Tonight the Top 10 girls on season 9 of American Idol hit the stage live. Last week Janell Wheeler and Ashley Rodriguez were sent home. Who’ll make the cut this week? Find out live ….PROGRAMMING NOTE: Surprise! Change in plans! The Top 10 guys are actually performing tonight, Tuesday March 2. So head over to the “American Idol Top 10 guys perform live” post to read the live blog of their performances.The reason for the change was that Crystal Bowersox, who is diabetic, was taken to the hospital Tuesday morning with what was reported as a complication from diabetes. The doctor said she shouldn’t perform live yesterday. According to published reports, she’s doing fine and she should be back for tonight’s performance.This morning, Ryan Seacrest did an interview with Idol producer Ken Warwick about what happened:As of 6:30 PM EST, when asked on Twitter if there was any news on Crystal, Ryan tweeted “I’m still in a run thru..uncertain. Planning for either way …”So we’ll see what happens. From what Ken Warwick said, it sounds like perhaps Crystal’s illness may be serious – whether she’s quite sick or just not physically up the challange of the live performance, we don’t know.7:50 PM – and the answer is… Crystal is performing tonight!Ryan opens the show by introducing the girls and then asking Crystal how she’s doing. He says she’s had a rough 24 hours, and Crystal says she’s ready to perform, that she’s “a tough cookie.”Ryan asks the judges about last night; Randy says the boys were on. Ellen says song choice is everything. Ryan comments that Kara has been cozying up to Simon, and asks why. Uh oh, Kara has taken Paula’s place as Simon’s flirting partner. Simon says to the contestants that the pressure is on and they have to show they’re up to it.Up first is Crystal Bowersox. In her video, we learn she has a twin brother named Carl and that when she performs she carries a pouch with some trinkets she’s collected from people close to her. Crystal’s performing Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “As Long As I Can See The Light,” with what she describes as a gospel/churchy spin on it. Simon won’t mistake this for a subway station performance. The girl has grit and natural talent. Randy says in life, truth is reality, and that describes her so well. And he says, “I love that girl. That girl is hot!” Ellen calls her a raw, natural talent and is so glad she’s healthy enough to perform and stay in the competition. Kara says this song fits her so much better, that she’s more Americana/rock and tonight she hit a new level. Simon says he knows how sick she was over the last 24 hours – that it wasn’t just a cold or something (Crystal is a diabetic and wears an insulin pump, so whatever sent her to the hospital was serious) – and that he underestimated her, that she came back from last week, didn’t whine about her illness, and that she’s a really serious artist.Haeley Vaughn is up next, and she’s giggling and bubbling as usual. In her video we learn that in her spare time, she makes headbands and hair accessories. Okey dokey. Haeley is singing Miley Cyrus’ “The Climb.” She’s a little pitchy and her lisp can be very pronounced when she sings. She’s a lovely girl, but she’s so young and it shows in her singing and her stage performance. Randy “keeps it real” and says “It didn’t work for me. It was tough. It was excrutiating.” He called it pitchy and said she had no connection to the song. Ellen tells her not to stop smiling but she agrees with Randy and felt she didn’t connect with the song and there was no feeling. Kara says she has the “Alex Lambert” factor, and that there are a lot of people who like her and are voting for her. But she needs maybe a year of strengthening her voice. Kara! She’s no Alex Lambert – he’s way more talented. Simon agrees and says it was a complete and utter mess. Poor Haeley; she’s holding back tears while she smiles. That had to hurt, but they were right. The truth is that Haeley is just in way over her head in this competition, and no one is doing her any favors by keeping her here. She needs some maturity and some work to learn how to use her voice better.Lacey Brown is up. We learn in her video that she loves to go antiquing and refinish furniture. Before her performances she tells herself, “You were made to do this,” something her mother tells her. She also apologizes if she bored people last week, admitting nerves got the best of her. She’s singing Sixpence None The Richer’s “Kiss Me”. It’s better. Not great, but definitely better. Randy says it was a good song choice and it would have worked but it felt like karaoke because she didn’t bring anything special with it. Ellen says it was adorable and she sounded like it was the right song. Kara says last week they were losing what was special about Lacey’s voice and this song brought that back. But she needs to step it up. Simon says it was “marginally better than last week.” He says that he feels like she’s taking part in a competition rather than showing people that she’s an artist. The problem is that few of these singers are going to be able to hold their own against Crystal. Or Lilly.Katie Stevens is up next. In her video we find out she can say “Give me a kiss” in six languages, including English. Before she goes on stage she jumps up and down and gives herself a pep talk. Last week, the judges thought her song was too old for her. This week, she’s singing “Put Your Records On.” She is soooo good. Looking at her and knowing how old she is, it’s easy to forget that she has this big, fantastic voice. I thought that was great. Randy says there some bright moments but the first part was pitchy. (What?) He says she can tackle bigger songs. Ellen says she liked it and she has a great voice, but she still wants her to feel younger. She says she doesn’t want to hear something she’d hear in her dentist’s office. Kara says she’s frustrated with her, and she knows it’s confusing to hear the judges give feedback. She says a great song on the radio may not be a great song for her to sing and have an impact. Simon says also says it’s frustrating, and he’s glad that she’s taking their advice. He thinks she needs more experience and needs to think more about what kind of artist she wants to be. Ryan asks Katie how she can make it younger, and she admits it’s confusing. Kara says to sing a song next week about something she’s going through in her life. I think the problem is that Katie Stevens might only be 17, but she’s one of those 17 year old girls who’s 25. You know what I mean? So in my opinion, just let her be older. She looks older. She’s got an older voice. Katie and Haeley are almost the same age in years, but clearly there’s a decade of maturity that separates them. So I disagree with the judges. I thought it was a great performance. (On Twitter, @Ldr223 suggests Katie sing a Taylor Swift song next week; that’s a good suggestion!)Didi Benami is up next. We learn that in middle school she was the school mascot for two years, and that she prays and “meows” before she hits the stage. This week she’s singing “Lean On Me,” by Bill Withers. There’s a bit of a shaky start; she’s changed up the melody a bit, which is never good on a song that well know so well. This is definitely not as good as last week. I loved last week’s performance. Didi, Didi, Didi. I’m bummed. Randy says, shaking his head, that he wouldn’t have chosen that song for her, that it shows what she can’t do rather than what she can do. Ellen loves her voice and her prescence and loves Bill Withers. But it wasn’t the right song choice. Kara bluntly says, “Didi, it wasn’t good.” She says that if Didi is a singer/songwriter then she needs to sit down with the guitar and give an honest interpretation of the song. This was all over the place. Simon says she “continued the cat theme” (referring to the pre-show meowing), and he says it was frustrating because she’s a cool artist and has this opportunity to perform in front of this huge audience and she does something genric. Didi’s trying to hold back tears and smile; she can’t even talk to Ryan, but she’s not crying and she’s still smiling, which is good. OK, vote for Didi; she does have a great voice and I think, like some of these artists, she needs another week to get her bearings.Michelle Delamor is up next. In her video we learn more about her work as a children’s choir director at church; she loves the kids. She prays before a performance. Tonight she’s singing “With Arms Wide Open” by Creed, following Simon’s advice to take a risk. I don’t like her outfit; it seems a bit contrived. Hate the gloves. And like Didi, I don’t think this performance is as good as last week. In fact, she really doesn’t sound very good at all. A little screechy, even, and pitchy. She tells Randy it felt good; he says the outfit is hot, but she didn’t do enough with the song. It was a great opportunity but it fell flat. Ellen says she looks fabulous, and she did do a lot with the song and it had some good moments. Ellen says it almost worked, but not quite, and was encouraging. Kara says it was her favorite performance of Michelle’s ever. She says it may not have been technically perfect, but Michelle is taking a risk, has a great attitude and is believable. Simon is kind of with Kara; he thought the first half was stronger than the second half. And to be fair, he says, they give a lot of contradictory advice and Michelle took what they said and it was 80% successful. She’s a bit teary, but from relief. Sorry, I’m with Randy on this one.Lilly Scott is up next. We learn that she plays alot of different instruments. She also talks about having that indie vibe, and being afraid she wouldn’t be understood by the judges, but was glad Randy called it last week and got it. She also says she worked all week with the vocal coaches to look at the camera more. Tonight she’s playing her 12-string guitar and singing “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke. It wasn’t perfect, but it was perfectly Lilly, if that makes sense. Randy says it’s the season of the most unique contestants they’ve ever had. He says it was his favorite performance of the night so far. Ellen says she doesn’t know what “it” is, but Lilly has “it.” She was just a fan in a seat watching a performance. Kara said she just had her first “moment”, where people were riveted. Kara says she is a mismatch in the competition, and thank goodness she’s in the the competition because she’ll encourage other singers to be different. Simon says he wasn’t crazy, but it was good. He thought she oversang a little bit, and he thought Crystal was better, but it was still great. I’m with Simon. Love them both, but tonight Crystal was better.While we’re on break: I just remembered why last week I was suprised that Janell Wheeler went home. I kept thinking she was Didi Benami. I loved Didi last week. Can’t remember Janell. Oh well. I guess that’s what Simon means by forgettable.And totally off topic: all of these pizza commercials are making me very hungry. OK, back to Idol! Katelyn Epperly is up next. We learn that before Idol she was studying to be a recording engineer and would someday like to own her own studio. She’s playinjg piano tonight, singing Coldplay’s “The Scientist.” She has a lovely voice. But too much looking at the camera; it feels a bit affected, if that makes sense. Like she’s a little detached from the song and worried too much about the audience. But it’s a great performance and she’s a very good singer. Randy really likes it, it was way slow, and it was great until the last couple notes. Ellen liked that she was playing guitar .. she means piano … she thought it was too slow and she kind of fell asleep. If you’re babysitting, the baby’s asleep, Ellen says. Kara says she “kind of loves” her. She loves her voice, but she’s switching things around each week and she’s all over the place. But she’s really good and needs to figure out who she is. Simon asks if she’s heard the Natasha Bedingford version, and Katelyn hasn’t. He says she’s contemporary but she’s corny when she performs. He says it was a million times better than last week. Katelyn explains that she’s used to performing with a band, and is still trying to work with the cameras when she’s solo, and so she may be trying too hard. Yup, that’s it. She can definitely sing, but her performance is a bit corny.Paige Miles is up. We learn she likes to color – as in crayons and coloring books, that it relaxes her. Paige is singing “Walk Away” by Kelly Clarkson (written by Kara DioGuardi). She’s the contestant we know the least about, which is too bad. She’s got such a great voice and she is so good in that rock/soul genre. Randy liked it, didn’t love it, because there “were so many words” in the song so he couldn’t really hear her sing. Ellen disagrees; she loved it and thought it was fantastic and loved everything about it. Kara says she could see her having a hit with that song, but says Paige didn’t connect with the lyrics because it was an angry song about a guy and Paige was too happy. Simon agrees with Randy, that for two weeks in a row Paige failed to choose the right songs and she got lost in the songs. He says that if comes back next week with the right song, she could be the one to beat. Paige accepts their feedback with a big smile and positive attitude.Last to sing is Siobhan Mangus. In her video we learn that a year and a half ago she had a mohawk because she wanted one before she was 30. Pre show, she does lip drills. Siobhan is singing Aretha Franklin’s “Think”. This song is too big for her; it feels a little screechy. Randy says that it’s funny that she picks the greatest singer of all time and “it was dope”. What did he hear that I missed? Ellen loved it too. Kara is amazed she can hit that last note. Simon says once again she’s a strange person, and he means that as a compliment. He thought her video was interesting. He said parts of the song were terrible and the end note was incredible. I thought the last note sounded like someone stepped on a cat.OK, let’s recap as they show the phone numbers: Crystal great, Haeley painful, Lacey weak, Katie great, Didi weak, Michelle weak, Lilly great, Katelynn really good, Paige good, Siobhan fair. Just my opinion.The judges say the girls have improved, although Simon says some performances were horrific, but the person who stood out was Crystal. Ryan asks Ellen if she saw someone who might be the winner; she points out Crystal, too.So who’s going home? Haeley for sure. I think that Lacey, Didi, and Michelle are not likely to get past the next couple of weeks, so one of them may go this week, too, I guess. Don’t get me wrong; I like them. But there are much stronger contestants in the competition.And while I think Paige is a very good singer, I don’t think she’s really made her mark yet.Who’s definitely staying? Crystal, Lilly, Katelyn, and Katie. But what do you think? We’ll find out who goes home tomorrow when Danny Gokey performs live during the results show!RELATED POSTS:Complete list of American Idol Season 9 stories