In a surprise, the Top 9 put together the best set of performances of the season, climbing from the depths to, at the very least, mediocrity.
Last year’s Beatles nights (yup, two consecutive weeks last season – who thought that was a good idea?) were debacles, as the contestants made poor song choices and looked terribly uncomfortable through most of the performances. This year, most of the song choices were at least defensible, and eight of the nine performances were at least decent.
Who was the ninth you ask? Sad to say, Lee DeWyze. He’s been a critical darling all year, though I’ve never been a fan. Over the past couple of weeks, I started to warm to him, but his performance of “Hey Jude” was just unequivocally bad. Off key the entire song, Lee actually turned away from the microphone at one point in the middle of singing to make sure he was playing the right chord. Really? There’s like two chords in that song. Then the guy with the bagpipes came marching down the stairs. Disaster with a capital “Duh.” Note to Idol contestants: sing alongs with the crowd in a 90-second performance will never work.
I thought three performances clearly outshone the others. Crystal, on a night where she struggled with her voice, had her most likeable performance. I still don’t think I can be classified as a fan, but her slinky version of “Come Together” (and no, I never thought I would use the word “slinky” in describing her this season either) had a great groove and was massively entertaining. The didgeridoo I just don’t get, but whatever. Note to Ricky Minor: if you can’t find someone with more than three days experience to play an instrument, probably best not to put him on stage next to the singer.
Siobhan was brilliant last night, and Kara’s comments had me scratching my head. Let’s recap: last week, all the judges tell Siobhan she needs to dial it back, not scream, and sing really well. She sings a quiet, contemplative version of “Across the Universe” and sings it perfectly, with control and emotion. Then Kara says she doesn’t “get it” because Siobhan didn’t scream. Como say what? Note to the judges: Sometime today, you are going to go back and listen to Siobhan’s performance again and the light bulb will come on. You don’t always have to show off to sing great — it’s often harder to sound terrific when doing something more understated. There is not another singer in this competition who could have succeeded the way Siobhan did last night. Not one.
But the best performance of the night, and maybe the season, was Casey’s version of John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy.” I got a sense that someone was going to sing a solo Lennon or McCartney song when the opening sequence described the solo success of each post-Beatles. Then I forgot about it until Casey chose this criminally underrated Lennon tune. This performance had it all: terrific guitar playing, big vocal range, a performer in total control. And look, no bagpipes or didgeridoo. Note to the frontrunners: Casey is the overlooked contender; he may not be the best every week (although he was this week), but he’s never among the worst.
It’s been pretty obvious for weeks that there is a clear top 5, and that the others have their work cut out for them if they want to crash the party. Crystal, Siobhan, Lee, Casey, and Big Mike are going to be battling four weeks from now unless something shocking happens. Aaron and Katie are fine karaoke singers, but completely uninteresting. Andrew is interesting but not all that good. Tim is Sanjaya.
In closing, I have to give a shout out to Aaron who chose “The Long and Winding Road,” just as I suggested yesterday he should. What’s that you say? He wasn’t very good? Well, that’s on him — he should have sung it better.
Predictions for tonight’s bottom three: Andrew, Aaron, Tim
Going home: Andrew.
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