awful musical." Randy and Paula tell him he's wrong and that she's totally relevant. Alexandrea corrects Ryan on how to pronounce her name, but somehow it's charming and kind of funny. Simon says he hasn't yet heard "an outstandingly good vocal" yet. 

Kady Malloy is ready to hit the stage. She is from Houston and a recording-studio assistant. She is also the one with the killer Britney impression, but her goal is to prove she has her own voice. She sings "Groovy Kind of Love." She's kinda pitchy, but the last part isn't too bad. Randy: "This song was OK for me. It was so restrained and controlled. ... I thought you got lost in the song." Paula says she looks "really pretty tonight," but they want to see more of her fun side. Simon says he agrees with Paula. He says the performance "was like Night of the Living Dead. When you do Britney, you're brilliant, and then when you do you, the lights go off. ... You came across as 80 in that. You've got to lighten up. I don't know who could impersonate you. A pencil, maybe?" Ouch. She tells Ryan she was being serious because it was a serious song (which makes me think of "serious cat").

Asia'h Apperson is from Joplin, Mo. She is the one whose father passed away two days before her initial audition, at which she sang "How Do I Live?" and made me and countless others cry. She says her dad will definitely be with her because she's "living his dream." She sings Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart," having fun on stage. Randy loves that she did her own thing with the song. Paula: "You had fun up there; you had some really good moments in that song." Simon: "For me, it was my favorite of the night. You let go! You had fun, you're likable. ... It's what it's all about."

Ramiele Malubay, of Miramar, Fla., says she wanted them to think she has "a big voice for a little girl." She sings "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me," and the producers are having fun with dramatic camera cuts again. Randy: "You took your time, you built it up, you saved it for the end, you stuck to the melody, you made it your own, almost like a pro!" Paula: "You are a force to be reckoned with. ... I just thought, 'Right on.'" Simon says he didn't initially like her, but that through Hollywood rounds, she was the most consistently good singer, and that tonight, she outsang everyone. She's floored and excited.

Syesha Mercado, who lost her voice entirely during Hollywood week but gave an amazing final audition there, is from Sarasota, Fla., and a working actress in Miami. She comes out and belts "Tobacco Road," with a killer final note. Randy says she has a big old powerful voice and he liked it despite some pitchy parts. Paula says it was joyful and fun. "Syesha, way to go." Simon agrees that it wasn't her best performance, "but I don't think it really matters because you are probably one of the most talented girls in the competition. ... I thought it was terrific."

Carly Smithson, the Irish singer with the onetime record deal who has caused so much commotion, actually gets to talk about how she had had a contract with a label that later imploded. (They gloss over the $2 million the label spent and the fewer than 400 copies that sold part, which is what's been getting the attention.) She says she sees this as her second chance for sure. She sings "Shadow of Your Smile." I couldn't figure out what song she was singing until the last line. Randy: "That's what the show is all about. You have bronchitis and all that ... Best vocal of the Top 24 this week!" Paula calls her the "lucky penny" and mentions beautiful inflections. Simon: "Once again, I'm on my own here. I didn't get it. ... There's buzz about you. I thought the song was way too old-fashioned for you. I even thought your mike technique was cabaret. ... I was genuinely expecting something fantastic, and I didn't think it was fantastic." I'm going to go with Simon on this one. Meanwhile, Randy specifically disagrees with Simon's assessment of her mike technique.

So who was good? Who's at risk? Who's your new fave? I think Amy Davis, Kady Malloy and Kristy Lee Cook might be in danger, and I'm excited to see what some of these others singers (Alexandrea, Asia'h and Syesha, among others) are going to do next.

Ryan talks to the judges about what they think about the whole week so far. Randy says he thinks the women have an edge at the moment. Paula babbles about nerves and stress and blessedness. Simon says he can't follow her at all, and I'm with him on that and too tired to rewind and try to figure it all out. He adds that the guys and girls are about evenly matched so far.

(Photo of Brooke White courtesy of Fox)