Semi-finals begin! While I think the Top 24 as a whole is fairly mediocre -- there is some major talent, but a whole lot of filler -- the Top 12 GIRLS are very, very strong. I was excited going in to this episode, to see how they would stand up after a strong showing in Hollywood Week. Ultimately, even though there were three or four really excellent performances, I found myself disappointed. I expect more out of this group.

Ryan opened the show by doing a bit of teasing with Simon and the rumors of his engagement, but he was really teasing out the fact that Simon said point-blank that this is a girl's year. Um, yeah. There's only one guy (Andrew Garcia) I can see winning at this point. Of course, all of that can change over the next three months. NOBODY expected Kris Allen to take it last year.

Ellen also addressed the fact that they've re-jiggered the panel line-up - she is now on the far left, instead of next to Simon - and she revealed that it's because Simon is constantly hitting on her. This was accompanied by some totally ridiculous joke footage of Simon getting all handsy with Ellen during Hollywood Week. It was hilarious, but really, do we have time for this kind of stuff? Maybe the show could cut down on the FIVE HOURS of episodes we'll have this week and instead let us watch some of the Olympics? No?

Paige Miles was up first. She's a 24-year-old preschool teacher from Florida, and one of the very few contestants we knew basically nothing about going into semis. (BTW: Props to the show for limiting the "Who?" contestants this season.) I don't recall seeing Paige at all prior to the Top 24 was finalized, although she sounded pretty good in the clip they showed of her in Hollywood Week. She chose "All Right Now" by Free. The beginning was ROUGH - too low. She put a lot of vocal embellishment into the fairly dull standard melody of the song, but a lot of it sounded forced and frankly unpleasant. I think this was a case of bad song choice and a performer who doesn't really know who she is. Simon told her that of all the girls she has the best voice. We have seen absolutely nothing to back that up. Simon then called it out as a wedding singer-type song, which is exactly right. Kara liked the song choice, and the fact that Paige put her soul into it. But she thought the chorus was a missed opportunity. Randy loved it. Ellen gave her props for coming out first. That is...not a criticism. But she liked it. I thought the judges were entirely too kind to her. It wasn't terrible, but it also wasn't memorable. And since Paige was basically a cipher going into this, she needed to be memorable.

Ashley Rodriguez, 22-year-old student from Massachusetts. People are calling her the presumptive winner at this point, and I don't get that AT ALL. Her voice isn't that big, she often sounds flat, and she's just so...generic. Speaking of generic, she chose Leona Lewis's "Happy." I love that song, but it's such an obvious choice for this show. Once again the song started too low for the contestant (that happens a lot on this show). She didn't know where to hold the mic - lots of spitting noises. Her melisma was painful to listen to. The chorus of the song - a naturally powerful chorus - lacked any energy whatsoever. And strangely, she sang only like 30 seconds of the song. Not that I'm complaining, because that was more than enough. She wasn't very good. Kara gave her credit for taking on a big song, but said there were lots of bad moments. She encouraged her to take on unexpected songs and do something different with them. Randy pointed out that doing a song like that, she's always going to be compared to the original artist. Ellen gave her the same lukewarm reception. Simon thought it was clumsy, he hated the arrangement, and he thought Ashley was going backward. He said that she wasn't presenting herself as a contemporary recording artist, just "someone who sings other people's songs, not particularly well." Simon, that is exactly who Ashley Rodriguez is.

Janell Wheeler is 24, from Orlando, and a wine sales rep. Janell had one outstanding performance in Hollywood, but she had a whole bunch of shitty ones, too. She is inconsistent, although very pretty. She chose Heart's "What About Love." She sounded tentative in the beginning. The song was well within her range and she sounded decent in parts, but seriously flat in others. She also moved like a robot. I think she had some major nerves. Randy got "vibes" from her. Whatever. Ellen loved the song choice (me too), and liked her. Simon said she gave 100 percent effort and succeeded 65 percent. I'd say closer to 75 percent, but point taken. Kara said the song was too big for her - I thought she handled it better than the first two performers handled their songs.

Lilly Scott, 20-year-old from Denver. Lilly is my stealth pick for this season. She has a great back story - she lived out of her car last year! Just like Jewel! - and from what I've seen so far she has an incredible, interesting voice and a memorable look. She picked "Fixing a Hole" by The Beatles, an unconventional song, to be sure. She accompanied herself on the acoustic guitar. She had major pitch issues in the first verse, but got it together by the chorus. It was a performance that made you sit up and take notice; I really like this girl. She's an original and I want to see where she goes. I'd love to see her take on some really balls-out rock song, like something from Lita Ford or Joan Jett. Ellen loved the random song choice and what Lilly did with it. Simon felt liked that she sang a song she really connected with, although he doesn't feel star power from her (I think she's had the most star power of any of the girls so far). Kara brought up her street-busking past, and said that everyone would remember Lilly. Randy liked that she's a real indie artist, and she's not putting on airs. I agree with that. And I love that she joked about Ryan's teeniness. LOVE THIS GIRL!

Katelyn Epperly is 19 years old from Iowa. She also chose another oldie, "Oh Darling." She actually sounded great, with a much bigger voice than I remember. But can we talk about the outfit? Black leather minidress, hair poofed out to infinity, black patterned stockings, fascinator in her hair. Deliver me from Madonna circa 1986. It was hard to concentrate on the singing because of the look, but she did a hell of a lot better than I expected. There were bluesy elements, a lot of confidence, and really nice vocal moments. We just need to give her a makeover, STAT. Kara specifically said that she liked her more natural. I just need her to not look like a prostitute. Ellen felt like she was trying too hard, and I think there was some truth to that. But still, good on her. That was way better than I expected.

Haeley Vaughn is a 16-year-old high school student from Colorado. She is certainly one of the most controversial picks for the Top 24 this year - her voice is all over the place, but I find that I like her. She chose "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," also by The Beatles. She also broke out the guitar to accompany herself. And I really liked her version of it. It was slowed down in some places, sped up in others, and I thought the vocal had a lot of interesting textures. Yes, she has a tendency to get screechy, but no more so than Adam did last year. To me this was original and fresh sounding, and incredibly commercial. Kara pointed out that there were some technical issues, but she praised Haeley for bringing her huge spirit to the song. Randy found her unpredictable, but he pointed out her screechy tendencies at the top of her register. Ellen said that Haeley just shines on stage, and she enjoyed the performance. Simon thought it verged on terrible; he found her smile off-putting, and the song a "complete and utter mess." I can see where people would find it off-putting, but I really do think it was a dynamic performance and that Haeley has a lot of potential.

Lacey Brown is 24 and works at a church in Texas. She got cut in favor of Megan last year, a decision that still haunts me. I hope she at least makes it through this week if only to make up for that injustice. She picked "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac. It started rough and didn't get much better from there. She played with the melody in all the wrong ways, and I don't think the song worked for her jazzy style of singing at all. She made these really strange phrasing choices, especially with her "i"s that just took me out of the performance completely. The ending sounded good, but much of the rest was off-putting. Randy thought it was terrible, pitchy, and just a bad song choice. Ellen thought she was better than that - I think that's probably true. Simon found it depressing, indulgent, and boring. Ouch. Kara suggested that she try something poppier, like Sixpence None the Richer, The Sundays, etc. Lacey didn't understand Simon's boring critique, saying that some songs are just slower. But you can take a slow song and not make it boring. Katelyn did that like 15 minutes ago.

Michelle Delamor, a 22-year-old clothing store employee from Florida, kissed the producers' asses during a brief interview with Ryan. She's one of the other "Who?" contestants for this season; I barely remember her at all. She is absolutely gorgeous. She chose "Falling" by Alicia Keys. Snore. While the song was comfortably in her range, and she could hit all the notes nicely, it was impossible not to compare her to the original. And her voice simply lacks Alicia's confidence, soul, and richness. It was a competent carbon copy of a song we've heard on this show a million times. There was nothing about the performance that made me stand up and take notice. Ellen thought it was fantastic, although safe, and wanted her to push herself more. Simon thought it was quite professional, but it lacked a "wow" factor. Kara said that there were moments that weren't great - I didn't hear any off moments in term of tone. I just thought it lacked personality. Randy pleaded for her to take risks. Yes, please. She's...fine. But you need to be more than fine to get noticed at this point.

Didi Benami is a 23-year-old waitress originally from Tennessee. She's one of my frontrunners for the season, and thus far has shown us several really impressive auditions. And she's self-aware enough to know that we're tired of her milking her sob story. She picked "The Way I Am" by Ingrid Michaelson. I can see how that would be a good song choice for her voice, but it was too low-key to really make the impact she wanted. There were some bum notes in the lower register, but I really enjoyed her staccato work in the upper notes. I was not a fan of the throw rug she wore as a sweater vest. Simon thought she was a good singer, but she was trying too much to sound like someone else. He also thought it was a dreary song. He was missing a spark from her; I can see that. Kara liked that she made some changes to the original song, and wasn't merely parroting the original. Randy wondered after the star factor, calling it "sleepy."

Siobhan Magnus is a 19-year-old glass-blowing apprentice from Massachusetts. There's something you don't see every day. I think Siobhan is kind of a nerd, or perhaps just very weird, and I love that about her. And I also like her voice. She picked "Wicked Game" by Chris Isaak. She has a huge range, sounding just as good in the low notes as she does in the higher register. She possesses a magnificent falsetto, which is of course key for this song. I thought she killed the vocal on the song, although her performance was a little odd. I do not understand what was going on with the styling, whatsoever. Kara called her "quirky" (boy, howdy!), and loved that she's so in the moment when she sings. Yes, totally. Randy encouraged her to keep going for bigger songs. Ellen loved the whole thing, and how mysterious she was on stage. Simon called her a "funny little thing." Simon liked it, although it wasn't as good as the Stevie Wonder song she did in Hollywood. He thought it might have been too dark. Siobhan explained that she picked it to essentially show the softer side of Sears. I think she is a little bit off, and I love it. I desperately hope Siobhan is with us for a long, long time.

Crystal Bowersox is a 24-year-old mom and musician from Colorado. She directly addressed the issue that she had never watched the show prior to auditioning, and only did so because she needs to make the bucks to provide for her son. I can respect that. She picked "Hand in My Pocket" by Alanis Morrissette, accompanying herself on both guitar AND harmonica. Crystal is a real, honest-to-god musician. She oozes musical talent, has a really lovely folky voice, and she really connects with her songs. The show has very rarely had contestants as, forgive the term, "real" as Crystal. She is a clear favorite this season, and I hope she doesn't lose herself during this competition. Randy loved her honesty, even if he didn't necessarily love the song. Ellen said she adds something fresh to the show. Simon said that yes, everyone loves her, but the truth is that there are millions of people doing exactly what Crystal does outside subway stations everywhere. ...True. He encouraged Crystal to mix it up with her song choice, and not go for obvious stuff like Alanis. Crystal pointed out that they don't allow originals on the show, and he said, go for stuff like Bowie, which she responded well to. Kara said that she was good tonight, but has greatness within her. I think that's true, she just doesn't know how to play the show yet. I think she'll learn quickly.

Katie Stevens is a 17-year-old high-school student from Connecticut. She is so Disney teen queen I can barely stand it. She did Michael Buble's version of "Feelin' Good." Another song that started too low (ladies, LEARN FROM EACH OTHER!). It was far too old-fashioned for a  17-year-old girl. And she was basically biding her time through the slow intro until she could really get into the more upbeat section. Unfortunately for her, this was a terrible fit for voice. It sounded milky and unpolished, and it was easily the worst we've heard so far in the competition. Also, the arrangement for the song was TERRIBLE. Ellen thought it was good, and she has a good voice, but too conservative and serious for someone her age. Yup. Simon agreed; he thought it was like her parents had picked the song, styled her, everything, and it was "annoying" and "pageanty." Kara said it was all over the place pitch-wise, but basically assured America that the girl has serious chops. Randy compared her to My Darling Jordin. No; Jordin never would have done a performance that shitty.

Predictions: Lilly, Katelyn, Siobhan, and Crystal were my favorites of the night. Paige could be in trouble for being forgettable, Haeley could be in trouble because everyone but me hates her, Lacey is almost certainly doomed, and Katie SHOULD be in trouble, but won't be due to the pimping. I suspect that Paige and Lacey will be the first to go home.

Tomorrow: Here come the terrible, terrible Top 12 guys.