If it is Tuesday, it must be American Idol!
Hold on to your hats people, Seacrest in!
The theme tonight is songs that appeared at the top of the Billboard 100 list. The mentor is Miley Cyrus.
A mentor at 17??? We shall debate this later.
Lee Dewyze singing the Letter by the Box Tops. Miley’s words of wisdom: “Give them a few notes they wouldn’t expect from you.” Lee, c’mon man, you chose a song from the 60s. Could you not find anything at #1 that most of your audience would know? Apparently, he is going for the votes from the 80 and over crowd. I didn’t count, but I think there were more than a few notes that surprised me and not in a good way. The judges were blowing some serious smoke, except Simon, who was the only one who called him out, and Simon was right on the money.
Paige Miles singing Against All Odds by Phil Collins. Miley’s words of wisdom: “As long she watches her pitch, she will do great.” Ouch, forget about pitch, she is out of tune. She is all over the place with the wrong notes. I think this is one of the hardest songs to sing, so I am surprised she chose this one. You need such control at the beginning of this song or it sounds horrible. Each of those beginning notes needs to be right on—none of them were. She is definitely not top twelve worthy. Definitely, definitely! Odds are she will be voted off.
Tim Urban singing Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen. Before this even begins, I will say I have serious doubts about anyone who takes on Freddie Mercury. And it begins—oh Tim, Tim, Tim. Can you say cornball? Alvin and the Chipmunks covered this, as did Diana Ross and Brian Setzer—on a spectrum from Alvin to Queen, which end do you think he falls closer to? No hints. Go ahead, admit it. His tween brigade better dial their little fingers off tonight.
Aaron Kelly--ahhh, he has a crush on Miley. He is singing I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing by Aerosmith. Even with laryngitis and tonsillitis, he sang better than Paige and Tim. Miley was right; he has a great voice, more mature than his years. That song worked for his voice. I am seeing an Aaron and Miley duet in the future!
Crystal Bowersox singing Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin. I don’t think there was enough of her in the performance; it was more an imitation of Janis Joplin toward the end. I wanted her to make the song her own, and it didn’t go far enough for me. But I still love her. Wonder how much that autographed guitar would go for on Ebay? It was good. If she wasn’t going on the Idol Tour as part of the top 12, I bet she would be playing the Lilith Fair Tour.
Mike Lynche manhandled the Cyrus. LOL. And she drew a heart in the air for him. It’s LOVE! He is singing Percy Sledge’s When a Man Loves a Woman, which is listed as #54 on the Rolling Stone Magazine’s list of the 500 greatest songs of all time—dedicated to his new love Miley. YEP, he will be coming back next week. He is definitely crooner material.
Andrew Garcia singing I Heard it Through the Grapevine by Marvin Gaye. Miley’s words of wisdom—“Learn the words.” I liked him better without the guitar. It opened him up more, but I didn’t think this was the best version of the song I have ever heard. I am worried that he won’t have the fans to pull him into the top ten, and a part of me doesn’t even care. It was average. It didn’t inspire me. Good lord, he peaked with Straight Up! One hit wonder!
Katie Stevens singing Big Girls by Fergie. She is pulling her face too much. I think this was a good song choice for her. Finally, she chose a song with attitude, and I think that is what her choices have been lacking. It was a little pitchy, dawg. She ditched the baby doll dresses, and got edgier. This was her best performance to date.
Casey James singing The Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News. Something was bothering me about this performance tonight. He should definitely go the country route, and he doesn’t seem to want to. He sounds okay, but it was almost too cute-sy with some of his facial expressions. I went to two Huey Lewis and the News concerts in the 80s. Yes, I am a product of the eighties. I rocked the polo with the collar up and multiple swatches on the wrist, and I felt like I was in a flashback to my high school days. Was it current? No. Will he be around next week? Of course.
Didi Benami singing You’re No Good which hit #1 with Linda Ronstadt. She needs to pick up the tempo. It was a dragging at the beginning. I didn’t love anything about it. If you have to defend your performance after the judges rate you, then there is a problem.
Siobhan Magnus singing Superstition by Stevie Wonder. You gotta love this girl because you just know people made fun of her on the playground when she was little. Her stylist does an amazing job each week of turning her from geek to chic. I was wowed by the performance. She probably could have chosen a better song. She is doing the Adam Lambert screaming thing, again. I hope this doesn’t turn into a one trick pony thing. It was okay, but it wasn’t great.
Usually I do a best of the night, but this week, it is hard to choose one because I don’t think there was a best. Many were just good, but not great. Aaron, Casey, Crystal and Mike were the strongest tonight of a weak field.
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