American Idol- Top 12!

Quick thoughts on the top 12 since I have work that awaits me. Overall, I think this was a somewhat surprisingly good start to the final round. I’ll group contestants into categories based on tonight’s performances:



Top Of The Class:
Siobhan Magnus
Crystal Bowersox

I’ll post everyone’s Top 12 predictions tomorrow night, but for now I’ll just say I’m happy I have these two as #1 and 2 right now. I completely agree with Kara that Siobhan brought the Adam Lambert treatment to that song, and how that may not be a compliment for some people. I thought it made her stand out in a good way tonight. My one problem is with that high note towards the end. I kind of saw it as an overly calculated attempt to recreate her previous “moment”. When it happened on “Think” it felt natural. This time, it felt forced and actually sounded too much like a scream. Other than that, go Siobhan!

Crystal was very good, but she needs to shake it up a bit. I can see her getting too boring and her performances can get very predictable. On one hand, it shouldn’t matter that much if she sounds great week after week. On the other hand, wouldn’t it be a problem if you went to a Crystal concert and every song sounded the same?

Stock Is On The Rise:
Aaron Kelly
Didi Benami
Katie Stevens

Last week Kara gave Aaron a hard time for picking songs that were too adult for him. It was wrong then and it was proven wrong again tonight. Emoting isn’t an issue with Aaron. The same goes for Didi. I hate when singers smile when the lyrics suggest there should be some anguish. Besides the great vocal, Didi gave a complete performance with how she carried herself on stage. Katie actually showed star potential tonight. Ballads are the way to go for her.

Stock Going Down:
Andrew Garcia
Lacey Brown
Tim Urban
Michael Lynche
Paige Miles

This category is for those who were already close to the bottom and for those who were disappointments. I thought Michael’s performance was a mess. I get the impression he thinks he’s a better singer than he is, especially when he tries those falsettos. Success is getting to his head.

I really wanted Andrew to rebound, but tonight convinced me that he’s just not as good as we all thought he was. I may be especially biased since Gimme Shelter is my favorite Rolling Stones song, but I thought it was a horrible delivery. It lacked the necessary fire.

The arrangement for Tim Urban was as bad as those Todrick Hall ones from the semi-finals. Sometimes the blame goes to the band, but this time it falls on Tim. What the performance and the interview afterwards showed is that even Tim doesn’t think he can really win. Why have him there any longer?

Lacey Brown- It all comes down to song choice for her. I didn’t think her voice fit the song very well. And I know mixing up the arrangement is all the Idol rage right now, but for every song? It would’ve been nice to hear the original arrangement for Ruby Tuesday.

Paige Miles- She actually sounded ok at points, but the overall performance was all over the place. I just don’t get the attraction with her. I’m not sure who really does at this point.

Status Quo:
Casey James
Lee Dewyze

I felt neutral towards both of them tonight. I may have liked Lee a little bit more though. I don’t think he has to necessarily use the whole stage like Simon said. There’s nothing wrong with a laid back rock performance. However, it did feel a little too much like Uncle Kracker’s Follow Me.

I just don’t see Casey James as a rock star. I don’t get it. And what’s with all the comparisons to some of the all-time great guitarists? The judges have evoked the names Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Kenny Wayne Sheppard when talking about Casey this season. That’s like telling Michael Lynche that he could be the next Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, or Marvin Gaye. I see Casey James as being a better fit for country music than rock. I’ll even say he’s closer to being the next Bucky Covington than Bo Bice.

Going Home Predictions:
After last Thursday results show, I’m not sure if there’s any way to really predict who is going home. Paige might stick around because she sounded good occasionally. She might also get some sympathy points for being sick. I think a lot of people are going to officially fall off the Andrew Garcia bandwagon this week, but Tim Urban was so bad with such an awful arrangement that it’s his time to leave.