With the wide-open semi-finals out of the way, the remaining 12 contestants left on the show will now get to deal with regular theme weeks. During the three weeks of semi-finals, they basically got to sing any song they wanted, as long as it placed in the Billboard Charts. But the remaining contestants have reached the latest stepping stone in their progression towards the finale. Obviously two contestants will reach the end of that proverbial road, but each of the remaining 12 need to try and master the latest challenge in their journey. They'll have to deal with singing older songs on a more regular basis, like we have this week with the Rolling Stones. The Rolling Stones have released some epic songs during their careers and hopefully the contestants this week will be able to cover these songs gracefully and won't butcher them too terribly. Let's see how they fared during the tribute to the Rolling Stones.
Michaeal Lynche - "Miss You" : Big Mike is up first this week and he has definitely delivered on strong performances during the semi-finals. He chooses a more up-beat Rolling Stones song which hearkens back to his first semi-final performance where he performed a Maroon 5 song, which wasn't totally embraced by the judges. I get the same reaction from this performance this week. I think he uses the falsetto too much and his on-stage dancing and swaying is a bit off-putting. He almost makes the song too unrecognizable with his dramatic overhaul, trying to give it a more R&B flavor. Don't get me wrong, his vocals were quite good, it's just the overall performance felt too cheesy for me.
Didi Benami - "Play with Fire" : Didi has put together a few consistent performances the past few weeks (even if her cover of "Lean on Me" wasn't as loved by the judges like her previous two - I still thought it was decent). I'm anxious to see how she adjusts to the bigger Idol stage and whether that throws her off or not. I really enjoyed Didi's performance this week. She put together an intense, focused performance of this classic Rolling Stones song. Yes, it wasn't perfect. She messed up the lyrics in a few spots (but recovered nicely in both instances) and she was off-pitch in a few spots (especially on the last note - was that a hiccup?) - but all in all, Didi's performance was highly enjoyable. She is definitely putting up a fight to stay in this competition a long while.
Casey James - "It's All Over Now" : So Casey's run during the semi-finals can be described as being up and down - a bit too inconsistent. He did well the first week, not so well the second, and then delivered a decent, yet forgettable performance during the third week. This week he brings his rock-edge and electric guitar back. It's a strong performance overall, but yet again I find it to be a bit forgettable. I liked that he injected a bit of country twang into the performance (makes sense since he's from Texas) and he put together an upbeat performance. Yet I just didn't feel all that connected to Casey and his performance. And he's just so stiff on that stage that he needs to loosen up. Still, it's an improvement over last week.
Lacey Brown - "Ruby Tuesday" : Lacey picks probably one of the more recognizable Rolling Stones tunes they released. There's no question Lacey has a distinct sound - the trouble is she doesn't know what to do with it (oh yeah, she likes to sing songs that evoke emotion - who doesn't?). Last week was her best of the semi-finals, but she has a long way to go. She tries to make the song her own with some subtle changes. I liked the violin accompaniment throughout the song but some of her phrasing I had issues with. The arrangement of the song wasn't as good as it could've been. Her vocals seemed to struggle a bit with the slower pace of the song, especially in the non-chorus portion of the song. And I didn't enjoy the sped-up "still I'm gonna miss you" portion of the song. Definitely has work to do to improve.
Andrew Garcia - "Gimme Shelter" : I was wondering if the judges would bring up Andrew's "Straight Up" cover from Hollywood Week once again and sure enough, Simon mentioned it. I think it's time to get over that performance because Andrew has not lived up to it since. I think that particular performance and everyone of them since has uncovered Andrew as being a one-trick pony. That's the only performer he knows how to be! Again, Andrew just fell flat for me this week. It was apparently obvious this week that he's trying to switch things up since the semi-finals were an overall disaster. He goes without that acoustic guitar, which we hadn't seen him be without and tries to be more of a rocker. But he struggled staying on pitch and the performance was all over the place.
Katie Stevens - "Wild Horses" : I thought the name of the song sounded familiar, but I just couldn't put my finger on where I had heard it before until Simon mentioned that he recorded it with Susan Boyle. Then it all came back to me. As for Katie, what more can you say? She has struggled to find her identity since Hollywood Week. She's almost a carbon copy of Andrew Garcia, except I don't remember her having that memorable of a performance during Hell Week like Andrew did. I think this week, Katie definitely gets things together and delivers a more admirable performance. Was it spectacular? No. Was it without pitch problems? No. Yet it was a step in the right direction, certainly not as big of a disaster as the semi-finals were for Katie. She still has a lot more work to do, however.
Tim Urban - "Under My Thumb" : I have yet to see a performance from Tim that completely wowed me. Yes, "Hallelujah" last week was good for him, but it certainly wasn't the greatest rendition of the song that I've heard. He has a long way to go if he wants to be as good as some of his female competitors like Siobhan and Crystal. I'd say he's made baby-steps in his overall performance improvement. However, I don't know if I'd call this week's performance of "Under My Thumb" an improvement. Vocally it wasn't too bad. Except the issue I have with Tim is that his singing style is just too plain. He doesn't do enough runs and doesn't take enough risk with his vocals. It's quite clear that is intention is not to win the crown of American Idol, but to make the summer tour. Hopefully he falls short of reaching that goal within the next few weeks.
Siobhan Magnus - "Paint it Black" : It seems to me this isn't the first time "Paint it Black" has been covered on Idol during its nine seasons. But no one has made it as memorable like Siobhan was able to do this week. You can always expect the unexpected with Siobhan and you never know how she's going to interpret the song. I wouldn't say the vocal was totally flawless. And even her big note at the end wasn't as spectacular as it was when she sang "Think." However, the overall feel of the performance changed several different times. At first, it was very slowed down with an almost somber feel. Then the tempo picked up and she gave it almost an emo-feel to it. I felt that the song was set a little too low for Siobhan, one octave higher could've improved it. Still, what imperfections there was were quite minor. Siobhan is a force to be reckoned with.
Lee Dewyze - "Beast of Burden" : At this stage, Lee is probably the strongest male contestant in the top 12. However, that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement. So far he still hasn't had a vocally flawless performance. And it appears that nerves are still getting the best of him at times (which could be a contributing factor to being off-pitch). If he really wants to make it far, at least through to the top five, he really has to overcome the nerves and own that stage. I'll say that he's making gradual improvements towards reaching that goal. His performance of "Beast of Burden" was actually quite good. I didn't really notice any blaring off-pitch notes. I do agree that I was expecting a bit more out of the performance and that it could be described as being a bit safe.
Paige Miles - "Honky Tonk Woman" : Paige dodged a huge bullet last week when she was declared safe over Katelyn Epperly and moved onto the top 12. She clearly delivered the weakest performance of the top 16, which makes me wonder who was voting for her (she got more votes than Lily, Katelyn, and Alex!). Nonetheless, she gets a reprieve but is dealing with a bout of laryngitis. Apparently she just can't get a break. Considering that her voice wasn't all there, her rendition of "Honky Tonk Woman" was quite good. She was very powerful on those higher notes and yet struggled on those lower notes in the song. Good for her for not trying to play the sympathy card - only until the judges brought it up. She'll likely stay another week just for that and also, she wasn't the worst performer this week, either.
Aaron Kelly - "Angie" : Aaron has not been a fan favorite as of late with his less-than-stellar performances. Obviously the judges selected him to be in the top 24 for a reason - yet we really hadn't seen a reason why yet. His semi-final performances had mixed results - his first week performance was probably his best, and it has trailed off since. So Aaron really needed to deliver this week to get fan support back on his side. And taking everything into consideration, he did exactly what he needed to do. His performance was much more controlled and he didn't over-exert himself on those bigger notes. I'd say he had a lot more success this week than he's had so far during the live shows and if he keeps it up, a lot more people will begin to notice.
Crystal Bowersox - "You Can't Always Get What You Want" : Ah Crystal, the proverbial favorite of this season. Yet, even she realizes that the competition is far from over. And I think she understands that even more after last week's surprising eliminations. Simon has pimped her as being the favorite to win it on "The Tonight Show," but I think at this stage, it's way too early to tell. He's said the same thing about certain constants on previous years, and it hasn't exactly worked out that way. Crystal's performance this week probably wasn't her best that we've seen, but it was still way better than many of the contestants tonight. She's just so comfortable on that stage and knows exactly the kind of artist she wants to be. She can do no wrong.
Top 12 Performance Rankings:
1. Siobhan Magnus
2. Didi Benami
3. Crystal Bowersox
4. Lee Dewyze
5. Aaron Kelly
6. Casey James
7. Paige Miles
8. Michael Lynche
9. Katie Stevens
10. Tim Urban
11. Lacey Brown
12. Andrew Garcia
I think it's finally time for Andrew Garcia to go home. He has not lived up to his Hollywood Week hype and people are getting tired of him doing the same old schtick. He tried reinventing himself this week but it just fell flat. Look for Lacey Brown to end up on the bottom three as and I wouldn't be surprised to see Paige Miles or Tim Urban wind up there, either. But I definitely think it's time for Andrew to go.
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