The Final 9

The Lennon/McCartney songbook...not sure how this is different from just having a "Beatles" night, but whatever. Last season they had this as a theme and the next week had a "Beatles" theme. Confusing, but I digress. So, overall everyone did well. Not really sure why so many of the contestants picked "sleepy" songs, but it seems they did. I have to say I enjoyed seeing the contestants talk about one another in the package video before each performance, it allowed us to see more of their personalities and get a glimpse into how they interact with one another. As far as the actual singing, some performances were a little more entertaining than others, but overall a decent night. I remember season 7 when David Cook revamped and rocked out "Eleanor Rigby", one of my favorites of his from that season. How did Big Mike's performance of the same song tonight stand up in comparison? Let's dive in...

Lee DeWyze ♪♪♪♪ - I admit it, I love Lee! Honestly, he does not need to finish another day in this competition to be a huge hit in today's music scene. Aside from his sound being completely current and relevant to today's market, he has the look and style too. Add to that, he appears to be humble and grounded (this supported by his fellow contestants reviews of him tonight) which makes for a successful artist. His voice has continued to improve since we first saw him and that is icing on the cake! I kept wondering as I watched him perform why the staircase was out behind him, then we found out why...a bagpipe player, of course! Hey, at least Lee is man enough to take complete responsibility for the bagpipes being his idea. haha

Crystal Bowesox ♪♪♪ 1/2 - As we all know, I love Crystal as well and I cannot see her NOT winning the crown this year. Tonight I dinged her score a little for 2 reasons. One, this song was a bit predictable for her to choose. Although she did the song well, I would have liked to have seen her make a less obvious choice. Two, because I don't feel she connected as well this week. She seemed very into her guitar playing as if she was unsure about it and in a couple spots that caused her to drop some of her lyrics. Her voice is still stellar though and she pulled off another solid performance. I also love how her personality is coming out more and more. Seeing her interact after her performance with the didgeridoo guy was endearing and showed how she too seems very humble and grounded. I would not be upset with a Crystal/Lee Final 2 showdown! :)

Casey James ♪♪♪ 1/2 - Ok, I had to go back and re-watch Casey performance because initially I was distracted and not able to give it my full attention. I have to say this was probably the most authentic emotionally felt performance we have seen all season. Casey was truly feeling the words he was singing and it was evident. This fact may also be what contributed to the more-than-normal warbley vocals we heard, but it still works for him. There were moments when his vocals reminded me of Bo Bice from season 4, but I will not hold that against Casey. haha I don't really feel like the cello contributed anything to the performance, maybe it wasn't mic'd properly or something but I feel like she did not need to even be there playing for this performance. All that aside, I think he did a great job and really showed a COMPLETELY different side of himself which was refreshing. 

Siobhan Magnus ♪♪♪ - Let me start of by giving Siobhan kudos for, like Casey, doing a 180 for us this week. I believe that if she did another song that ended with her "belter note" (which, I love by the way don't get me wrong) I think it would have irritated people and it would have pigeon-holed her as a one trick pony. Tonight, she came out and showed the softer side a la Adam Lambert's "Mad World" from last season. However, unlike Adam's "Mad World", this was TOO slow and laid back. Even if the tempo was picked up just a smidge it may have helped. However, with those deep, low notes she pulled out, she showed us that her range is incredible and she has complete control! She is a bonafide and versatile vocalist no doubt.

Michael Lynch ♪♪♪ - I feel like a broken record every week, but I am just not connecting with Big Mike. Yes, he has a solid voice and seems to be a nice guy, but I feel like he is trying too hard and thus comes off cheesy in his performances. As far as his performance this week, I did not like much of his rendition of the song, it did not come off R&B to me at all as I assume he intended it to be.  I also would have liked to have seen him go up a couple more notches vocally on that part near the end where he held out the note and did a small vocal climb. I think he is capable of showing a little more range. Overall maybe my issue is I am comparing it to the David Cook remake (as I mentioned in the opening of this blog). I think this song worked better as a rock/emo remake than an "r&b"/orchestral remake that Mike did tonight. Again, decent voice but I am just struggling jumping on the Big Mike bandwagon. 

Katie Stevens ♪♪♪ - No surprise Katie picked "Let It Be" even though Kris Allen came on  the show just a few weeks ago during the Semi Finals and did a stellar version of this song as a benefit for Haiti. Oh well, tonight I finally got a glimpse of the voice that I liked in the very beginning of this whole show. Although the performance was drab and uneventful, this was her best night vocally since she first auditioned. Now if we can just combine good vocals with an entertaining performance Katie would be getting somewhere. Katie seems to be a fun girl with a good personality based on her video packages, she just needs to bring that to the stage a little. I can also see where Simon felt this performance was leaning a little to country because there was a tinge of contemporary country to her vocals a la the styling of Carrie Underwood. It was in her vocal tone and not about all the grace notes she threw in, which apparently is how Kara and Randy define "R&B".

Tim Urban ♪♪♪ - This was a decent week for Tim, his vocals were good, his performance was not over the top and he got a good pimping by his video package. All those things could mean another week's pass for Tim OR his fall. Will his die-hard fans ease up on voting for him because he finally got decent reviews from the judges and did well this week? We shall see. 

Andrew Garcia ♪♪♪ - The reason Tim is ahead of Andrew this week is solely because I feel Tim's performance was more believable than Andrew's. I had high hopes for Andrew and this song and while it was fun, Simon hit the nail on the head when he said it was an irrelevant performance. Is this the type of music Andrew would do on his album? Doubtful. What kind of music WOULD Andrew do on his album? I have no idea at this point. Here is what I feel about the whole Andrew thing, and keep in mind I like Andrew and I was rooting him as #1 at the beginning of this season; however, I have this sneaking suspicion the judges have set him up. They HAILED him in Hollywood off of the "Straight Up" performance and then have constantly reminded him that he is not living up to that. I don't think that is fair and I think the judges have painted him into a corner that he cannot get himself out of. I feel like Andrew is in competition with only himself every week. Yes, this performance was fun but it was pretty cheesy. We use to have this problem when the theme's were "Disco", "Big Band", "Country" and the contestants would struggle to have their own style in a specific theme, but now the AI producers have really generalized the theme weeks and we STILL have contestants not making the songs their own. Although his vocals were decent (minus him dropping that 1 money note) I just don't feel this showed the type of artist Andrew would be outside of Idol, and with this season having more stylized artists than any before, artistry is important.

Aaron Kelly ♪♪ - So, yea....this was not good and add on top of that he went first. Deadly combo. I have said in the past that Aaron and Tim are splitting the young girl votes and that at some point it would be the fall of one of them. All this time I thought Tim would be the victim, this week may prove that wrong. Vocally Aaron sounded out of breath and shaky (the latter being a more common factor in Aaron's voice). The song never went anywhere dynamic so it just sort of came off monotonous to me. In my opinion, Aaron struggles to connect and be believable when he performs. Tonight's performance reminded me of a young kid on Star Search from back in the late 80's. I think with time and experience, Aaron has potential but he has a lot to learn about his voice, stage presence and song choices. 

So, I will admit that this season has been the most difficult for me to predict eliminations. I thought I had the American voting pattern down, but this season things have changed and I can't seem to get a grasp on it. I never would have guessed Didi to go home last week, although I did mention that she may very well see the Bottom 3. I also predicted Andrew Garcia to go home 2 weeks in a row and he never saw the bottom 3. However, I am going to continue trying my best and say that this week we will see Tim, Andrew and Aaron in the bottom 3. Tim has made the Bottom 3 his home, yet always seems to escape its wrath. So, in light of that I am going to say that this week we will see Aaron go home like a Didi v. 2.0. Now, watch this be the week that Andrew or Tim go home! lol Either way, none of these 3's exit tonight would surprise me. At this point, in my opinion, any contestant who is NOT Crystal, Lee, Siobhan, Casey or Mike is competing for a 6th place finish.