Poor Ashthon. Poor, poor Ashthon. The girl who looked like she could’ve been the third wheel in a new wave Destiny’s Child is no longer with us on Idol. But that leaves the top 12, which is where we should’ve been in week one. I have a feeling we’re going to get a double elimination night one of these upcoming weeks. When it happens, someone’s going to scream “OoWee” like Anoop Desai.

Before we get started, here’s the first hotlist of the year. This is where I rank the remaining contestants.

Hotlist
1. Jacob Lusk – I don’t think he wins this season, but I do think he does his genre best.
2. Casey Abrams – I’m not sure if he can win this season either, but he’s the most creative of the bunch.
3. Lauren Alaina – I think she’s their best bet for a pop star coming out of this crew.
4. Pia Toscano – If she doesn’t make it as a singer, she can do whatever Kim Kardashian does.
5. James Durbin – If he continues to sing well, with his great story, he has a chance to go far.
6. Scotty McCreery – He’s going to look awful one of these weeks, but if he can stay in his lane, he’ll be around for a while.
7. Naima Adedapo – Her look isn’t traditional Idol, but her energy is off the charts.
8. Thia Megia – If she didn’t fail horribly last week, she’d have been in my top five, but I still think she has a Cinderella shot.
9. Paul McDonald – I’m not sure if the drunken stage singer routine is going to go over well for many more weeks.
10. Stefano Langone – I actually like his style and his song choices, but I don’t think he stands well.
11. Haley Reinhart – She has the chops, but she’s far too nervous when she gets up there.
12. Karen Rodriguez – I might start calling her Fake Lo.

The Defeated
1. Poor Young Ashthon Jones

Like last week, I’m going to scour Twitter to bring you some of the best tweets for tonight’s show. The Idol crew is putting the proceeds from tonight’s downloads towards the tragedy in Japan. Go out and buy a few songs.

J. Lo’s looking sweet, but she’s wearing a dress so I can’t get that peek around. I think Steven Tyler is wearing a woman’s satin tank top underneath his shirt. Randy looks to be wearing a denim/pleather jacket. The group is going to sing songs from the year they were born.

Naima Adedapo was born in 1984 and she’s singing What’s Love Got To Do. She better do it well or else Ike might give her the side eye from the grave. Rihanna, if you’re thinking of covering this, don’t. Naima is struggling with it a bit. They tried to put a rap beat behind it to make it 2011, and it’s leaving her out to dry. If the song’s a classic, just do the song. I blame the Dark Child. Steven says she has a sorcerer’s grasp for melody. J. Lo says she can’t give her a pass for her pitchy-ness. Randall says she’s under the pitch, though he liked Dark Child’s track.

@mrbjorke says:

Naima sounds like a bad toad. Flat and pitchy. #idol10

@wschamps2010 says:

Dear Idols pls do not use hand signs for ur # I know how to vote #idol10

Paul McDonald was also born in 1984 and he’s singing I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues by Elton John. I actually don’t mind Paul’s raspy voice. I think it’s original and brings a bit of “different” to Idol. But his performing drives me nuts. I don’t even pay attention to his singing because I’m trying to see if he falls off the stage. J. Lo says it sounded good, even though she knows he was struggling up there. I think he was sick. Randall says he was under pitch the first half of the song and says he’s the new Ray Lamontagne. Steven says he defines a cool dude in a loose mood.

@jflorez says:

Can u listen to more than three Paul Mcdonald songs in a row and NOT think they all sound the same?? I think not! #idol10

Thia Megia was born in 1995. Holy cow, she’s only four years older than my son. She’s singing Colors Of The Wind. Ok, Thia’s back y’all. She showed off some really nice vocals. Randall says the vocals were ok, but it was pageant-boring. Steven says it was good, but wondered if that is who she thinks she is. J. Lo says she needs to push out of the box, work on the vibrato, and come out next week and kill it.

@cake_gal says:

Thia just put me to zzzzzzzzz

James Durbin is up next and he was born in 1989. He’s singing I’ll Be There For You by Bon Jovi. Hmm, I’m pretty lukewarm on the performance, only because he didn’t have the usual energy that I was expecting. It wasn’t a rocker-like performance. Steven says not to get too poppy, but it was good. J. Lo says he brings her so much joy. Randall says there were some pitch spots, but he always figures out to make it his own.

@phreddd says:

James had me all smiles… nothing to rant about here (despite the Bon Jovi choice!) #idol #idol10 #americanidol

Ryno just said that Haley Reinhart was singing Whitney Houston. Why don’t these girls ever learn? Haley was born in 1990 and she’s singing I’m Your Baby Tonight. Haley’s wearing super red lipstick and it looks like she get it on her teeth. She may have booked a one-way ticket back home with this performance. And now, the lipstick is on her chin. That’s all around bad. J. Lo tells her to do something naturally, rather than faking her performance. Randall says she’s not sure who she is. Steven says they need to hear more blues from her.

@elliehempleman says:

Attention ladies of #Idol10, make sure there isn’t lipstick on your teeth or chin before you take the stage.

Stefano Langone was born in 1989 and is singing If You Don’t Know Me By Now, and I think he just dissed Hangin’ Tough. Apox on Stefano! Just kidding. That’s probably my least favorite New Kids song. Stefano reminds me a lot of Elliott Yamin in that when the show started, you didn’t really take him seriously because he doesn’t look the part, but every week, he brings the vocals and all you do is listen to his voice. He was really good. If I’m buying any of the performances tonight to help out with the tragedy in Japan, I start with this one. Randall says it was the best performance of the night so far. Steven called it beautiful. J. Lo says that if he sings to her and connects with her eyes, he can win it. Wow.

@thedodgerhater says:

Stefano Langone. Kid can really rock it. Excellent.

Pia Toscano was born in 1988. She’s also singing Whitney Houston. Well, she has a better chance than poor Haley. It was more of a copycat performance though it was sped up, but it was actually pretty decent. She had control of some of the bigger notes. Steven says she nailed the retro song. J. Lo was happy she did something uptempo. Randall says Pia is in it to win it.

@stackmack says:

What the hell is this girl on Idol wearing? A white satin jumpsuit? No. No. No. Please no.

@girlwonderful says:

I think Pia has a great voice, but I don’t find her interesting at all. #idol10

Scotty McCreery was born in 1993. I was a junior in high school. He’s singing Can I Trust You With My Heart. It’s right in Scotty’s lane and he continues to show consistency and extended his vocals just a little bit. J. Lo says he’s growing. Randall says he loves seeing him take chances to hit bigger and higher notes. Steven says he knows who he is.

@mrbjorke says:

I’ll say what I said the first time he sang on elimination shows…Scotty doesn’t need to win #idol10. He’s already got a deal n the bag.

Karen Rodriguez is next and she was born in 1989. She’s singing Taylor Dayne’s Love Will Lead You Back. I wonder if she can puff out her lips a bit. If Taylor Dayne was Latina, she’d sound like Karen. Karen needed to let her hair down and look more like a damsel in distress rather than worrying so much about power turns. And then, she decided to sing in Spanish. It actually hurt the performance because her vocals got worse. Randall says it started rough, but by the time the chorus came, she found it. Steven says he loves it when she breaks into her “ethnic what-it-is-ness”. J. Lo cut him off and says she liked the power turns.

@Stefnilove says:

I freaking LOVE Karen!! #idol10

@Ms_APayne says:

LATiNA LOVE always <33 Go Karen

@mlsoliman says:

Karen’s hair, earrings, dress and boots are all wrong for this song. The stylist needs to get fired. #idol10

Casey Abrams was born in 1991 and is singing Smells Like Teen Spirit. I think he’s going to get props for going left, but I think he may have alienated his fans who enjoyed his creative goofiness. He was in a scowl the entire performance. Steven says he’s crazy and talented. J. Lo says it was a risk and it screeched a bit. Randall says he’s putting art first and he’s fearless.

@aerocat says:

Casey totally messed up that Nirvana song. Hated it. Fearless, yes. But also fucked up. #AmericanIdol

Lauren Alaina was born in 1994 (the year I graduated from high school) and she’s singing I’m The Only One. They also made it quite apparent that she has the flu. I think Lauren has the best shot at doing something career-wise if she wins the show. She has so much personality in her singing. Vocally, you could slightly tell she was sick, but in her face and her performance, you couldn’t tell at all. She did very well. J. Lo says she took it and made her own, and that’s how she made it her own. That was Paula-like. Randall says she was nice and she should have a cold every week. Steven says she’s a shining star.

@JordanaBrett says:

I’m the only one who will walk across the fire for youw« #americanidol #GOLAURENALAINA #favorite #idol10

Jacob Lusk was born in 1987 and he’s singing Alone. The dude has the best vocals on the show, but he seems to get caught up in the performance and can’t stop from going over the top. He was able to bring it back and ended it with style. Randall says he got out of control but found his way back in a couple of notes and called it genius. Steven says gospel had a baby and named him Jacob Lusk. J. Lo says he gives himself completely to every performance.

@KimmyEason says:

Jacob Lusk sang “Alone” by Heart… No version will ever match Carrie’s, but he did it justice… One of my fave songs… #idol10

@KSAY4SF says:

Does anybody remember the crocodile from All Dogs Go To Heaven “lets make music together” — Thats who Jacob reminds me of LOL #Idol10

These two hour shows are taking days off my life. If I were Haley and Naima, I’d fear for my Idol survival. As for me, I’m going to head upstairs to buy Stefano’s track and give a few dollars to help the tragedy in Japan.

Seacrest out!