Crystal Bowersox on American Idol Soul – R&B Week

Usher was the guest mentor as the 10 remaining contestants took the stage for American Idol’s Soul and R&B week. Six of the performers gave a solid performance while 2 were just alright and 2 are in big trouble.

Casey James did well playing his electric guitar and grooving to Sam & Dave’s “Hold On, I’m Coming”.  Michael Lynche moved us with a slow, strong, sensitive rendition of “Ready for Love”.  Aaron Kelly had a very nice version of “Ain’t No Sunshine”.

Did Benami had an OK run with “What Becomes of the Boken Hearted” but was criticized by the judges for being too old fashioned.  Katie Stevens did “Chain of Fools”.  It was a great vocal, but unoriginal and did nothing to make it current.

Andrew Garcia did an outstanding job with the best wedding song ever, Chris Brown’s “Forever”.  He is back in the game with his best perfromance in months.

Lee DeWyze rocked the house with a soulful bluesy version of the Cornelius Brothers hit “Treat Her Like a Lady”.  He is now in the hunt for the prize.

Crystal Bowersox laid down her guitar and sat at the piano and played “Midnight Train to Georgia”.  It was a very powerful version of the Gladys Knight classic. She just played the piano through the first verse, then stood up and finished the song.  Crystal has the best voice, she dresses for her style, she has great hair, and she already has the goods.  I don’t know how much better she can get.  She is already worthy of a record contract.

That leaves Tim Urban and previous front-runner Siobahn Magnus. Tim did Anita Baker’s “Sweet Love” and sang it in tune, but didn’t impress the judges with his performance, at all. Siobahn sang Chaka Kahn’s “Through the Fire”. She hit some long high notes, but chose a bad rendition and performed it way below her potential.  Her past performances could save her.  Based on this week’s perfomance, only the judge’s “Save” card can keep her from going home.  If she gets the fewest votes, the judges just may play it.

American Idol Results – Miley Cyrus/Billboard #1 Hits Week

Miley Cyrus mentored the American Idol Contestants, they gave their performances, and the people voted.  The bottom three included Tim Urban, Paige Miles, and Katie Stevens.  It was obvious that Tim and Paige would be in danger of being voted offf–they got the most criticism from the judges.  The surprise was Katie, as she was actually praised–I don’t know why.  She sang very well, but didn’t change a note of Fergie’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry” until the final verse and never attempted to make it her own.  That usually warrants bad comments from all of the judges–it didn’t happen.

After Miley Cyrus, Joe Jonas & Demi Lavato sang their new songs, the drama continued.  Katie was immediately returned to safety while Paige and Tim waited to see who would make the top ten tour and who would go home just one spot short of the summer tour.  It was announced that  Paige had received the fewest votes.  Judge Simon Cowell announced that although Paige could be saved by singing one more time.  The judges unanimously agreed that she had no chance, and was sent packing.

Next week, the theme will be R&B and Soul with Usher as mentor.

American Idol – 11 contestants – Miley Cyrus Week

This week the theme was Billboard Number 1 Records.  The contestants could choose a #1 hit from any Billboard Chart since 1958.  Their surprise mentor was Miley Cyrus (A.K.A. Hannah Montana). 

Lee DeWyze did a raspy jazzy blues version of “The Letter” and was successful in showing more personality. Aaron Kelly sang Aerosmith’s “Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” and sweetened it into a good version, despite being sick.  Michael Lynche hit a smooth sweet spot with his rendition of the classic “When a Man Loves a Woman”. Casey James performed “The Power of Love” from Huey Lewis and seemed to be a very comfortable performer. All should be safe this week.

Crystal Bowersox slayed Janis Joplin’s “Me and Bobby Magee”. This star performance was comfortable and spectacular.  Siobhan Magnus hit some more big scream notes during her rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” and was well received.

Andrew Garcia fell short singing “I Heard It through the Grapevine”. Decent arrangement and vocal, but way too animated performance. Linda Benami had an odd sultry version of Linda Ronstadt’s “You’re No Good”. The judges gave her mixed reviews. Katie Stevens did a total Karaoke version of Fergie’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry” but sang it very well.

That left Paige Miles and Tim Urban on the bottom.  She did Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds” and was pitchy and out of control throughout. He did Queen’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and went into the crowd to sing and attempted some cool moves on stage.  Both were severely criticized by the judges.

If it were my decision based solely on this week’s performance, Paige would be gone and Crystal would be the winner.  But America decides, so anything can happen.

Once again, the judges gave some good advice to most. Ellen is still a distraction when she should be a judge.

American Idol Results Rolling Stones Week

12 American Idol contestants became 11 tonight.  But first, we got to hear David Cook, Orianthe, and Ke$ha.  By the end of the night, Tim Urban, Lacey Brown, and Paige Miles had the least number of votes and were in danger of being out of the competition.  The “save” option was discussed where the judges could prevent any contestant from leaving the show if they unanimously agreed to use the save.  This option is available until the week of the “final 5” and can only be used once.  When asked if they would use the save tonight, the judges said they would for one of the contestants.  Tim was sent to safety and it was announced that Lacey had received the fewest votes.  She got to sing one last song while the judges deliberated her fate.  They decided to save the save for a later date and Lacey was sent home.

Lacey did not have the worst performance of the week, but she did get the fewest votes.  No one is ever safe from the voting pattern of the people.  It is always important to vote for your favorite rather than to vote to keep an underperformer to remain on the show.  The “sure thing” performer occasionally doesn’t get enough votes to stay in the race.

Every American Idol contestant has their fair share of fans who vote for them every week, regardless of the quality of their latest performance. Everyone now need to appeal to the callers who voted for the most recent person to leave the program–they have the most available new votes.  Next week’s vote will decide which 10 contestants will go on the Summer tour.  This will be a very important performance week for all of the contestants.

Early picks for the top three (from me) are Crystal Bowersox, Siobhan Magnus, and Aaron Kelly.  The girls appear to have better talent than the boys this year.  Only time will tell…

American Idol 12 Contestants – Rolling Stones Week

American Idol is down to 12 contestants and I am disappointed that Lilly is no longer in the competition.  I thought she was top 5 material.  This proves, once again, that no one is safe at any point in the competition. 

Rolling Stones night was full of very good performances.  Aaron Kelly was the big surprise.  He is the most unlikely to do a good version of a Stones song, and he made “Angie” look easy.  Tim Urban did a reggae version of “Under My Thumb” and was criticized by the judges–I don ‘t know what they were listening to, he was good.  Likewise, they praised Katie Stevens’ version of “Wild Horses”, I thought it was weak and sharp all over.  Andrew Garcia was light on emotion for “Gimme Shelter”, but his voice was pleasant and his effort to change was good.  I’m on the fence with Lacey Brown and her “Ruby Tuesday”.  She has an interesting voice and it was an interesting choice.  Michael Lynche was very good with “Miss You”.  His falsetto was good. He had fun and showed confidence.  Casey James was safe doing a country blues version of “It’s All Over Now”.  He had the most fun, performing with his electric guitar.  Lee Dewyze had an enjoyable acoustic version of “Beast of Burden” while Didi Benami had a cool choice of songs with her sultry intense rendition of “Play with Fire”. Siobhan Magnus performed well with twisted drama doing “Paint It Black” and got high praises from the judges.   Paige Miles disconnected with “Honky Tonk Woman”, but the judges liked her, too.  Crystal Bowersox had a commanding performance with “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” but was criticized by the judges for appearing overconfident.

In my opinion, Katie and Paige are in big trouble.  The judges think Tim, Lee, and Andrew underperformed.  We shall see.

I also think that Ellen Degeneres is distracting as a judge.  I like her TV show, but I liked Idol better when she wasn’t one of the  judges.