This section of the WhatNotToSing.com database is so dangerous it ought to come with a warning sticker. There are no shortage of ways to misinterpret the Song data we've compiled. For example, if you happen to have toothpaste for brains, and you looked at the table below, you might reason thusly:

"Hmm...'In A Dream', by Badlands. A 96.0 average, that's good. Only been performed once, for 5-stars. Looks like a pretty sweet choice. I'll try it!"

Thankfully, most contestants this dumb can't find the audition site in the first place, and the judges do a decent job of weeding out the ones that do. But beware, the Songs table provides plenty more rope with which to hang yourself. Here, then, are a few bits of friendly advice from the staff.

• In all seriousness, do avoid songs that have already been showstoppers; the odds are not in your favor. Note how many songs have provided a 5-star performance (sort the table by the rightmost column), then note how few have done so for two different contestants. It's difficult enough to be compared to a professional recording artist, but when you invite comparisons to previous excellent Idol moments as well, you're really asking for it.
• Corollary: steer clear of commercial hit songs by a former Idol. So far, only Lisa Tucker and LaKisha Jones (twice!) have committed this error in the semifinals or later. Retribution from the voters was swift and merciless: two trips to the Bottom Three, one elimination.
• In a similar vein, avoid songs associated with a previous disastrous performance. If your lifelong dream is to sing Crocodile Rock on the Idol stage, get over it. Of the dozens of songs that suffered a single-digit performance rating, just one – one! – has ever subsequently had as much as a 3-star follow-up: You Keep Me Hangin' On.
• Keep in mind that each song's numerical rating is of the performances of that song, not of the song itself. Always take the singers into account. For example, there are good reasons to reject One Last Cry, not the least of which is that it has already been performed four times on Idol. But its average rating of 36.8 might be deceiving, because the four contestants who've sung it have a collective rating of under 30.

Which brings us to this final tidbit of advice. When faced with a choice between a song that has been performed previously on Idol (even if it wasn't a showstopper or a disaster) and a fresh one, all else being equal, go with the fresh one. We've found a clear downward trend on repeat and reprise performances, particularly in the later seasons. Viewers, it seems, are becoming weary of hearing the same songs over and over, with some bloggers threatening physical violence on anyone who trots out AI's most-performed song, I Have Nothing, for a seventh time. Don't say we didn't warn you. (ETA: Against All Odds tied "Nothing" during AI7 both in number of performances and number of Idolsphere threats.)