Inspire Me Idol

American Idol—Theme: Inspirational Songs

Alicia Keys is the mentor tonight. I guess because she is so…inspirational.

Casey James is singing Don’t Stop by Fleetwood Mac. I always say when Casey pulls his hair back, he means business, and tonight he was all business with that guitar. He reminded me a little of Jeff Buckley tonight. I definitely wasn’t thinking of Fleetwood Mac. It was solid. I enjoyed it, and he can sing that way every night and draw a crowd. Simon said there was nothing inspirational about this song, but I remember Bill Clinton using it during his campaign for president the first time, and I remember it being very inspirational. Have hope, don’t stop thinking about tomorrow, whatever Simon, you tight T-shirt wearin’ British Butt.

Lee DeWyze is singing The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel—and oddly, he does remind me of Paul Simon. Lee can ditch the pink stocking cap forever; BURN it Lee. Say goodbye to it. Let it go big boy, you no longer need to hide behind the pink stocking cap. Nice performance. He seemed so sincere in his performance. It was special in a non-corny way. He is understated-hunky, cool.

Teflon Tim Urban is singing Better Days by the Goo Goo Dolls. The notes are a bit off tonight. But this is Teflon Tim, who cares about notes? He hit his groove about the middle of the song. Okay tweeners, if you hit 10 million votes for Tim, he will take his shirt off…he he he, just kidding! I think he might be in the bottom tonight, but I will be surprised if he goes home. Keep smilin’ TTU!

Aaron Kelly is singing I Believe I Can Fly. This song is so overdone. Bad song choice for him. It was boring because he didn’t bring anything new to the song. There was a certain cheese factor to Aaron’s performance. He is wearing thin with me.

Siobhan Magnus is singing When you Believe by Whitney and Mariah. Has she lost her ever-lovin’ mind??? I mean seriously, you gotta have diva chops to sing this. She made me tense just watching it because I thought at any moment it could be a train wreck—this was a nail-biter. Though she made it through with no major missteps, I just didn’t feel the emotion behind this song, and it didn’t have the impact of a Mariah or Whitney version. Shout out to Whitney (you know, just in case Whitney is reading my blog), poor girl, I hear she is back in rehab.

Michael Lynche is singing Hero by Nickelback. Again, this must be karaoke night on Idol. It just felt like he could be in a bar on Friday night competing with the best of the just okay. And the lip lick at the end, that was just wrong. Big Mike might be going home. This seems like wrong type of song for Michael Lynche.

Crystal Bowersox is singing People Get Ready by Curtis Mayfield. Oh man, can this girl sing. Crystal rocks my world. I actually liked her without the instrument. She really let go and wasn’t focusing on anything else but the performance. She was so in it, she got choked up at the end. This reminds me of my high school buddy Mike who was so into a role for a play we were doing, he actually cut himself on a glass he broke, but you knew he was owning the moment. It was glorious.

Who will be back? Crystal, Lee, and Casey

Who might be going home? Aaron, Michael, and Siobhan

Who is the wildcard? Teflon Tim, of course