1.Crystal Bowersox
- Crystal went with Elvis's gospel burner, "Saved," a perfect fit for her bluesy vocal talents, and Adam suggested she surprise the audience by playing an electric guitar instead of her usual acoustic (or, um, didjeridoo). "Let those dreads down!" he aggressively advised. It was a recommendation Crystal was wise to follow. Her uncharacteristically uptempo performance was full of pep and pizzazz, and in my opinion it was her best effort yet. Randy Jackson was impressed, and he heralded her as the "second coming of Bonnie Raitt." Kara DioGuardi was thrilled by Crystal's amped-up personality and drama. And Simon Cowell raved, "What I loved about that was you didn't choose an obvious song, you chose something that suited you, you put your own slant on it, and you didn't fall into the karaoke trap." What a fitting episode opener, because the show was saved!
2.Andrew Garcia
During their mentoring session, Adam voiced what all of America was thinking when he told Andrew he is "boring." Ouch. The truth hurts! Adam then told Andrew to change things up, but apparently his advice didn't work this time, because Andrew delivered yet another hokey and dorky performance. "Hound Dog," complete with a big-band arrangement and verging-on-desperate stage moves (dragging the mic stand around, walking into audience), was just a silly song choice for someone trying to come across as current and contemporary. "That was definitely not good karaoke," sighed Randy. "I didn't get it at all." Ellen DeGeneres was kinder, complaining that she'd wanted more "swagger" from Andrew but conceding that he generally pulled it off. And Simon, of course, was even blunter than Adam, saying, "I thought it was lazy and unpredictable. It was like the one part of a musical nobody wants to see and hear." Simon's coldest comment? "It's like the coolness has been sucked out of you." Ouch, again. That was the first time I ever saw all this constant criticism really get to the ever-smiling, always laid-back Andrew, who looked very defeated. He was wearing a hound dog expression by the night's end.
3.Tim Urban
Teflon Tim has been the token impossible-to-topple contestant this season, narrowly escaping elimination week after week despite some cringeworthy performances. But after this week, he is sure to be safe again. First of all, he's made great strides over the past couple weeks, and second, this week Adam singled him out at the beginning of the show, praising his song choice--a move that will surely win over the Glamberts and unite Adam fans and Vote For The Worst fans in a way no one ever could have predicted. Tim did an unplugged rendition of "Can't Help Falling in Love," even semi-successfully venturing into his falsetto range (something Adam suggested--and something I feared because Tim's infamous high-pitched "Apologize" performance had been so unapologetically awful). It was a lovely performance that even had Ryan Seacrest and last season's Michael Sarver slow-dancing in the aisles. (To Tim's credit, he was a pro and didn't bust up laughing at that midsong spectacle.) Said Randy, "This may surprise you, but I actually liked it!" Ellen puzzlingly likened Tim to sequential tequila shots (more enjoyable the more you partake) and sweetly told him, "I can't help falling in love with you, Tim." (Awww.) Kara said it was her favorite Tim performance ever. And Simon, in what appeared to be a direct quote from the Vanilla Ice movie 'Cool as Ice,' surprisingly told him, "You've gone from zero to hero in two weeks." Very cool, indeed!
4.Lee Dewyze
Adam once again didn't mince words when he said Lee had pretty much nothing going on from the neck up. Gee, tell us how you really feel, Lambert. But it's how I feel, too, and how much of America probably feels. Lee can sing, but live performances just aren't his forte. Adam strongly urged Lee to be more "playful," and while Lee's version of "A Little Less Conversation" was hardly as fun and effervescent as past "Idol" performances of the same song by Jon Peter Lewis and Jackie Tohn, he did managed to smile a little, which was progress, I suppose. And his bluesy rasp did suit the song well. "I've never seen you go for it vocally like you did tonight!" exclaimed Kara. Kara did think Lee was still a little too stiff and serious, as usual, but said "the vocal was fire." As for that aforementioned "be more playful" advice, the always serious Simon quipped, "What do you want, kittens? Do you want him to skip around the stage?" Anyway, then Simon just praised Lee, as he always does, telling him, "That was on the money, full stop." I personally think it would have more exciting with some kittens, actually. Or some bagpipes! Maybe next week...
5.Aaron Kelly
Aaron sang what Ellen declared the most-iconic Elvis song of all time, "Blue Suede Shoes," and even he admitted that the choice was "wrong in every possible way." To Adam's credit, he did his best to draw an Elvis-esque performance out of the squeaky-clean teen (who seemed spooked by the song's scandalous "drink my liquor" line), ordering Aaron to masculinely growl his way through the tune. And to Aaron's credit, Aaron really did try to step it up. But it was all very "Junior High School Musical" in the end. Three of the judges gave Aaron some credit as well: Randy liked the jazzy breakdown at the conclusion, Ellen gave him an "A for effort" for taking on such a signature song, and Kara exclaimed, "You're out of your comfort zone, and I like it!" Kara also told Aaron the song made him seem younger, which was supposed to be a compliment. (What, he looked 8 years old now? The guy seems young enough as it is.) Simon was, naturally, less enthused. "It was like somebody at a high school doing a concert--very karaoke," Simon grunted. "You just look like you're dressing up for the part." I agreed with Simon. Aaron is no Elvis.
6.Siobhan Magnus -
This week I was especially excited to witness the meeting of the minds, between Adam and the quirky contestant sometimes known as Lady Lambert. There was definitely a mutual admiration thing going on between them, as Siobhan expressed how flattered she was to be compared to Adam, and Adam in turn declared, "Siobhan likes being different, and I respect that." Seeing them together, I was hoping they'd just break into an impromptu "Slow Ride" duet in the middle of their mentoring session. And I was equally eager to see the result of their union, a sped-up cover of "Suspicious Minds." But unfortunately, Siobhan's performance wasn't as edgy or interesting as I'd hoped or expected--at least not until the dramatic ending, when she started screeching like Lambert on a helium binge. Randy and Ellen welcomed the return of her big, blowhard vocals--after Siobhan was criticized earlier in the season for oversinging, she pulled back a bit for a couple of weeks--but Kara was "confused" by Siobhan's dual personality. And Simon didn't seem to enjoy Siobhan's screechiness any more than he did last month, calling her performance "erratic" and lamenting, "I kind of feel you lost who you were two to three weeks ago." Siobhan looked dejected, just like she did on the night of her infamous Chaka Khan cover, but she boldly defended herself, saying, "Even I can't pinpoint who I am, and I've always taken pride in that. I'm not just one kind of singer. If I can't even label myself, I don't think it's necessary to be labeled." You go, girl. I just hope Siobhan's sassing back doesn't hurt her chances. It never helped Adam's castmate Lil Rounds last season, you know.
7.Michael Lynche
Big Mike was saved from elimination last week (hence the double elimination this week), so he really had something to prove on Tuesday. He needed to sing a redemption song of sorts that would demonstrate that the one Judges' Save of the season had not been squandered on him. Cue "In the Ghetto," the perfect soulful choice for him, which he crooned from the heart while taking Adam's advice to not rein in his natural theatrical tendencies. Granted, sometimes Michael's theatricality has bordered on cheesiness in the past, but for a story-song like this, it was ideal. This was my favorite performance of the night. "Hot vocals! Hot, hot, hot!" shouted Randy when Mike was finished. "A million, billion times better than last week--and one of my favorite performances you've done," added Simon. And Ellen summed it all up when she said, softly and succinctly, "I'm glad we saved you." After this star turn, I'm glad they did, too.
8.Katie Stevens
After a rough run on "Idol," including several showings in the bottom three, Katie channeled all her frustration and anger into the feisty "Baby, What You Want Me to Do." The result was more swagger and confidence than I'd ever seen before from this pageanty teen robot. She should get angry more often! "That was a very horny song," Ellen joked (it had brass accompaniment, see), before she more seriously remarked, "Man, you can sing." Kara laughed and admitted, "I think you showed us judges! You showed us!" Simon, less chagrined than Kara, just said, "I found it very loud and a bit annoying." The plus side is, maybe Simon's barb will fuel Katie's anger for next week's performance.
9.Casey James
Casey was last week's standout, with his poignant acoustic take on John Lennon's "Jealous Guy." So his bar-band cover this week of "Lawdy Miss Clawdy," while decent, was a bit of a letdown. It was somewhat pedestrian, sadly lacking last week's magic. It was just another good-ol'-boy blues jam from a good-time guitar guy. "I didn't see anything different, but it was another solid performance," Randy shrugged. "It wasn't as exciting as I would have liked to have seen, but you're always good," shrugged Ellen. "That really fell short for me. I know you can do more," shrugged Kara. And Simon flat out called it a "wasted opportunity" and "completely forgettable"--though he added, almost as an afterthought, "Your vocals were good." Casey should have realized he set the bar high for himself last week. Now he has to prove "Jealous Guy" wasn't a fluke.
So now it is prediction time. Like I said earlier, two people will go home this week, so Wednesday night is going to be tough. And with no more Judges' Saves lying around, there will be nothing anyone can do if America gets it wrong. Hopefully viewers will get it right, though, and send home my two predicted castoffs: Andrew and Aaron.