women's semi-final (round two)...

Okay ladies, top that!

The women are going to have a challenge to match the quality of last night's men's semi-final.  And it's strange, but with this new gender segregation, I find myself concentrating on the men's competition and giving the women barely an afterthought.  It's going to be interesting to discover my own opinions once we blend them, week after next.

Nevertheless, tonight the women take the stage.  And my hope for them is pretty much the same as I had for the guys.  Few, if any, ballads.  No Whitney.  No Mariah.  No Celine.  No Stevie Wonder. And no bossing around the audience.  Melinda sang Celine.  Sarah yelled at the people.  Both are gone.  Defense rests.

It's hard to imagine at this point that the women could outshine the guys, but, of course, the Dawg Pound will be there to help with backup vocals.  Carrie and Nadia just have to show up to continue.  Mikalah is going to advance just on the strength of her die-hard (and apparently deaf) fans.  And Vonzell would have to pull a Carmen to leave.  The others are skating on thin ice.

Celena, Jessica and Aloha are still suffering from the no-airtime syndrome, from here on referred to as the Melinda Malady, but with strong performances, will no longer have that excuse.  Janay must recover from last week's debacle of a performance, and she has payback the size of the national debt to her fans, the ones who kept her in the competition.  Lindsey needs to project.  It's hard to form an attachment to someone we can't hear.  And Amanda.  One more ballad from Amanda could be her last.

With this group it is so tough to make a pre-performance predition, but you know I'm going to anyway.  I just won't put down any money.

We're going to bid farewell to Amanda and Aloha, unless Janay lets the nerves get the better of her.