Each week on MTV’s Rock the Cradle, the sons and daughters of musical icons compete for the sort of exposure they would have received anyway on the basis of their DNA. Rock Daily sorts through the nepotistic wreckage.

Children’s Story: This week opened up with a bunch of after-party footage that featured stagey-looking dust-ups between a few of the contestants and a full-scale dressing room-destroying meltdown courtesy of last week’s loser Jesse Money. Cardboard host Ryan Devlin announced that next week the stakes “would be doubled” and the bottom two vote-getters would be sent home, which is carny speak for “MTV says we have to wrap up in fewer episodes!” In what could probably be considered another upset if any of this mattered, A’Keiba Burrell-Hammer was forced to pack up her Lane Bryant wardrobe and go home.

Baby Geniuses: The show finally arrived at an intriguing premise: each contestant had to sing a song made famous by their rock star parent. This led to some spectacular exchanges, including Bobby Brown not wanting son Landon to perform “My Prerogative” because “it’s already perfect.” On the plus side, Jesse Snider teased doing Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” as an acoustic ballad before smashing a guitar and finishing the song as a balls-to-the-wall rocker. He was the only real standout this week, though on-screen nemesis Crosby Loggins loosened up a bit while performing his dad’s hit “I’m Alright” (aka the Caddyshack song) and Chloe Lattanzi is quickly becoming this show’s version of Kristy Lee Cook: she’s the only one who seems to be improving, though that still doesn’t make her very good. Snider may not have the best voice among the scions left, but he’s certainly the most entertaining.

Red-Headed Stepchildren: Where to start? Lucy Walsh did a shrug-worthy version of “Life in the Fast Lane,” while Landon Brown did not in fact improve on his dad’s 1989 VMA performance of “My Prerogative” (the brief clip they aired, complete with an intro care of Arsenio Hall, was by far the best musical moment of the evening). The bottom of the heap belonged to Lil B. Sure, who argued with his dad during rehearsals and then sounded vaguely tone deaf during his run through of “Night and Day.”

Who Is Getting Disowned: With two consecutive train wreck performances, Lil B. Sure seems destined for the scrap heap. The second ticket home could go to Brown or Walsh, though Lara Johnston’s reggae-fied Doobie Brothers song was both dull and disliked by the judges, so expect her to be on the razor’s edge as well.

[Photo: MTV]