Ever wonder why people come up with one name when trying to establish a career in music? In the case of Lashundra Cobbins (falsely known as Trenyce on AI2) it was to avoid her crooked past as a thief. Now back to the show if you push “read more” On what I like to refer to as Crappy Song Selection night, it was very hard to distinguish who was bad and who really sucked. It was supposed to be disco, but I guess they couldn’t buy the rights to the songs because it turned out being country/rock. Joshua Gracin, America’s new golden boy, sucked with his rendition of a Garth Brooks classic Ain’t Goin’ Down ‘Til the Sun Comes Up. Simon said his “hat looks great” and that hit the nail on the head. Lashundra Cobbins was next (oh, do you still want the thief called Trenyce?) and was middle of the pack with her I Need You from Leann Rimes, an artist I don’t care for. Simon called it her “weakest performance” and on a night of crappy performances she wasn’t the worst or best.

Kimberley Locke stood out for the second week in a row, even impressing norcaldoll who instantly uttered “I like this” at her first few notes. She performed Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me” and did justice to it although Simon uttered that it “wasn’t much rock”. Corey Clark’s freaky hair is back, and he sat in a chair with a bandana on while he sang “Drift Away” by whoever the hell originally performed it because I don’t know. I thought he wasn’t as awful as before because he lost his annoying high pitches, and Simon basically echoed my thoughts. When the night was over I had him in the bottom 3.

Carmen Rasmusen is struggling, and her rendition of Wild Angels by Martina McBride was not good. Her voice is still being developed and I felt her showing was middle of the pack at best, and ultimately I rated her the second worst of the night. Just ahead of her I had Rickey Smith, who sang a Larry Gatlin “hit” that I’ve never heard of. I thought it was tolerable while Simon said it was “not world class”.

Kimberly Caldwell had a horrible outfit on, but her singing of Any More by Travis Tritt was very good. Simon called it her “best performance” and I felt on the evening she was at the top of the pack. Ruben Studdard was decent as he belted out Sweet Home Alabama (gee, how original seeing as he wears 205 on his shirt every week) and Simon called him “infectious” and said he is “on a roll”. That says it all. His momentum will carry him even when he is below par like he was on this night.

Julia DeMato belted out Breathe, a great Faith Hill song. Norcaldoll succinctly stated that she was “in tune” and I felt she was very good although she wore trampy pants and still looks like she is trying too hard. Clay Aiken ended the night singing Someone Else’s Star by Brian White. How many times can you say the guy is good? I’ll say it again, he’s good.

So ultimately, I had Corey Clark, Carmen Rasmusen and Rickey Smith as my worst three. Of that group, I was only right about Rickey Smith, who did in fact get his wake up call by being in the #8 position (aka third worst) for votes. However, that left “rivals” Julia DeMato and Kimberly Caldwell battling for survival even though both stood out with their performances this week. Julia DeMato avoided the chopping block twice, but the third time was a venomous snake bite on the side of her neck. This is someone who could develop a career much more than many of the other finalists, but her nerves killed her as I’ve pointed out several times.

For everyone wanting my take on Trenyce/Lashundra’s past as a thief, here it is. Don’t change your name to avoid a rap sheet. People are going to find out eventually and when they do it will be much, much worse. The black population will cry out that everyone is picking on her “because she is black” but I beg to differ. They are picking on her because she lied. To me, lying is worse than stealing. Had she come out and said “hey, I made a mistake, it was 3 or 4 years ago and I regret it every day of my life” then we’d all have much more respect for her. At this point, I hope the producers kick her to the curb and bring back Julia DeMato. I’m done for now, that was a lot of ranting.