Top 9 again

This was Ryan's weirdest night to date on American Idol, and that is where I will start this week’s recap. We had Brian Dunkleman jokes, random dancing during performances, shaking of girls in the audience, his mother, and the quote of the night: My tongue is not nearly as talented as yours (directed at our mentor). I don’t know about you, but Adam’s raised eyebrow after that comment, I was doing the same look every time Ryan opened his mouth tonight. My mom thought he was “on something” which she says about a lot of people, but this time I might have to agree with her. The cast of Glee was in the audience, and at the end of the night Ryan actually put on “Will’s” hat, which made me shudder. I don’t care if they are stars, surely he has heard of head lice?

Elvis provided the music this week, and the mentor is Adam Lambert, runner up from season 8. There were mixed reviews going into tonight’s show. Some reviewers on the blogs didn’t see the value of bringing back someone to mentor who hadn’t even won the competition and basically had only one single on the charts. Let’s be honest though,
Adam really does embody Elvis’ in the later years and he did a great job with the idol contestants, if you could look past the 5 inch high hair and the really glossy lipstick. I am TOTALLY loony for Elvis Presley, so I am going to be hyper critical tonight, and I don’t want to see any fakers. Let’s get this thing going.

Crystal Bowersox, 'Saved.' Adam suggested that she play the electric guitar, and she rocked it out. It was another solid performance and even though I had to watch it on a tiny screen, (stupid dvr) it was fabulous. Randy loved it, too, calling it "the second coming of Bonnie Raitt." Simon could personally relate to the lyrics about lying and cheating”, (only because he was probably the liar and the cheater) and went on to say "It was original, it sounded great, and congratulations once again." Crystal is great about song choice and just naturally delivers perfect vocals without it seeming like work.

Andrew Garcia, 'Hound Dog.' Adam told Andrew that his version of this song was on the boring side, but I would have to give him an A for effort for trying to spice it up. He had the unfortunate placement of coming after Crystal who had an authentic performance. His vocal was strong, but I didn’t care for the way he slowed down the melody, and he didn’t seem 100% comfortable with the stylized arrangement of this song. Randy hated it, dropping the karaoke bomb. Ellen was hoping for more swagger but she actually liked his vocal. Kara thought he used the mic as a crutch, which was ridiculous comment given there were so many other things wrong with it. Simon was downright cruel, saying "it was like you see in some of these musicals, there's always the one part which nobody really wants to see and hear, and that was the part." He went on to say that the song sucked all of his coolness out of him. I have to say, there is a part in every musical that people plan their bathroom breaks around. Sorry Andrew, I didn’t get it.

Tim Urban, 'Can't Help Falling in Love With You.' Adam encouraged Tim to use his falsetto at the end, but you could tell in the clip that he was not comfortable with that and wasn’t going to do it. The vocal was not perfect, it seemed at times a little low for him, but he actually gave a pretty tender performance. I danced to this song at my second wedding. Gary surprised me for our 20th with a trip down the aisle at the Elvis chapel. (I told you I was loony for Elvis.) I connected with Tim’s performance and I liked the simple arrangement. Randy actually liked this one, and not even using the Tim scale. Ellen talked about doing shots of tequila. Kara said it was her favorite Tim performance. Simon told him, "You've managed to go from zero to hero in two weeks ... you don't need much. You, the guitar, good song,…and you've taken the advice really really well from us. Congratulations”. I guess we will have Tim with us another week.

Lee DeWyze, 'A Little Less Conversation.' Adam called Lee out during the clip and told him that he wasn’t in the studio recording. He needed to not just have a great vocal but to relax and perform. I don’t know if Lee ever really relaxes, but gave a stellar performance of one of my favorite songs. His voice was perfect for the way he changed the melody. I loved it. Randy thought he was in the zone. Ellen loved it. Kara wanted him to be more playful, to which Simon responded “what do you want, kittens?” Simon basically told Lee to ignore Kara, and I would have to agree. I loved the grit in the song and I don’t need playful with this kind of lyric. You just need the right amount of sexy.

Aaron Kelly, 'Blue Suede Shoes.' After surviving some really rude commentary from my dad and Gary during Adam and Aaron’s clip (don’t ask me, because I am not telling) I am feeling really bad for Aaron. This song fits Aaron’s voice, but not his age or personality. It totally does not feel young and hip. Randy liked the second half, Ellen thought he did a good job, and Kara said, "You're out of your comfort zone, and I like it." Simon thought it was karaoke. Aaron is a darling young man in the company of much more seasoned and mature performers. He has a lot of natural talent, but I don’t think he is ready for this yet. I have a feeling this was his last performance on that big stage.

Siobhan Magnus, 'Suspicious Minds.' Adam and Siobhan both have that weird dress up thing going on and they also share the big voices. I enjoyed their Vegas film, and I really like this girl. That being said, I hated how this song started, with her back to the audience. She also had this really strained, fake smile plastered on her face, which didn’t fit the lyrics. I didn’t get from her performance that she was in a tortured relationship where she needed to leave but couldn’t. She was beautiful and has a great voice, don’t get me wrong, I just didn’t believe she knew what she was singing about. Randy loved the second half of the song. Ellen did too. Kara was confused (she is like this a lot). Simon didn’t care for it at all. I like that Siobhan doesn’t want to be pigeonholed into a musical genre, but you can’t leave your audience baffled each week either. She needs to have another really strong performance next week or her fan base is going to start creeping over to the more consistent performers on this show.
Michael Lynche, 'In the Ghetto.' Michael told Adam he is trying to dial back his performances to not be so theatrical. Adam pretty much steered him back to that story-telling quality. I actually thought he made this song r & b, and kept the emotional connection while giving a stellar vocal. He made me hear those lyrics, and the song moved me. All four judges quickly (we are running out of time again) gave him the thumbs up. I don’t think the Michael fans out there will let him down this week.

Katie Stevens, 'Baby, What Do You Want Me To Do.' Katie actually had another great vocal this week, and she delivered a little Elvis personality in that performance. I thought that Simon would take the opportunity to gloat, given that this was as close to a country song as she has selected, and she really nailed the vocal. Randy, Ellen and Kara thought it was great but Simon thought it was loud and annoying. Simon is off his game on this one, Katie got it right this time.

Casey James, 'Lawdy, Miss Clawdy.' This song is not one of the more recognizable from Elvis’ songbook, but Casey delivered to me, one of the most authentic Elvis performances of the evening. Elvis was sweaty, raw, sexy and always true to his Memphis roots. Despite the judges being let down, I completely enjoyed this performance and think Casey is slowly building a songlist that people would pay to hear on tour. Since I didn’t get him at first, I thrilled to be watching him grow in this competition.
The top:
Lee, Casey, Crystal
The middle:
Michael, Katie, Tim
The bottom:
Siobhan, Aaron and Andrew
Going home:
Aaron and Andrew.
What do you guys think?