Who is the Real Carly Smithson?

It was the guys' night to shine on American Idol Tuesday night. Coached by the diva herself, this week's theme was Mariah Carey songs. In contrast to what one may assume, the girls just weren't able to impress the judges, nor the viewers, like the guys did.

Following David Archuleta's impressive performance, 24-year old Carly Smithson hit the stage singing, "Without You." As a fan, I wanted to like her performance and I had hoped to see some real, Carly Smithson energy, something she just hasn't shown us yet. Although she looked beautiful, her rendition of this challenging song was not. It was rather boring and lacked personality.

That being said, she is to be credited for tackling a not-so-easy song, and, like the judges said, for showing vocal restraint in otherwise high pitch areas of the song that Mariah Carey delivers with her trademark falsettos. Thankfully, these extreme high notes were not attempted by the Idol contestants.

Carly Smithson appears to be holding back in her performances, which is regrettable as you just can't help but to like her. She is intriguing to the viewer, yet seems to be either intimidated or unsure of her personal singing style. Or maybe what we see is what we get. Stagnant performances. It leaves me to ask the obvious question.

Who is Carly Smithson? As Randy Jackson advised her, she needs to trust herself. If the Irish beauty doesn't offer some pizzazz in her upcoming performances, I'm afraid the viewers will send her packing. Although, as we are down to the remaining 7 until tonight's results show, I predict the American Idol winning title has long been reserved for someone other than Ms. Smithson.