AI9: Top 8 Boys Perform

This year's crop of boys on American Idol are nowhere near as good as the girls. That being said, some of them are improving more than I thought they would. There were one outstanding performance and several very good ones. The weakest performances were by the little boys and you just know the tweeners will vote them through...

First up was Lee Dewyze, who chose "Fireflies" by Owl City, a song I love. The original is whimsical and delicate, a fairy tale set to gentle electronic music. Lee accompanied himself on guitar. He has a heavy voice, and I thought it was going to be a disaster. But it wasn't. He was on key, mostly, and I felt an emotional connection to the song. The judges basically liked it, but Simon thought Lee was better than he'd showed in the song.

Alex Lambert sang "Trouble" by Ray Lamontagne, accompanying himself on guitar. While he did a competent job, he didn't blow me away with his reedy voice. But I just know he's going to get by because he's cute and likable. Randy liked the song choice, but he wasn't wowed by it. Ellen said he's becoming a mushy banana, he's ripening so fast. She loves his innocence. Kara wants him to be more himself, to let go. Simon thinks he needs to get himself mentally somewhere else. He's never relaxed or having a good time. As for me...I think he's gone past his expiration date and should be sent home.

Tim Urban chose the Jeff Buckley arrangement of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", one of the most overdone songs on American Idol. Jason Castro did it a couple of years ago. Tim amazed me, though - he sounded good. He's shown steady improvement over the three weeks of the competition. Who would have thought? His performance was a little all the same, though; I think he could have wrung a little bit more out of it. The judges were pleased. Ellen actually got up from her chair, came up on stage, and gave Tim a hug. “That was fantastic,” she said. Kara thought he might be in the top of the boys. (admittedly, not hard in this field...) Simon feels responsible for Tim doing well this week. His strongest performance in the competition so far.

Andrew Garcia made another weird song choice: he did "Genie in a Bottle" by Christina Aguilera. Yep, that's what I said, "Genie in a Bottle." He accompanied himself on acoustic guitar. Not surprisingly, it didn't work for him. It's hard for Andrew; he peaked early when he did that great arrangement of "Straight Up", and nothing he's done since then has come near it. Randy didn't think it quite worked. “You made us feel like the whole song was three notes.” It had no range to it, didn't go anywhere. Simon said it was a little bit desperate. After his weak performances the past 3 weeks, I don't think Andrew will make it into the Top 12.

Casey James chose Keith Urban's "You'll Think of Me." I'm not a country fan and I don't know the song at all. He accompanied himself on acoustic guitar (seems like most of the boys were playing guitar last night), and he did a really amazing job. His voice was strong and confident. I thought the song was a great choice for him. Randy, however, thought it was a safe choice. He thought Casey should have chosen something edgier. The other judges liked it, though. Simon thought it was his second best performance to date. (He didn't say what the best one was.)

The baby of the group, Aaron Kelly, chose "I'm Already There" by Lonestar (I misheard it as "Loan Shark", which I think would have been a lot funnier). I didn't think he sounded all that good, but I expected the judges to ooh and ah over him anyway. Randy did, sort of. The rest of them were more honest, surprisingly. Ellen thought he has sounded better; it was too much song for him. Kara thought the song was too old for him. Simon thinks it's a beautiful song. Not a great vocal, but it had emotion and Aaron was trying hard. I think it's Aaron's turn to go home, but I'm convinced the tweeners will vote him through.

Todrick Hall chose "Somebody to Love" by Queen. He did a really good job singing the song; it fits his naturally flamboyant style. (I'm not saying he's gay, but he's a dancer and it comes across in his movements on the stage.)Randy said “Todrick is back!” One of the best vocals he's heard so far from the men. Ellen said he was brave. Almost sounded like a gospel song. Kara thinks it was really good singing. Simon thinks it was good in parts. He thinks it was like “American Idol: The Musical” doing Queen. But he thinks Todrick made the top 12.

They saved the best for last. In the "Pimp Spot", Michael Lynche blew everybody away with his performance of Maxwell's version of Kate Bush's "This Woman's Work." He has a wonderful high falsetto, and his regular singing voice is warm and rich. I associate this song with Season 5's "So You Think You Can Dance" - dancers Melissa and Ade did a Tyce Diorio dance to it, about a woman with breast cancer, that moved me to tears every time I saw it. Kara was moved to tears last night by Michael's singing. Simon said “This was so needed tonight.” He thought that Michael "100% nailed it," and it was the best performance of all these live shows so far.

Best performer of the night was, of course, Michael Lynche. I'd rate Casey James fairly highly, too. Tim Urban surprised me by doing fairly well, too.

If it were up to me, I'd send Alex Lambert and Aaron Kelly home. But I'm pretty sure their youth and cuteness will pull at least one of them through. So I think the axe may fall on Andrew Garcia. Oh, well.