American Idol 9 - Top 4

It's another week of American Idol performances and this week, the theme is "Songs from the Cinema." Now I did not get a chance to view the list of songs the contestants had the choice to pick from, but from what I understand, it was not a good listing of songs. The songs the contestants ended up picking from were probably the best of the whole lot! So that might give you some indication at what kind of a night last night turned out to be. Jamie Foxx returned as mentor (after mentoring last season) and did a pretty decent job with the contestants. Let's see how they ended up doing this week...

Lee Dewyze - "Kiss From a Rose" by Seal (from "Batman Forever") : So Lee chooses another song that's been overdone on the Idol stage, or at least that's my feeling. And from what I can recall, I don't think anyone has done a particularly great job with the song over the years, either. It's a tough song to perform with many dynamic changes in key. I thought he struggled with the song in places, particularly more in the beginning where he was off-pitch in spots and his falsetto wasn't that great. I do agree with Randy in that he didn't do enough with the song to make it his own. He's more suited to perform rock songs and this song just didn't feel right for Lee. However, I don't feel that with one off-night, he'll be voted off. He's developed enough of a following and has had stronger performances prior tonight that should keep him safe.

Michael Lynche - "Will You be There" by Michael Jackson (from "Free Willy") : Hmm, interesting song choice from Big Mike this week, although he probably didn't have a lot of other options. This is a tricky one for me, because I thought Michael performed the song quite well like he always does. But I think he was just let down by the song - it just didn't do him any justice. I almost thought we were watching a performance during Idol Gives Back again. It seems like a powerful song, with a gospel influence, yet it just fell short for me when Big Mike sang it. I wasn't used to hearing Mike sing in such a low octave like he did in the beginning of the song, but I didn't think it was so bad. It was the song that did a disservice to Michael this week.

Lee Dewyze & Crystal Bowersox - "Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova (from "Once") : When I first heard Lee and Crystal were going to perform this song, my initial reaction was of surprise. Honestly, why would they attempt to tackle a song that Kris Allen had such a moment with last season and really, helped make the song become relevant? However, they really made it their own as a duet. I would say that Crystal was the stronger of the duo, as Lee had a few pitchy moments here and there. Still, it was a fabulous duet and the two really worked great together. It was really nice to see Lee come back after a pretty bland performance prior. That being said, I hope we don't get to see this song performed by anyone else on the Idol stage for a very long time!

Casey James - "Mrs. Robinson" by Simon & Garfunkel (from "The Graduate") : First things first, I'd have to say how ridiculous is it for the judges to continue playing off this Kara and Casey crush incident that happened so long ago, just going off of Casey's song choice. I mean, when was the last time it was brought up; the semi-finals? And now it re-enters all thanks to this song. It's time to move on, judges. Anyways, as for Casey's performance, I thought it was okay. Certainly not spectacular, yet not terrible, either. It sits there in the middle for me, kind of where Casey has been all season except for a few notable performances where he was the best of the night. I think we've all seen the best of Casey and the kind of artist he's going to be already. I don't see anymore surprises coming from him regardless if he makes it another week.

Crystal Bowersox - "I'm Alright" by Kenny Loggins (from "Caddyshack") : I think most people out there are familiar with the original version from Kenny Loggins - it's definitely not one of the classics, yet it's a fun, upbeat song. I really don't know where it correlates to "Caddyshack" because I've never seen the movie! But it seems like it'd be a good fit for that particular film. As for Crystal's performance, I definitely believe she's back in the game after a couple of mediocre weeks. I liked how she began the performance with a soft start, and then really started rocking out. I think towards the end, however, she began sounding more sharp and a few of those higher end notes in her register weren't sounding that great. However, it was still the best of the night and it was great to see Crystal back in her element.

Casey James & Michael Lynche - "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman" by Bryan Adams (from "Don Juan DeMarco") : When I first heard the duet pairings, I was kind of surprised. I thought the two front runners would be paired up with the other two contestants. However, I think both duets worked out very nicely. I was a bit worried for these two when I heard they'd be performing this song. After all, this Bryan Adams hit is another song that's been overdone on the show. I'd say Big Mike was the stronger of the pair as Casey had a few hiccups here and there. That being said, the overall performance was quite strong. Casey's guitar playing was outstanding, as usual and their harmonizing towards the end was spectacular. Both duets ended up being the best performances of the night!

Top 4 Performance Rankings:
1.) Crystal Bowersox
2.) Lee Dewyze
3.) Michael Lynche
4.) Casey James

Going home: Casey James appears to be the easy pick to go home tonight, and I think I'm going to go along with that. I think it's either between him and Michael Lynche and I still believe Big Mike has more momentum going his way more than Casey. Plus Casey has been in the bottom three/two more frequently lately than any other contestant. All of the contestants this week didn't have spectacular solo performances, yet they all contributed to some great duets. But after taking everything into consideration, I'll place my bets on Casey going home tonight.