Even after watching Idol for so long, some things you just don’t expect. I never thought I’d see a didgeridoo on Idol. I never thought I’d see bagpipes on Idol. To get both in the same night?
Aaron Kelly opened things off, which was just as well. He was by far the worst of the night, but let’s put that in context: it wasn’t totally unbearable. It was decently sung, but it was completely uninteresting. Aaron did what he’s been doing as well as he’s done it before. It was not good enough in a night when everyone else stepped it up.
Personally, I prefer the more subtle version of Let It Be that Brooke White did two years ago instead of the belting version Katie Stevens did this week. That said… it was pretty good. It played to her natural strengths, and more importantly she sang as well as she has to date. It was, all in all, pretty good.
What is with this singing from behind the judges that Big Mike started last week, and Andrew Garcia started? To be fair, it did get Andrew away from the swaybots, a big plus in itself. The rest of the performance… it was entertaining, pleasant to listen to, but not much else. It was the musical equivalent of junk food – good tasting, but not particularly filling.
If he does nothing else on Idol, Michael Lynche has proved he has incredible guts. Doing a song that David Cook did well, and rearranging it a lot as well? That takes bravery. Randy was right – some parts worked, some didn’t. Of course, that’s because Big Mike is one of the biggest Large Hams in the history of Idol. When he goes over the top, Big Mike goes way, way, way over the top.
Crystal Bowersox was not to be outdone in the insane risks department. Doing what may well be Carly Smithson’s signature song on Idol… that was one hell of a risk. And it worked. Like last week’s gamble, it didn’t have golden vocals (but still pretty good), but it was a textbook case of making a song your own on Idol. Absolutely fantastic.
Here’s a shocker: Tim Urban was actually competent. He was actually on the good side of things. How did he do it? He picked a song and arrangement that hid his weaknesses. Vocally, All My Loving wasn’t all that challenging. So without being exposed as a bad singer, he let his personality and likability carry the night. Overall… it wasn’t half-bad. More than decent, even.
It’s very hard to step away from the gimmicks on Idol and strip down a song to the basics and rely on vocals and emotion to carry a performance. There are not that many people who can do it as well as Casey James did it this week. There was an emotional honesty in the song that he has not showed to date. Best of the night.
I do not quite know what to make of Siobhan Magnus. The drama and the theatrics of her performance felt like she was trying a bit too hard. The glory note towards the end was quite well done. The rest of the vocals… were a little uneven. Overall, that really sums up the whole performance – uneven. Some parts were good, some not so good… and overall, not really all that interesting. It didn’t work all that well. It was okay, really, but I’m having a hard time going any further than that.
It’s a good thing that Lee DeWyze went last. I really pity anyone that would have had to follow the theatrics of having a bagpiper on stage. Really. It’s something of a well-known trope, after all. It’s hard to stop a spectacle like that. At the very least, it was one of the most entertaining performances of the night. The vocals were… not all that, but at least respectable. Still, how can you hate a performance like that, for the sheer guts of it?
Here’s how the night went for us:
- Casey James
- Crystal Bowersox
- Katie Stevens
- Lee DeWyze
- Siobhan Magnus
- Michael Lynche
- Tim Urban
- Andrew Garcia
- Aaron Kelly
When everyone is good…: A surefire way of going home on Idol is to do poorly on a “good” night. Unfortunately, Aaron Kelly did just that this week. Everyone else’s fans will be quite motivated to vote this week; I have a hard time thinking anyone except his most die-hard power voters will want to vote for him after another pedestrian performance.
One other problem for Aaron is Tim. Don’t let the #7 ranking for the night fool you: the gap between Tim and Aaron was huge. The two of them are probably splitting the tween fanbase, but Tim doing so much better tonight will lead to a large vote swing, in all likelihood. So I’m calling it…
Aaron Kelly to go home.
