I want to get outside before I have to go to work today (it's beautiful out!), so the recap of last night's American Idol episode will be rather short. I wasn't even able to watch the episode - instead having to rely on YouTube last night to find clips. I was at work while Idol was on, and then I thought my VCR was set to record correctly. Apparently not! When I went to start watching the episode, it was this season's episode of the Top 10 male performances during the semi-finals. Alex Lambert and Todrick Hall were still in the competition then. Ahhh! So like I said, I resorted to YouTube to catch out on what I missed. Here are my thoughts:
Siobhan Mangus - "Through the Fire" by Chaka Khan : This is definitely Siobhan's weakest performance to date. It just seemed underwhelming to me, plus she was had some off-pitch moments. The song did not to her justice and I think she needs to step back and re-evaluate her strategy going into next week. I thought her usage of the scream at the end of her song not once, but twice was unfortunate and unnecessary. Maybe she felt her performance was falling flat and she resorted to amping things up? Well, it didn't work.
Casey James - "Hold On I'm Coming'" by Sam and Dave : This was probably my favorite performance by Casey to date. He showed a lot more personality, didn't just stand in one spot on that stage, and you could really tell he was having a good time. He is really coming into his own this season and could wind up going quite far. He still needs to work on his stage presence, but it's definitely getting better with each passing week.
Michael Lynche - "Ready for Love" by india.arie : I'm with Kara - I was not familiar with the song at all. However, I know it now and Mike did fantastic this week. He really enunciates his vocals, almost too well at times. But this again showed off his excellent stage presence, this time being close to the center of the audience (and not in front of the judges, strange stage placement but nice to see!). He really connected with the song and showed his softer side. R&B music is definitely in his wheel house.
Didi Benami - "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted" by Jimmy Ruffin : A classic R&B/soul song and it's certainly a good one. Didi had some issues this week - it seemed that by picking this song, it brought back tearful memories of her past (probably involving her friend that passed away - which was mentioned during her audition). And she struggled on stage this week. The song just didn't do her any favors at all as I felt she lacked any connection to it. She was pitchy at times and it was the wrong song for her singing style.
Tim Urban - "Sweet Love" by Anita Baker : Tim has certainly taken his fair share of shots on the Idol Stage since the live shows have started, and rightly so. He's not advancing each week by his singing abilities, that's for sure. You can't honestly tell me Tim was the best choice as a male replacement to make the top 24? I don't know what more I can say of Tim. His performance this week was boring, lacked any excitement, and his singing was just plain flat. He tries, but it's just not good enough.
Andrew Garcia - "Forever" by Chris Brown : The song selection for Andrew this week was definitely an interesting one. A Chris Brown song - and you all know the kind of trouble he's been in most recently? And the song that was featured in Double Mint gum ads! I gotta say, this is the best Andrew has performed in a long, long time. This is the kind of potential we've all been waiting to see from Andrew! He still has some work to do, but he just might have finally turned the corner and is on his way to living up to his front-runner status.
Katie Stevens - "Chain of Fools" by Aretha Franklin : So Katie picks a big song this week and she does a fairly decent job with it. I wouldn't say it was her best by any means, but she's getting there. I agree with the judges that she may have went backwards a bit by choosing an older song. She needs to embrace her youth and pick more contemporary songs where she can. I think she has a tendency to under-sing the notes, too. I noticed a few off-pitch and sharp notes here and there. But she seems to be improving week after week.
Lee Dewyze - "Treat Her Like a Lady" by Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose : For awhile now, we've been waiting for Lee to have a spectacular, pitch-perfect performance where we can collectively say that it was his best. And finally, this was it. He was confident, he chose a song and re-worked it just enough to fit his style and made it quite enjoyable. Now hopefully, by having a good performance like this, it doesn't make him even more nervous to live up to his front-runner status!
Crystal Bowersox - "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight and the Pips : Just when you think we've seen all that we need to see from Crystal. Even though she did hint at this surprise last week, it was still nice to see and it was a nice change of pace. Actually I think I would've liked it even more if she would've stayed at the piano the whole performance. But yet, we did get to see her perform without the guitar and just holding the mic. It was another great performance from Crystal and it was nice seeing another side of her.
Aaron Kelly - "Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Whithers : I think there's a great bit of danger involved with Aaron picking this song because Kris Allen performed this it last season and had a moment with it. You know people will be comparing the two performances (just like I'll be doing - HA!). Did it compare favorably to Kris' rendition last year? Not really. But I think he did change it up just enough to make it his own. However, it wasn't his best performance. It seemed like he was struggling to hit the right notes. Kind of a downer-way to end the night.
Top 10 Performance Rankings:
#1: Lee Dewyze
#2: Crystal Bowersox
#3: Michael Lynche
#4: Casey James
#5: Andrew Garcia
#6: Didi Benami
#7: Aaron Kelly
#8: Katie Stevens
#9: Siobhan Magnus
#10: Tim Urban
So who's going to be voted out this week? It's going to be rather tricky deciding who gets sent home. I think the most obvious pick is Tim, but he's got a lot of young girls voting for him so his fanbase might save him yet again. Despite a strong performance this week, I think Andrew still could be in trouble. His lackluster performances up until this point might be enough to eliminate him. Also, I wouldn't be surprised to see Katie wind up in this week's bottom three. And for a shocker, Siobhan might make her first visit to the bottom three. But will she be voted out? I don't think so. As of now, I'm leaning towards Tim Urban as getting eliminated this week.
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