Here's the first review to show up-this one is from MNSue on MJ's blog (she said Carly was her favorite of the night so I asked her to give details, and here they are-GO CARLY!!!):

Carly was my hands down favorite tonight.
Carly was in fantastic voice tonight, as always. I think what impressed me was her natural stage presence. To me, she seemed to be a totally different artist than what I remembered from the show, confident yet warm. My concert buds and I loved “Drove All Night” the best. The crowd was very appreciative. Standing O.

Here's another one posted on MJ's from Gerreb (I don't agree with the screaming part, but it's still a good review)

Carly - wow, what a voice! She has got a set of lungs on her! I liked her set, but at times it seemed she was screaming. You can’t deny her talent though.

Here's another one from Horsez99 on the AI website :

Carly: WOW. She was so pretty and REALLY good! I loved her version of Bring Me To Life! One of my favorites of the whole night!


And here's one from the Minneapolis St. Paul Star Tribune (I don't agree on her grade but I wanted to point out that he couldn't criticize her voice so he picked on her moves and she did get the best grade of everyone but the two Davids, so we'll take it. Considering how picky those newspaper reviewers are, it's pretty good) :

Carly Smithson. The good: She picks songs that fit her big voice, with its piercing wail. The bad: The kneeling to begin and the crouching to end "Crazy on You." The grade: B-plus.


And one more from IDF tour forum-Idolfreak1

The concert was freaking amazing. Carly and the David's About 30 seconds into BMTL, my mom goes "Man, can she SING!" I think we have a convert hehe. The crowd really loved COY and IDAN. She was everything I expected her to be.

I posted a short version from Idolfreak of the Minneapolis show yesterday, but this is her longer version that she wrote today-Carly's part :

After Kristy Lee, was Carly Smithson. She was my favorite girl this season along with Brooke, and opened with Evanescence's hit "Bring Me To Life". WOW. What more can I say about her other than she's AMAZING. She hits the notes like no other and can REALLY belt. After BMTL, she went into "Crazy On You" by Cindy Lauper. This was very upbeat and once again, she showed her amazing range with some huge notes. I was singing right along with her. Her last song, "I Drove All Night" was another upbeat song that I thought she did VERY well with. My favorite song from her.

Awh I'm glad Carly's still getting such good reviews :D

Here's one from Sweethearts13 on AI.com (she has some issues with security and her camera, so she missed most of IDAN) :

then Carly came out!!!!!!!!!! she came out of the risers also (i just love those risers lol) and sang "bring me to life" i love evenasence!!! and she sang it great!!! then she sang "i drove all night" and the 3rd song i can't recall because... ok well this is what happened... i was taping a video on my camera and....

Here's a great review from CMonster on Archie's IDF forum-Minneapolis show (I added the Brooke part so you could see what she added about Carly) :

Following Kristy is Carly and oh my gosh! If you thought she was good on Idol she was exceptional in person. I decided I'd actually pay to see her if she goes on tour. THe vocals were outstanding and I loved her performances.
Now comes Brooke. Although I really like her, I felt a little disappointed. Again, I credit the crappy seat I had because I really couldn't "feel" her performances. But again, she followed a dynamo so her performance seemed tame by comparison, which is not her fault.

There's a new word to describe Carly - dynamo. Love it :haha:

I've heard her called that in previous reviews too and I love it!! That's a good word to describe her.

I'd never seen anyone describe her as that before, I think it fits her perfectly :D

ai forum:

and the show....LOVED it!!!! CArly....what a freakin rockstar with the wind machine and all..and daang can she sing! mj was amaaazing, archie is just too cute. he kept saying 'woo' after evefrything he said and then giggled lol. 'woo haha this is a LOUD crowd...haha woo." "those that know me know i like songs with messages woohoo and i umm...this song...woo....has a great message..woo' hahahaha too cute. and what is there to say about David Cook....ahhh i think im in love with him.

everyone was good but CArly, MJ, DC, and Archie were in a totally different league than anyone else

Never heard Carly described that way, but I love it.

rickey.org


Carly was incredible and I just loved her doing “Bring Me to Life” by Evanescence … she was so breathtaking. I also recorded all 3 of her songs for my girl, cuz she loves Carly too.


MJblog


Carly – As soon as she started singing I remembered why she is my favorite female Idol. Her costume, her stage-presence, her voice. I danced and The Kid stood next to me confused.

Here is a late review of the Minneapolis show from the paper in International Falls, MN.

(In case you're wondering where the heck International Falls MN is, it's about 5 hrs. north of Minneapolis right on the border of Canada - I've actually been there. It's very pretty & really bleepin' cold in the winter.)

http://www.ifallsdailyjournal.com/news/lei...ff-writer-10737

Ok not exactly a well-informed review, but there aren't as many reviews to report these days.
:carly: