Amanda eliminated on 'Idol'

BY VERNE GAY | verne.gay@newsday.com

March 20, 2008

The Beatles have been mostly tough on the " American Idol" final 11, but they've been just about brutal to Amanda Overmyer - jettisoned last night after turning "Back in the USSR" into something unrecognizable and unlovable Tuesday night.

Overmyer - with her motorcycles and the streaked hair and the stage strut and that raw, amped-up voice that Simon Cowell (or someone) compared to Janis Joplin - just couldn't quite embrace the Beatles or the judges for that matter. And at this stage of the competition, it's not a bad idea to sing well and make nice with the judges (even Si) now and then.

At least Overmyer, 23, made it a contest. She wasn't the only one who mangled John Lennon and Paul McCartney Tuesday, pretty much reminding millions of viewers why Sony and Michael Jackson have so zealously protected this priceless songbook for so many years. Kristy Lee Cook ("You've Got to Hide Your Love Away") ended up - or rather down - in the bottom three for the third week in a row without getting the hook (which could be some kind of "Idol" record.)

But in something of a shocker: So did Carly Smithson, the Irish pro (she was under an MCA contract in the mid-90s), who sang "Blackbird" on Tuesday. It was good, quite good, but an especially rancorous Cowell demolished her rendition, which then prompted a gentle and totally unexpected rebuke from Smithson. It was a classic "Idol" moment and for one moment - but only one - Cowell was actually at a loss for words.

Meanwhile, in big news last night, "Idol" announced that it would return "mentors" to the show - a clear indication that this two-week fling with the Beatles may soon be over. An "Idol" mentor is a huge star who comes on the show to coach contestants; it was a longtime fan favorite, but the show's producers cooled on mentors because last season they tended to take the spotlight away from the kids.

Without an obvious physical presence to guide them (Sir Paul has resisted the show's attempts to get him to appear), this top 11 (now 10) have often struggled to make sense of the Beatles classics, many of which were even classic twenty years before they were born.

The new mentors to appear this season: Mariah Carey, Dolly Parton, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Neil Diamond.