A little difference in opinion among the Idol punditocracy is normal. By all accounts, though, the differences among the pundits for Shania week were… extreme. For us, it was one 0f the better (if not the best) weeks of the season so far, but that’s to be expected given how far we are in the season. This is the top six.
I expect, by this time in the show, at least competence. If the top six is singing as poorly as the top twelve, then we’d have a real problem. However, the past six weeks while, at times, brutally awful, has done its job. The truly undeserving talent has been thrown out, and we’ve got a top six. It’s not the best Idol top six, but it’s a servicable one.
Best of the night: Casey James. The song and arrangement suited him well. He sang it quite well (with one caveat: it wasn’t exactly the hardest song to sing.) He sang it with emotion. He ticked off just about every checkbox in the “things to do to get a good rating” list. He deserves the top spot. Overall, it’s right on the border of good versus great.
Next up: Aaron Kelly. He’s been compared to David Archuleta before, and he shares Archie’s strengths: he can do the emotional, slow ballads pretty damn well. Superb song choice, his singing was as good as anyone else’s… very, very close to Casey for the night, as a matter of fact.
For the first time in a long time, Michael Lynche lived up to what his potential. He sang his song well. He told the story of the song. He played up to the audience. The only reason I have him third is that I think of the “good” performances of the night, he’s the one with the least crossover appeal. He’ll win over R&B listeners, but I doubt he’ll appeal much to other genre voters.
By her standards, Crystal Bowersox wasn’t particularly good. It was a little pedestrian, to be honest. The usual emotion and honesty we’ve come to expect from Mamasox was missing. She sort of mailed it in. Now, on the flip side, it was decently sung and pleasant to listen to. It just didn’t feel special or interesting.
Siobhan Magnus… I honestly don’t know what to think of this. The first part of the song was… surprisingly mediocre, really. The song calls for a lot of energy, but Siobhan’s performing had little of that. When we got to the glory notes, I’m of two minds. I find her ability to pull off notes with that much power absolutely amazing. It’s a rare talent. But by itself it’s not singing. There is a lot more to singing than just hitting one powerful note for a very long time. I don’t know how Siobhan has become this one-dimensional glory-note-or-bust singer. What I do know is that I do not like it.
Worst of the night, by a fairly good distance: Lee DeWyze. I didn’t get this song choice. The singing was, well, decent, but unexceptional, and overall it was just dull. He’s capable of a whole lot better.
Broken Base: With opinions all over the place for this episode, it comes down fundamentally to a battle of fanbase strength. Which means, that for most of the six contestants, what they did on Tuesday night won’t matter.
Note that I said most. The one exception: Aaron Kelly. In between singing well and picking up some youth votes from former Tim Urban voters, he probably did enough to save himself. He was up against the wall and rose to the pressure. Well done, Aaron.
So who ends up going home? Our money is on Big Mike. We know his fanbase strength is already suspect due to the save. The fans of the frontrunners who struggled (Crystal and Lee) will vote like mad. The fans of those who did very well (Aaron and Casey) will vote like mad. Siobhan, well, her fans will vote like mad too. Any Man Of Mine – and the accompanying glory notes – was really something that her fanbase would eat right up.
Once we’d gotten past the “removing the driftwood” phase of the finals, really, Big Mike was in trouble. He needed a good performance that could also win over people not inclined to like his style of music. I don’t think Mike did enough.
Don’t be surprised to see Siobhan in the bottom two, though. She’s done a lot of damage to her former front-runner status with performances that have garnered mixed reviews, at best. She’s also the most divisive, love-her-or-hate-her contestant since… Adam Lambert. You can get away with that if your fans are as fanatical (and there are enough of them) as Adam’s was. Siobhan isn’t there.
TIG pick: Michael Lynche to go home.
