American Idol Top 9

“Tonight’s theme is the Lennon/McCartney song book.  Hopefully the contestants can tackle these big hits and not mess it up.  This is one of those nights where you want them to make it their own yet stay close to the essence of the songs because they are already legendary songs. And instead of a mentor, the contestants talk about each other.  Lame! Tonight was actually pretty good as a whole and there were some interesting instrumental additions”

The scores are based on vocal ability, appearance, song choice, personality, stage presence and impact out of a possible 30 points! EPIC (29-30) GREAT (27-28) GOOD (25-26) OK (23-25) FAIL (22 and below)

Here are the guy’s grades in order of performance:

Aaron Kelly 26

After singing last, last week, this week he is singing first.  On the video, they talk about how they consider Aaron “Yoda” from Star Wars?  Really?  Hopefully his singing is far from.  Interesting his fun personality off-stage is absent on stage tonight.  He was kind of blah and predictable.  His song choice was so Country and it fits his voice very well.  A little pitch problems here and there but it’s the same old song we have seen every week and nothing new.  He knows what artist he wants to be and for the most part he does an ok job, but nothing spectacular and being first doesn’t help.  This will test is Tween and Grandma vote?

Elimination: So-so (After a lackluster performance, will his fans still vote.)

Katie Stevens 28

Now Katie on the other hand is a girl who doesn’t really know who she wants to be.  Wait, she does the Beyonce dance, from this era, yet she sings like she’s in another era? Let it Be is her song choice. This doesn’t sound promising.  Pleasantly surprised! She didn’t do too much with the song but what she did do was sing the song well.  I think this was her best performance!  Sometimes you just need to pick the right song and sing it well.  Not a difficult song to sing but a good performance.  Also, I think Kara needs to stop singing, her little vocal examples..no thanks!

Elimination: So-so (She’s been in the bottom 3 two weeks in a row, why would that change?)

Andrew Garcia 26

After coming back to the game last week, will he continue on a climb or will he settle back into his settled ways.  First, contestant comments! Yeah, we got that he has a great personality but it sometimes disappears on stage.  It’s a pity, I used to be a fan, because watching him tonight makes me wonder why I was such a big fan of his earlier in the season.  The performance was okay but there was something missing.  His eyes always look like he’s tired or high, I don’t know. It was okay I suppose and the arrangement wasn’t very good.

Elimination: So-so (Huge fan club, not the best vocal = uncertainty)

Michael Lynche 28

Okay, I am over these comments.  They almost seem like they are fishing for something fun to say.  Will they really say that someone sucks on national TV and forgo some votes for the truth?  Of course not!  Michael, however, seems like a great guy, so Mr Hulk, Teddy Bear, etc, will you continue your amazing run for the title?  Uh oh, singing a David Cook classic?  Interestingly changes it up and he sounds great.  A completely different contrast to David’s version and it worked for his RnB style. Dramatic and amazing!!  I think Simon was wrong on this one tonight.

Elimination: Very Safe (Still better than everyone else who has gone before him tonight!)

Crystal Bowersox 29

And she is sick today?  Uh oh.  Mamasox?  Okay comments are just sounding the same at this point.  This week she has a different method of choosing songs, will it work for her? Of course it does.  She is Crystal Bowersox, the super front-runner of this show.  I don’t think she can make any mistakes.  She isn’t even competing anymore; she is just performing and doing what she does best.

Elimination: Very Safe (Until the top 3, I don’t think she can do no wrong!)

Tim Urban 27

I feel like tuning out everything being said because besides that smile, is there really anything else they can say about him?  Of course not!  Brighten my day by going home please.  Okay, let’s see what he does tonight with the song he can Smile to apparently.  His hair matches this era so well.  Weirdly sounds pretty good tonight.  His second best performance behind Hallelujah which is saying a lot but not saying a lot as well!   (OMG Ellen said the exact thing I said)

Elimination: Bottom 3 (Why not, he has been second to last for the last few weeks. One good performance, I hope doesn’t mean he will stick around!)

Casey James 30

So Casey is the Playboy of the group and has a crazy laugh.  Okay? Thank God this is a singing competition because he has a much better voice worth talking about.  He went for a slow song and showcased his amazing vocals in a stripped down approach and it worked well.  In the end, he gave another great performance and showed another side to himself especially in the second part of the song which really portrayed his vocal abilities.

Elimination: Super-safe (He has nothing to worry about for another few weeks)

Siobhan Magnus 27

Last week she proved she had a big fan-club as her poor performance still saved her from bottom 3 status! Question is, will she jump right back from it or will she continue on a free fall?  Okay weird and interesting.  Another obvious profile of something we already knew.  Another stripped down performance, but this time her vocals seem off, especially in the first part of the song.  She did come back though in parts, but overall I don’t know if I loved it or not.  But that last bit that almost brought her too tears, almost brought me too tears.

Elimination: So-so (That last bit might have just won her some votes, but like I said, she has a fan club and they will probably vote anyway.  This one’s tough?)

Lee Dewyze 27

Lee nailed it last week and he’s closing.  How could this not have worked out any better for him.  Resident worry-wart?  Sounds about right!  Even though he doesn’t say it on stage, we can see it.  OMG, Danny Gokey babies hit it right on the head! It’s funny.  I love his voice and he actually showed a lot more confidence tonight but that bag piped was just un-necessary and the fact that Lee wanted it on was quite funny.  The song itself is the perfect show-ender and he performed it pretty well, but vocally it wasn’t his best, but that really doesn’t matter at all.

Elimination: Very Safe (More Lee for another few weeks)

My top 9:

1. Casey James
2. Crystal Bowersox
3. Katie Stevens
4. Michael Lynche
5. Lee Dewyze
6. Siobhan Magnus
7. Tim Urban
8. Andrew Garcia
9. Aaron Kelly

Final Thoughts: It gets tougher to score each week the more you get to hear and know the contestants.  The singing was good tonight and I definitely think there will be more surprises in the bottom 3 like Andrew and Aaron, although Andrew has been lucky for the last few weeks so it’s not so much a surprise but catching up.  Aaron unfortunately, wasn’t bad but was the weakest of the night and Katie may have saved herself.  I do think Tim, Katie or Siobhan are still in danger, but Aaron being the first of the night and the weakest may be eliminated