American Idol -- Top Ten Performances

Usher is the mentor.  What, Justin Bieber was busy?

So they’re singing R&B/Soul songs tonight, which is one of the few genres of music with which I’m unfamiliar.  Odds are, no one will impress me, just because I don’t particularly enjoy this type of music.

Siobhan is “wicked nervous” to sing in front of Usher.  She’s singing “Through the Fire” by Chaka Khan.  And she is SUPER PITCHY DAWG!  She sounded off key the entire song.  And, of course she does her patented “scream” to end the song.  Yikes, she may have hurt her chances of winning the show after that performance.  I think a lot of voters are going to lose faith in her singing ability.

(ASIDE:  Crap, they are really stringing this episode out.  We’re twenty minutes in and have only heard one person sing.  They spent what seemed like 10 minutes talking to Siobhan.)

Casey is singing “Hold On, I’m Coming” and he’s playing an electric guitar without an amp during his one-on-one with Usher.  He doesn’t even recognize how ridiculous he looks.  And his performance on the Idol stage was odd.  It was filled with his usual goat-vibrato and electric guitar.  He continues to take no chances just to stay in the game. 

Michael is singing “Ready for Love” and is using a guitar (which looks like a ukulele in his big ol’ mitts).  It was slow, sensitive, and weird.  But it is performances like that one that make me miss Paula the most, because she would have been going batshit crazy after that performance.  His stock is rising.     

Didi is singing “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted”, and is singing it exactly as I would imagine Michelle Branch or Colbie Caillat to sing it.  She doesn’t have the pipes or the “soul” to pull of this kind of song.  It was entirely forgetable.

“Teen Beat” Tim (which is a better nickname then “Teflon” Tim, if I do say so myself) is singing “Sweet Love” and Usher doesn’t “believe” Tim while he sings.  So Usher asks Tim if he’s ever been in love.  Tim shrugs and says yes.  (I imagine Tim’s thought bubble in that moment would be, “I love my grandma, apple pie, and Jesus.  Those count, right?”)  The song is weird, the performance dull, the vocals adequate.  I’m sure the Vote for the Worst crowd will continue to support him and will probably carry him into next week.

Andrew is singing “The Wrigley’s Double Mint Gum Jingle” by Chris Brown.  He’s still trying to recapture the “magic” from Hollywood week, and this was as close as he’s gotten so far.  I wonder if the judges can stop referring to his Hollywood performance now.  Well, even if the judges can, Not-Brian-Dunkleman will continue to bring it up.

(ASIDE:  It is official.  I will not watch next year if Not-Brian-Dunkleman is the host.  He thinks this show is about him.  He is fixated with ensuring his dumb face is always on the camera.  And I’m tired of it.)

Katie is singing an Aretha Franklin song which could be a death wish.  If her vocals are not perfect, she’ll be trashed by the judges.  She’s wearing some weird overall-shorts and leggings.  Her vocals were fine/average because she took no chances with her vocals.  

Lee is going to sing “Treat Her Like a Lady” because it has a lot of soul.  This is a great song choice for him because it is easily converted into a rock song, which is his wheel house.  He should be able to sneak his way out of the R&B week in better position than he entered it, which I might not have guessed going into his performance.  His vocals were spot on.

(ASIDE:  And now it feels like the judges are rushing though their critiques because they wasted so much time on the front end of the show.  Pick a pace and stick with it people.)

Crystal is singing “Midnight Train to Georgia” and is turning in the guitar for a piano this week.  She doesn’t seem as confident behind the keyboard.  And for the first half of the song, the backup singers did as much singing as she did.  And she’s even more awkward when she steps out from behind the piano.  She doesn’t know if she should dance.  She doesn’t know what to do with her hands.  She’s smiling more than a song like this one would call for.  The vocals seemed really weak to me because she picked the parts of the song that didn’t allow her to sing with full power or emotion.  I was not a fan of her performance tonight.

Aaron is singing “Ain’t No Sunshine” which I believe is contractually mandated to be sung by at least one Idol contestant every year.  It was adequate at best.  This was a lame way to end the night.  The dude has no soul (musically, not spiritually.  Although his eyes are fairly vacant, so who knows.)

After tonight:

TRENDING UPWARD
Lee

Michael

Andrew (barely)

SLIPPED A FEW NOTCHES BACKWARD

Siobhan

Crystal

MADE NO FORWARD PROGRESS

Casey

Katie

Didi

FREE FALLING

Tim

Aaron

Bottom Three:  Aaron, Tim, Didi

Going Home:  I would support any of those three leaving this week, but I could see Didi leaving this week, which would be fairly surprising.

(UPDATE:  And ALOTTFMA just reminded me that there is an Immunity Idol in the Judge's possession which may need to be used to save Siobhan this week after her off key performance.  And I imagine she is the exact person they are saving it for.)