AI9: Top 10 Boys (!) Perform

I thought it was odd that the boys were performing last night - I didn't remember them swapping with the girls last year. When the show started, I found out what was going on. Crystal Bowersox, my current candidate for this year's winner, was hospitalized and unable to sing yesterday. Idol was cagey about why she was in the hospital, but I found out from that great source of all things accurate, the Internet, that she had complications from Type 1 diabetes and should be ready to sing tonight. I certainly hope so - she's the best thing in this year's competition.

Meanwhile, we had to make do with the boys. I never was able to figure out what (if any) the theme was to last night's song choices. Probably something vague like "Billboard Top 100 over the past zillion years..."

The show led off with Michael Lynche doing the James Brown classic "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" - and doing it extremely well, too. I've been a fan of Big Mike's from the beginning. He's got talent and charisma. He made a few odd faces, though. Randy loved it - he gave Big Mike a standing O. The rest of the judges approved, too. Simon said he went from a pussycat to a lion in one week.

Next we were subjected to John Park, who informed us that he sings in an a cappella group called "Purple Haze". That would be a better place for him, I'm sure, than the Idol stage, where once again he made me wince with a performance of John Mayer's "Gravity". He was wearing a white V-necked tee shirt that looked for all the world like an undershirt, and blue jeans; I wondered if he forgot to get dressed...He was off-pitch and his voice just didn't sound very good. Randy didn't think he brought anything new to the song, and he mentioned the pitch problems. Ellen thought it was a better song choice than last week's. Kara said way better than last week, but she didn't always feel a connection. She thought he needed to let loose and get out of the comfort zone. Simon called it a “so what” performance, forgettable, and he thinks that John might have a problem this week.

Who knew that Casey James, in addition to being drop-dead adorable, could play the electric guitar so well? It's fortunate that he can, because otherwise his choice of song "I Don't Wanna Be" by Gavin DeGraw might have put him into danger. It didn't suit his voice - which is kind of bluesy and scratchy and not all that resonant - at all. But I loved his guitar playing. Also, he remodeled a house for himself (they showed it in the intro). All in all, this guy is a Good Catch. American Idol? Maybe not, but I hope he stays around.

Randy could see Casey making this kind of music and winning. Ellen thought he was a little stiff. She wants him to move more. Kara said he took two steps backwards for her. She thought his singing was off and he didn't take the song to another level. Simon agreed with Kara. “This week, you turned into somebody you will see in any bar across America, somebody trying to be a rock star...I don't think you've the grit in your voice to make that authentic.”

Casey said “That hurt a little bit...I don't have the grit?”

“No grit,” Simon said. “More like sand.”

“More like dirt”, Kara chimed in.

Before he went on, Alex Lambert reassured us that he hadn't thrown up before the show tonight, which he had last week. He chose a John Legend song, "Everybody Knows." This week he accompanied himself on the guitar and while he was still clearly nervous, he did a better job than he had last week. The song was a better choice for him, too. Ellen (who called him an "unripe banana" last week) made some convoluted comment about how that banana had been placed in a paper bag and had now ripened quickly. Uh huh. In any case, his voice had a pleasing quality to it in some parts of the song, and I suppose there's hope for him, although I don't see him in the Top 10.

Todrick Hall, after completely destroying "Since U Been Gone" last week, chose another song by a female performer, Tina Turner's "What's Love Got To Do With It" - a great song, a classic - and proceeded to chop it to smithereens. Todrick is a trained dancer; they showed clips of him as Fritz in the Nutcracker from his childhood. I think he has a singing voice, too, but the problem is, he just doesn't have a clue how to use it. His voice sounded tight and strained and a little scratchy. Plus, he chose to perform it standing almost still, overcompensating for the fact that last week Simon called him a dancer who thinks he can sing. It didn't help. Simon still thinks Todrick's a better dancer than he is a singer.

He was followed up by Jermaine Sellers, who took another great classic, "What's Goin' On" by Marvin Gaye, and strained all the emotion and passion out of it. He turned it into a pop song. This is a song that should be sung from the heart. Not only that, but he was badly off key. Sigh. That upper register of his could shatter glass with its shrillness. His hair looked like a Kewpie doll (I know, that fake Mohawk is stylish...) And the bow tie looked ridiculous. Randy thought it was better than last week, but so close and yet so far. Not a great performance. It didn't work for Ellen, either. Kara thought he always does too much. It feels forced. Simon was frustrated and disappointed. Jermaine waters down the songs; he makes it lose its importance because he plays around so much, nobody could take him seriously as an artist. Kind of a cabaret type performance.

Andrew Garcia came on looking exactly like Danny Gokey to me. Must be the glasses. Unfortunately, he didn't sound any better than Danny, either. He sang “You give me something” by James Morrison. His voice was weak and tight and off key a lot of the time. And he was one of my early favorites...right now I'm not feeling it where he's concerned. The problem we all have - and the judges mentioned this - is his early performance of "Straight Up" during Hollywood Week. He has never been able to perform up to that level again. I really hope he pulls it together.

The baby of the competition, Aaron Kelly, sang “My Girl” by the Temptations - a song I used to sing to my babies (changing gender where appropriate). I wondered a little at his song choice, although this song is a classic and I'm glad to see his generation appreciates it. He still sounded shaky, but he gave the impression of being a little more confident. It wasn't the best performance in the world. His falsetto wasn't very good. I've heard him perform better. Randy liked it. Ellen thought it was forgettable. She didn't like the song choice. Kara liked it. Simon didn't like the song; it was all over the place. Too old-fashioned.

The Man Who Shouldn't Even Be Here, Tim Urban, worried me by choosing one of my favorite recent songs, “Come On, Get Higher” by Matt Nathanson. I was afraid he was going to kill it. But he didn't. I won't be downloading it, but it wasn't as painful for me as his performance last week. He was still all over the place pitchwise, but his voice was clear and I think the song suited him. Randy,however, didn't get it. “Kind of very karaoke for me.” Ellen thinks he should act. No charisma, no stage presence, voice isn't strong enough. Kara liked the song choice, but he didn't make it his own. Simon disagrees with the other judges; he thinks it was a marked improvement over last week. More relevant than a lot of the other singers we saw tonight.

Finally, in the Pimp Spot, we had Lee Dewyze doing Hinder's “Lips of an Angel”. He was off-key, but I think the song choice was pretty good for him. He sang with passion and emotion. The song itself made me uncomfortable; I've never heard it before, but the lyrics seemed to tell a story of some guy cheating on his girlfriend. Randy thought the song had a couple of pitch problems, but he liked it. Ellen agreed. She liked the passion and intensity. Kara thought it was a big improvement. Simon thinks Lee's the best singer. I have no idea why he thinks this.

At this point, I try to find two good performances and the two or three weakest. Well, my favorite were Michael Lynche channeling the Godfather of Soul, and Casey James playing electric guitar. Oh, wait, this is a singing competition...I can't put Casey in my Top 2 for his singing. But, whoa, if I don't put him in, I'd have to put in either Tim Urban (just because he chose a song I love) or Lee Dewyze. Hmm.

The two weakest performances? Now that should be easy. But it's not; there were 8 weak performances. Or 7. Or maybe 6. Finding the worst of the worst isn't as easy as you'd think. John Park, though, he was pretty bad, and this was his second chance. So I think he should be going. And it's time to wave goodbye to Jermaine Sellers. I can't take any more of his horrible wardrobe choices and his song butchering. And I don't think Todrick Hall is going to stay on much longer, either. He just can't control his urges to overdecorate everything he performs.