Here comes another week of reality TV at its best - it's American Idol! You know, ratings for the show this season have gone down compared to last year. Its actually been a gradual slide in ratings for the show since season five. The general consensus is that more people are tuning out due to this season's mediocre talent. I can buy that to an extent, but after nine seasons, a show does get stale. Anyways, we've had our fair share of stars rise out of this reality competition, like Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry, and David Cook. Who's to say season nine won't popularize one or two more nobodies and make them household names. It seems that once you reach the top 12 on Idol, you get to be pretty famous as it is. Oh the power of American Idol! This week we have Miley Cyrus mentoring the contestants (Miley, really?). Oh yes ... she's such a powerful and influential musician these days (sarcasm). Eh, I guess she wasn't a horrible mentor to the contestants. I just would've figured they'd have a mentor with a little more experience in the music industry. And this week's theme? #1 Billboard songs ... ZZZZ. Come on Idol, let's get some better inspiring themes already (I gotta admit, Rolling Stones was quite good last week). On with this week's recap!
Lee Dewyze - "The Letter" by the Boxtops (version by Alex Chilton) : Lee has been gradually improving week after week and it's certainly clear what kind of artist he wants to become. He just needs to become a more polished artist on stage because the nerves are still there. Do you ever notice how often he taps his right foot during a performance? It's usually going faster than the beat of the song! As for this week's performance - it wasn't bad, yet it wasn't great. This isn't the first time we've seen this version of the song performed on stage (going back to that great season seven duet with Michael Johns and Carly Smithson) and Lee does an admirable job with it. I am not overly enthusiastic about it, though and think Lee can do a lot better. He needs to embrace his rock-star persona.
Paige Miles - "Against All Odds" by Phil Collins : Oh brother; here's one song that needs to just go away from the Idol stage forever. I love the original, but its been overdone on the show. And now it's Paige's turn to give it new life. Last week she was dealing with laryngitis and sounded quite good overcoming that obstacle. And she probably picked up quite a few sympathy votes because of it, too. This week she's back to normal (so it appears) yet she sounds worse than ever. Holy cow, she is off pitch. She really struggles with the lower notes in her register and it just sounds awful. The higher notes in the performance were nice but they weren't enough to save this rendition from being a complete train wreck.
Tim Urban - "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen : To use a famous quote by Simon Cowell, Tim is a "funny little thing," isn't he? So far his Idol journey has been less-than-stellar. His only shining moment has been "Hallelujah" which was such a smart song choice for him because it saved him from being cut that week and it allowed him to advance into the Top 12. Not to say the vocal in that performance was splendid, because it wasn't. But he sang it well just enough and put together a very emotional and pleasant performance. This week again I was bored by his vocals. He doesn't do enough runs and riffs and sings a song plain-Jane. I just don't buy him as being a legit musician. I actually thought he sang the song well, but his vocal abilities are just too boring. And the schtick on stage was just a bit too much. But he knows exactly what he's doing because that performance is going to get him a lot of votes from his fans (teen girls).
Aaron Kelly - "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith : It seems throat ailments are going around amongst the Idol contestants lately. Last week it was Paige dealing with laryngitis, this week it's Aaron's turn to struggle with losing his voice (along with tonsillitis). So he chooses a song that, yet again, has been overdone on the show. Can he bring anything new to the song and make it memorable? Taking all things into consideration, he does a decent job with the song. I wouldn't necessarily say it was his best vocal and I think he should get a pass this week because of his throat issues. But he's definitely coming into his own and improving week after week. If he keeps improving, he's got a good shot to go quite far.
Crystal Bowersox - "Me and Bobby McGee" by Janis Joplin : I just had to laugh at the thought of Miley mentoring Crystal this week. Honestly, Miley trying to give advice to an artist that's already a true-professional is just laughable. And I could tell that Crystal had a few negative inner-thoughts whirling around in her head while Miley was trying to be constructive. Crystal is going to do whatever she wants because she's always good! Again, this week was no exception. She's comfortable with who she is and she's not afraid to express her artistic vision. I really enjoyed where the tempo kind of picked up a bit towards the end and she starting jamming out and riffing. It truly was the highlight performance of the night.
Michael Lynche - "When a Man Loves a Woman" by Percy Sledge : Michael took a few steps back last week with the judges when they did not love his more up-tempo performance along with his erratic stage movements. Michael is definitely the strongest when he sings an R&B ballad. He's really able to get into a song and sing to such an emotional level and make it quite powerful. This week he's going back to his most successful roots, a slowed-down R&B ballad. And honestly, it's quite good. Vocally it's spectacular - by far and away the best vocal for a male contestant this week. It's a rare thing to hear off-pitch notes from Michael. I do tend to agree it was a bit on the old fashioned side, but it was definitely one of the better performances of the evening.
Andrew Garcia - "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye : This is a song that my high school choir sang back in the day (and it was a fun song to sing, too). What does that tell ya about Andrew's performance this week? Again, the judges evoked the "Straight Up" cover from Hollywood week - AGAIN. But Simon rightfully made the comment about overrating that particular moment. Honestly, was it REALLY that good? I think it was such a jaw-dropping moment because it was a Paula Abdul song and this was her first season where she's not on the show. And nobody had ever covered a Paula song quite that good during the show's history. Again this week, Andrew's performance just fell flat for me. This clearly shows that he's just a one-trick pony.
Katie Stevens - Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie : Okay first of all, big props to Katie for stepping away from the pageanty-dresses she's worn since she's been singing live. Her look this week was miles-away the best that she's looked so far on her Idol journey. Now, for her singing. I liked the song choice as it was current and really helped to embrace her teenage persona. But it still wasn't sung well enough. I thought it started off pretty decent, but once we got into the chorus, it started going off-pitch. And it was also sharp and flat at times. Man, she needs a vocal coach. Yes, it's definitely step in the right direction but she needs to actually sing well for a change. Still plenty of room for improvement.
Casey James - "Powerful Love" by Huey Lewis and the News : One of the biggest surprises this week was seeing this song chosen by a contestant. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy Huey Lewis and his '80's music, but Idol and Huey Lewis songs just don't match. And yes, we even get a "Back to the Future" mention from Ryan. Casey really tries to rock it out and he does a decent job. Yet, between the goofy grin on his face and his stiff, boring performance style, it just shows he has some work to do to win over the Idol voting public. Vocally it was quite good and this kind of stuff shows what type of artist Casey is going to be. With some of the contestants, we don't know what they are going to do yet. Casey has truly embraced who and what he's all about.
Didi Benami - "You're No Good" by Linda Ronstadt : Between the over-done songs and oldies this week, you'd think we stepped back in time! Only Katie has really delivered on being current this week. Let me just say that last week, I thoroughly enjoyed Didi's Rolling Stone cover of "Play with Fire." I found myself listening to it over and over again. I actually liked it more than Siobhan's cover! This week I am just not digging Didi's song choice. I loved her look on stage, though - YOW! But her vocals were just kind of mediocre during the performance. I just don't think the song suited her unique singer-songwriter style. When she picks the right song, she hits the performance out of the ballpark. But yet, there are times when the song doesn't help her cause like this week.
Siobhan Magnus - "Superstition" By Stevie Wonder : Honestly, how brave is this girl? She has chosen song pretty crazy songs and have done quite well with them. We all know the famous "Think" performance where she hit that incredible note. And now this week, she tackles a Stevie Wonder song (not her first Stevie Wonder song, either - she covered on during Hollywood Week). It's a very upbeat, funky song. She slinks across the stage, from one point to another. I mean, what more can you say? You can definitely tell she had fun with the song. And vocally I thought it was quite good. People are beginning to tire with her frequent use of including those big, shrieky notes at the end of her performances. But that's what makes Siobhan unique! Without it, she'd just be another Katie Stevens or Paige Miles.
Week 11 Performance Rankings:
#1: Crystal Bowersox
#2: Siobhan Magnus
#3: Michael Lynche
#4: Aaron Kelly
#5: Lee Dewyze
#6: Casey James
#7: Didi Benami
#8: Katie Stevens
#9: Tim Urban
#10: Andrew Garcia
#11: Paige Miles
Going Home: I think it's Paige's time to head home. She just has not lived up to the early hype from the judges and delivered one of the worst performances on the Idol stage ever. Her rendition of "Against All Odds" was all over the place. She is not deserving to stay another week and to be on the summer tour because of it.
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