Sometimes Simon Cowell is a twit.

After Tulsa's own Alaina Whitaker deftly performed Spiral Starecase's "More Today Than Yesterday," Simon praised the teenager but slammed the song.

"Spiral who?" he asked.

Perhaps the biggest criticism I could offer the American Idol Top 24 over two nights is that, of all the songs available to them in the 1960s, these are what they picked?

Except that, to me, "More Today Than Yesterday" is one of the great pop songs of my lifetime. Lyrically, it's poetic and romantic. The sentiment is simple yet profound; it's darned near spiritual. Seriously. The concept of loving somebody more today than yesterday might not reflect the consistence of a creator to His people, but it wreaks of something The Byrds might have penned.

Musically, it's perfect. If I had to pin down my favorite 25 songs of all time, which I'll do on this blog sometime, this song is a fair bet for it.

The good news is that Mr. Cowell at least recognized the rising star that could be Alaina. Given that it's easy to compare her performance to that of Chikezie from a night ago (same song), she should be a shoo-in to come back next week.

However, the fate of the other 11 women was firmly planted in song choice, and I have to say that my grumpy side came out again tonight. I do not find this to be the most talented group in Idol history. I'm not sure that anybody in this bunch is a sure thing or even close.

But Mom agrees with me tonight on one thing.

"Alaina Whitaker. Good voice. She reminds me a little bit of Carrie Underwood and she is from Tulsa. Loved the song."

So, Spiral Starecase gets another vote of confidence. And, all things equal, we'll always pull for the Oklahoma kid. Nevertheless, Alaina didn't top Mom's list this week.

That honor would go to Asia'h Epperson, the Joplin, Mo., native who sang "Piece of My Heart." First off, Joplin is practically in Oklahoma. Secondly, Asia'h was great. Not perfect. Not stunning. But she's in no danger of going anywhere anytime soon.

We agreed on Carly Smithson's performance, one Randy and Paula praised heavily but one that Simon the twit crapped on. Simon went on and on about Carly's mic technique, and it all deviated from whether or not Carly's vocal was any good.

She sang a jazz standard, "Shadow of Your Smile," and she was good. But she was not great. C'mon, people. That's a million-dollar voice? Again, Carly was solid, and she's in no danger of elimination.

But I'm not blown away.

Nor was I blown away by the Jasmine Trias starter kit known as Ramiele Malubay. She sang a Dusty Springfield tune, and she was a-ok, but if this were a porn flick ... uh, let's not go there. You get the idea. For me, there was no spark.

The judges gushed and gushed about the big voice from the little body, and all I could think is how ordinary it was. "Forgettable," as Simon the twit likes to call it.

Likewise, the judges gushed about Syesha Mercado, Idol's ABC reality show reject. If you'll recall, Syesha was on "The One," which lasted all of two weeks. She screams, and the judges automatically label her a powerhouse.

A bit of disagreement between Mom and me relative to 16-year-old Alexandrea Lushington. Mom thinks Lushington might be shown the door on Thursday, but I think she's a keeper. She's got a solid voice, a good personality and a great sense of style and how to manage herself on stage. In fact, I'm rather stunned she hadn't already been discovered for, perhaps, a Nickolodeon program.

It's not that Alexandrea was Mom's least favorite. That vote goes to Amanda Overmyer, and I have to concur. She wasn't my least favorite, but she's not nearly as edgy as everybody makes her out to be. First of all, I have seen the great Dilana, and Amanda Overmyer is not her. Amanda is pussycat to Dilana's tiger, in the same family but not terribly close.

Mom's rankings: 1. Asia'h Epperson; 2. Carly Smithson; 3. Ramiele Malubay; 4. Alaina Whitaker; 5. Brooke White.

My rankings: 1. Alaina Whitaker; 2. Carly Smithson; 3. Asia'h Epperson; 4. Alexandrea Lushington; 5. Ramiele Malubay.

She thinks Alexandrea and Joanne Borgella will be executed, er, eliminated on Thursday. But I think it will be Amy Davis and Joanne Borgella.