American Idol Top 12

So it begins!

Tonight the potential Idols tackled the Rolling Stones. I suspected minor brilliance and mostly disaster. How'd it end up? Here-a-we-go!

Michael Lynche - Miss You
Sounding good as usual. Only contestant with a strong falsetto, showing it off again. Can't say I'd ever in a million years listen to this cover, but he made it his own and sounded great doing it. Nice to see a performance though. Emphasis on the word performance! Cause we have about 3 actual performers so far this season.
Randy - Great performer. Slayed it.
Ellen - Whats not to love about that? Not disappointed.
Kara - Filled the stage with his performance
Simon - Great confidence. Slightly corny & desperate

Ryan runs up to Simon and gets in his face about something. I'm uncomfortable.

Didi - Playing with Fire
Didi looks very Kate from Lost tonight. First time she's sung well sans guitar. Upping the sex appeal, which is good cause SOMEONE needs to. Nice to see the confidence there, totally changes her performance. I buy it when she flirts with the camera. Am I crazy or did she flub the words a little? I predict a similar Idol trajectory as Brooke White.
Randy - On fire tonight
Ellen - Amazing voice, lost her way but didn't spin out, got right back into song (okay, I wasn't crazy, she did forget the words)
Kara - When you push, you lose your way a bit. Intensity you attack the song with. Dark, compelling to match her sweet voice and erie song.
Simon - Agrees. Beginning to show us kind of artist you're gonna be - he's been a fan of hers for the past 2-3 weeks. Solid, not brilliant, can do better.

Casey James - It's All Over Now 
Yes! The guitar! This is making my squee-meter go crazy. So cute and this performance is working for me. Taking Randy's advice from last week exactly. What genre would this be? Rockabilly? Kara wants to do him so bad. "Just be a star" is not constructive criticism, Simon.
Randy - Back to Casey he loves. Reminds him of Jonny Lang. Bluesy Stonesey Rocky, back for Randy.
Ellen - Women love him, Ellen loves him without being attracted to him [insert lesbian reference. WOOT! Casey's enjoying it a little too much?]
Kara - He was a rock start, bluesey souly is a good place for him. Best performance since they met. Simon - Thinks he looks great, sang and played well, but felt like audition performance, not using the entire stage & platform he has. Needs to push self & be incredible.

Tiny Man Ryan Alert! Love it when he stands next to Casey.


Lacey Brown - Ruby Tuesday
I like the violin & general opening, but her voice? Let's see. We're all very confused in the room. From her outfit to not actually singing the song. The chorus was okay. Competant, enjoyed it fine, but her voice isnt good enough to actually belong in this competition. I think she's really pretty. Is that weird?
Randy - thought it was interesting & was pleasently surprised.
Ellen -  observes that she likes to sit on the edge of things and found the performance to be sleepy and weird at times.
Kara - 50/50. Clear great voice, but didn't hit all the notes. Can do better
Simon - thinks Lacey performs like an actress. Says she is overthinking it but nothing was wrong with the vocals.

Ryan gives Lacey a tour of the Idol stage. It's awkward. 

Andrew Garcia - Gimmie Shelter
This arrangement is atrocious. But he's trying something! He's moving around! Voice sounding good, his voice always sounds good - that's not his problem. Bah. Bored. His voice is fantastic but I have trouble caring about his performances. Great vocal at the end of the song, might help him stick around. Randy - Pitchy all over the place, was under. (I didn't notice apparently!)
Ellen - Best performance yet.
Kara - Doesnt think Andrew connected to the song, but still likes him
Simon - Thinks it didnt quite connect, but moved in the right direction.


Katie Stevens - Wild Horses
Katie gets a one on one interview with Seacrest. Uuuuhhh, why exactly? 

SHE got Wild Horses?! SHE did? NOOOOO. Apparently her parents regularly boiled her. Is that why she sucks? Oh I guess I should actually watch the sob stories instead of fast forwarding through them, huh? It's just that I hate wasting time on Katie Stevens.
That Light makes her look pretty. But I'm kind of bored already. Ah hah! There it was. The big notes. Easily her best performance. But would still never buy her album. Her voice reminds me of Jordin Sparks in that it's good enough, but like, whatever, who cares?
Randy - Thought she sang it really well, only a couple of pitch problems, strong performance
Ellen - Started pitchy, once she got into it, was amazing, great voice
Kara - It's never technically perfect with you. Made nice variations on melody, was going in right direction, better than last week
Simon - Only week where she's actually chosen a really strong song. Didnt like second half of arrangement thought she lost emotion. But first time he thinks she connected with a aong & she gave it 100%


Tim Urban - Under My Thumb
HE gets it?! Ugh. A Reggae cover? What kind of artist does he think he is? What's going on? Actually, not bad arrangement, well, at least it's something different from the original, but his voice is absolutely nothing special. Debating whether or not he could be on Glee. Ultimately, no not good enough. Also, Tim's friends are all men who love other men. We get really excited at the prospect of Tim being gay. would like him so much more. Is that wrong?
Randy - Didnt like arrangement, weird for him
Ellen - Felt like she was at a resort drinking a pina colada.
Kara - She liked it cause he made it his own.
Simon - applauds him for doing something different but says it didnt work and rolling stones fans would turn it off. "Crazy" decision.


Siobhan Magnus - Paint it Black
From a town called Barnstable. Win. Frightening family.
Not liking her hair. But definitely liking this performance
There's not much more to say. Dream like nightmare lullaby Anastasia tone to the beginning and the rest is a whole lot of awesome singing. Unfortunately paired with bad hair. Can she call getting to perform with Adam Lambert during the finale now?
Randy - Bringing the drama to American Idol season 9, thought it was HOT ALERT
Ellen - You rise above
Kara - Lambert flashbacks. best interpretation of the night.
Simon - Stand out performance of the night. some will hate, some will love, better than being indifferent & boring.

Lee Dewyze - Beast of Burden
Ryan, don't tell the audience he's nervous! Shaky voice. Kinda hidden by mic. Ooh! Nice note in there. Arrangement sounds like something he'd do. Fits with him. Has a Counting Crows vibe. Sensing the Duritz. Nice ending bit. Solid. Not amazing or anything, but solid enough. Growing to like him more. And starting to think he's kind of hot. Uh oh. Reminds me of when I started thinking David Cook was hot.
Randy - Cross between Rob Thomas & Dave Matthews, (Matthews! Exactly!) thought it was dope
Ellen - Great, sounded great, but expecting more from him, almost didnt come together, but nothing wrong.
Kara - Energy was a little low. Growing faster than anybody, getting more confident with his vocal, tremendous growth
Simon - likes him, but thinks his personality has held him back, he doesnt shine. picked a safe, forgettable song and other people had bigger moments. frustrating cause lee has incredibly good voice. Needs "what I call a moment". Yeah, cause no else else uses that word, Simon.


Paige Miles - Honkey Tonk Woman
Oh no. Why this song. What the hell kind of artist are you? This is terrible. She for sure sounds better than last week, but that's not saying a lot. Ready for her to go home now. Seriously. Done with this. There is nothing distinct about her as an artist. Remotely. Weak sauce.
Randy - Thought it might be a mess, but thought she did all right in the end. Liked it.
Ellen - Had great presence on stage, no one would know she was sick. Sick?
Kara - applauds what she attempted with that song. But knew the stage. Young Paige is back or some bullshit. WHATEVER KARA.
Simon - Taking that into account, she was great. Song is generic would hear in a bar, still think she is better than that and hasnt connected yet. Too old fashioned. But at least at moments heard big voice they loved in Hollywood.

Aaron Kelly - Angie
He's singing Angie? Bastard. His tone is nice. But a little shaky. And the arrangement is whatever. He hasnt done a single different thing with a song ever. For 16 or whatever, sure, great voice. He could use some years of developing his voice more, in my opinion, but apparently America disagrees. Has a better voice than a bunch of other people on the show, but that doesn't mean he's amazing. Boring. Not buying that album.
Randy - Born to sing. could hear a little justin timberlake in there.
Ellen - Great song choice. best next to siobhan.
Kara - Connected tonight, got her back for her criticism last week. really great.
Simon - Feared for him doing rolling stones, but he chose 100% the right song. What he did great was singing the song within his range. In tune mostly, believable.

Crystal Bowersox - You Cant Always Get What You Want
She just gave me goosebumps. That was really cool. What genre is that? Gospel-ish? I don't know, whatever it was it was great. A little low-ish on the energy tonight, but she's always so solid.
Randy - I love you, you're always great. Wasn't favorite, but didnt disappoint
Ellen - You sing with such ease, born to be on stage, so much fun to watch, missing a little personality. Needs to play more on stage. Crystal interjects to say that she was thinking too much during the performance.
Kara - She's so comfortable on stage, wasnt greatest vocal performance, but was still easy to watch and great
Simon - Didnt choose a song that had the drama she needed. The first time he thinks she was beaten by someone, and that was Siobhan. Crystal says Siobhan was amazing. Crystal says she hasnt thought she had the competition in her pocket, but thanks to Simon for thinking she does!

What we learned - everyone is from a small ass town, Ellen is trying to bring the funny, the contestants are trying to bring their A game, and the producers told the judges to be more constructive with their criticism. I'm much more excited for the rest of the season now than I was after the eliminations last week, let me tell you.

My Top Three:

My Bottom Three:

Going home: Paige may get the sympathy vote, Tim may get one more shot for being cute. Lacey was pretty terrible, but at least is sort of interesting cause she's weird & pretty? Wouldn't be surprised if we said goodbye to Andrew tomorrow, despite how well his vocals became by the end of the song. My gut is saying Lacey or Paige. We'll see tomorrow, with musical guest Ke$ha and the first elimination on the big stage. I hope it's Paige.

Cross-posted at Vote4Idol

Update: The bottom three was Paige, Tim & Lacey. Oh America, I'm glad we agreed this week. I was hoping Paige would go home but had a feeling it would be Lacey, as Paige had the laryngitis sympathy vote. I should have been more concrete about who I thought was going home and will be next week, even if it ends up being wrong!