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.