Canadian Idol: The Women Won This Week

Last week on Canadian Idol, the guys gave terrific performances while the girls kind of sucked. This week, the tables turned.

The commanding Ashley Coulter got the ball rolling with Melissa Etheridge's "I'm The Only One," a perfect choice for the singer's bluesy Joan Rivers rasp.

While judge Zack Werner complimented Coulter for fitting the "Sheena Easton, Pat Benatar elf type," he also warned that she might be typecasting herself a bit: "If you want to be the queen of the blues-rock belters of the next generation, if that's who you want to be, you better decide that soon because you're making a little box for yourself and I think you're going to find it uncomfortable."

On the other end of the spectrum, Eva Aliva failed to really establish a concrete identity with her proficient but unremarkable rendition of Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly."

"What is your signature?" Werner asked. "What is your stamp? You've got to find that."

Alisha Nauth's stamp proved to be killer pipes and a taste for crappy Patrick Bateman-era hits. After last week's excellent take on Bon Jovi's "Always," Nauth tore through Phil Collins' "Against All Odds."

"While I don't think it was your best performance," judge Farley Flex said, "I think you said it yourself: -˜Take a look at me now, I'll still be standing.' And you will."

Sarah Loverock, who covered Michael Bolton like a bad toupee last week, picked something a little newer: Gavin DeGraw's "I Don't Want To Be."

While judge Sass Jordan speculated that the singer over-enunciated, Werner commended the heartfelt performance, saying, "That was a tough song to sing" and "you're probably technically the best singer here."

Steffi D also updated her sound, bringing it from the speakeasy to Starbucks with her version of Dido's "White Flag," which showed a new level of range and vocal control. Though D still sounds like she's more suited for Broadway than MuchOnDemand, Flex said, "What I really liked about that was your balance between your theatrics and your heartfelt honesty."

Kati Durst fared almost as well with the judges following her unexceptional open-heart-surgery version of Lee Ann Womack's "I Hope You Dance."

While Jordan complimented Durst's confidence, Werner correctly assessed, "I think the audience at home got a great view of your eyelids because your eyes were closed for most of the performance. I honestly feel what I said last week, that folksingery coolness is being overshadowed by some bizarre desire to compete."

Ashley Coles' performance of Pink's "Misery" was slightly more memorable. Singing like she had a vibrator lodged in her throat, Coles tried out some interesting vocal tricks, prompting Werner to say, "You did some things that were cool and some things that were really 16."

Jordan, meanwhile, said that she loved Coles' restraint.

"That's how you get the attention: whispering, not screaming."

Alyssa Klazek, on the other hand, got attention by sucking. Simply put, Klazek doesn't have the vocal capabilities or the breath control to compete on this level. Halfway through Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride," the singer was panting like Chris Farley in a marathon.

"I thought you were great in auditions and I fought to get you here, and I admit that and I'm proud of it," Flex said before adding, "You've got to get your stuff together."

But Werner was a little harsher, saying, "I'm kind of wondering why we didn't put somebody else through."

He then stopped himself because "if you can't say anything nice, say nothing at all."

Luckily, Nancy Silverman came to the rescue by flailing around and whining like Lucille Ball when Desi Arnaz was berating her. Silverman might be the most unique and natural female performer in the competition. In fact, as a result of her excellent performance, judge Jake Gold announced, "The women won this week."