Paige Miles

We had pegged Idol contestant Paige Miles for elimination last week but she made it through.  She may not be quite so lucky this week.  Rumors of a Paige illness had been swirling around for the past couple of days, and with this post she just made to the Idol Twitter page, all is confirmed.  Take a look below:

We don’t know for sure what “VC Laryngitis” means, but it doesn’t sound good.

Lee DeWyze, Siobhan Magnus, Katie Stevens and Aaron Kelly

Tonight’s results show started out with a dramatic flourish as the most important elimination round of the season prepared to take place.

The cheesy group number this week was Michael Buble’s Haven’t Met You Yet. Love the song, hate the group numbers. Enough said.

Ryan announced that the first theme week for the Top 12 would be The Rolling Stones and that you could log on to iTunes to download the playlists that the contestants would be choosing from.

The first elimination came down to a a toss up between Paige Miles and Katelyn Epperly. Based on her lackluster performance Tuesday night, we had chosen Miles to leave. We got it wrong, and Epperly sang her way out with a reprise of I Feel The Earth Move.

Ryan really built the suspense when it came to the elimination of the first male contestant. Left standing next to each other were Todrick Hall and Lee DeWyze. Ryan asked Randy which one he thought deserved to stick around. He called out DeWyze for sure, and he was correct. Todrick Hall was out, and we were now one for one on our calls for the night.

Two of last season’s Top 12 contestants, Scott McIntyre and Matt Giraud were up next with a dueling pianos rendition of Billy Joel’’s Tell Her About It. We would have preferred a solo performance by Giraud, but the duet was mildly entertaining nonetheless.

The final eliminations were done slightly differently than in the past, with guys and girls alternating taking their spot in the Top 12 seats. The first male to leave from this round was a real disappointment to us, and apparently, by their emotional reaction, a huge surprise to the other contestants. Ellen had felt that his “banana was ripening” well, but apparently not well enough for the voting public. Alex Lambert sang his way out, and we’re truly going to miss him.

By her appearance throughout the night, 17-year-old Katie Stevens seemed to think it would be the end of the road for her. She was pitted against Lilly Scott to determine the final slot in the Top 12. And what a shock! Scott was sent home and Stevens made it into the Top 12. Wow! In our opinion, America REALLY got it wrong that time.

So…the Top 12 will consist of Tim Urban, Crystal Bowersox, Aaron Kelly, Lacey Brown, Casey James, Paige Miles, Andrew Garcia, Didi Benami, Michael Lynche, Siobhan Magnus, Lee DeWyze and Katie Stevens.

Is this a Top 12 you were expecting? Definitely not one that we foresaw, but that’s all part of American Idol.

Lee DeWyze

Tonight’s show opened with a bizarre introduction of the top 10 guys with Ryan Seacrest acting the role of a drill sergeant. What was up with that?

Lee DeWyze opened the show with an interesting take on the Owl City song Fireflies. It was one of the better performances that DeWyze has had this season, adding a little bit of grit to the otherwise melancholic tune. The judges were into it, with Kara saying that she thought his rendition may have been even better than the original. Simon wasn’t that impressed, claiming that he thought DeWyze was actually better than the version of the song that he did.

We weren’t familiar with the Ray LaMontagne tune Trouble that Alex Lambert performed, but it ws a good fit for Lambert’s bluesy sound.  We love the tone, but in addition to the stage presence issue he faces, he could use some true work on his phrasing.  Randy wasn’t a big fan, but Ellen raved, and Kara and Simon once again urged him to relax and just have a good time with the performance.

Jeff Buckley’s Hallelujah was a big hit for Jason Castro a couple of years back, but poor Tim Urban is no Jason Castro.  And that’s not saying a lot.  We have to admit that it was a slight improvement from his past performances, but he still has major pitch issues.  The judges unanimously changed their tune on Urban this week.  Ellen even left the judges panel to give Urban a hug and call him terrific.

Playing on the judges’ constant reference to his performance of Paula Abdul’s Straight Up, Andrew Garcia took the stage with another unlikely song choice- Christina Aguilera’s Genie In A Bottle.  Backed with only an acoustic guitar, we liked Garcia’s take on it.  Garcia has a great tone that we love listening to.  Randy wasn’t a fan, calling the performance pitchy.  We have to disagree on that one.  Both Kara and Simon reflected that they thought he may have peaked during Hollywood week.  We have a feeling that he’ll definitely be in the game for a while though.

Casey James, who hit the gossip rags today when his mug shot from a DUI arrest was dug up, went completely country this week with Keith Urban’s You’ll Think Of Me.  In our opinion, it was a solid performance, but like many of the girls’ performances last night,  it just didn’t contain that “wow” factor.  Randy thought the song choice was a safe one and just all right, while Ellen thought it was great.  Both Kara and Simon thought it was better than last week.

Once again taking the pop/country route, Aaron Kelly delivered Lonestar’s I’m All Ready There.  The somber opening really demonstrated the fact that Kelly still lacks quite a bit of control over his instrument, and his performances have all faced some pitch issues.  While he apparently has stage experience, his performances just don’t feel real honest to us.  Ellen, who loved the performance, seemed to disagree with us on the stage presence, but did agree with us about his control of the song.  Kara honed in on that “honesty” factor, saying she didn’t think he could relate to the song and it made him a poor choice for him.  Simon disagreed, saying that Kara’s comments were only confusing the contestants.

Todrick Hall Queened out with Somebody To Love.  Obviously trying to prove to the judges that he is a singer and not just a dancer, Hall took on one of the best singers in rockdom, Freddie Mercury.  That gamble didn’t pay off for us.  Hall has huge pitch problems, and the voice is just not very unique.  It did pay off for a few of the judges though, with Randy and Ellen loving it.  Kara said she felt the singing was good, but both she and Simon agreed the performance was uneven, with Simon calling it American Idol: The Musical doing Somebody To Love.

The night’s final performance found “Big Mike” Lynche taking on This Woman’s Work.  We love the original Kate Bush song as well as the Maxwell rendition which Lynche mimicked.  Considering that the song was used to dramatic effect during a scene of child birth in the John Hughes film She’s Having A Baby, it was a perfect choice for “new dad” Lynche.  He used the song as a showcase for just about everything he’s capable of doing.  The falsetto, the control, the performance, it was all pretty amazing.  The performance brought Kara to tears and Simon proclaimed it the best performance of the entire season so far.

So who’s out tomorrow?  So far we’ve gone with who we think should go, and not who we “forecast” to go.  We’re sticking with that and giving the boot this week to Tim Urban and Todrick Hall.  Your thoughts?  Let us know!

Siobhan Magnus

Poor Katie Stevens.  The 17-year-old got raked over the coals by the judges tonight for a rather lackluster performance of Kelly Clarkson’s Breakaway.  Not that we don’t agree with them.  Blame it on youth possibly, but she really is just finding her voice.  Granted, it’s a big voice, but she definitely isn’t in a place yet to define herself as the “artist” the judges want her to.

Siobhan Magnus, who has been our favorite the past couple of weeks, belted out a soulful version of The Animals’ House of the Rising Sun.  Once again she didn’t fail to impress.  It’s quite a voice.  The only judge who was “underimpressed” was Simon who called the performance plodding, boring and dark.

One of our mistaken choices for departure last week, Lacey Brown, found the perfect song for herself this week with Brandi Carlile’s The Story.  It’s a song that fits well with her voice, but unlike Carlile’s version which has an incredibly dramatic build, it didn’t quite go anywhere musically.  The judges all agreed that it was the perfect song choice for her gave her a bit of redemption after some forgettable performances the past few weeks.

Deciding that a keyboard under her hands was working for her, Katelyn Epperly manned a Wurlitzer with a bland performance of Carole King’s I Feel The Earth Move.  It was like a piano lounge audition.  The judges agreed there was no true wow factor to urge the audience to vote.

Didi Benami, who had an extremely emotional reaction last week to the judges’ criticism,  donned a guitar for a low-key and flirtatious version of Fleetwood Mac’s Rhiannon.  She has a voice remarkably similar to that of Lacey Brown, and like Brown, the song didn’t really go anywhere.  As Randy said, there was no true “wow” moment in the song.  Kara on the other hand, called it one of her favorite moments of the show so far, with Simon echoing her sentiments, calling it far and away the best performance they had heard tonight.

Legendary comedian Charlie Chaplin made an appearance on the Idol stage this week via the Paige Miles rendition of Smile, a song which Chaplin penned.  Like many others this week, she added nothing new to the song.  She also had little control over her voice displaying a vibrato with a mind of its own.  The judges were not complimentary, with Simon calling it a “peanut performance”, saying that it was like eating peanuts at a bar and paying little attention to the lounge singer.

Crystal Bowersox showed her hand at the electric guitar with Tracey Chapman’s Give Me One Reason.  There’s  no denying that Bowersox is an incredibly talented performer, who has definitely found her own voice as an artist, it’s just not an artist that we think we would have any interest in buying her CD.  The judges were uniformly gushing.

Funky Lilly Scott closed the show with Patsy Cline’s classic I Fall To Pieces.  While the arrangement was standard Nashville, her vocals continued with her unique sound.  This was another performance that we didn’t really think went anywhere, although a lot of the judges disagreed.  Only Simon agreed with us, stating that it just didn’t have that constantly quoted “wow” factor.

We’re thinking that this could be the last time we’ll hear from Paige Miles and Katie Stevens.  What about you?  Let us know.

Didi Benami and Michelle Delamore

Wow!  Another embarrassingly awkward opening group number.  This time out, the kids lip-synced and finger-snapped to The Black Eyed Peas’ I Gotta Feeling.  They should at least let the contestants use the teleprompters during these chaotic nightmares.  It was apparent that plenty of them had no idea what words were supposed to be coming out of their mouths.  Of all the Idol “traditions”, this is one that should have become history a long time ago.

The first elimination was for the guys.  Being a little sneaky, Ryan kept Todrick Hall (one of our picks for elimination this week) standing while he cleared a couple of others.  The final showdown was between Hall and John Park.  Park was dismissed and Hall was kept in.  We missed out on that one.  Surprisingly, Park’s final performance, John Mayer’s Gravity, was better than it was on performance night.

The next guy showdown pitted Andrew Garcia against our other pick, Jermaine Sellers.  We finally got one right!  Sellers, whose annoying banter with the judges on Tuesday night confirmed for us that we were ready to see him go, won’t be missed here.

Last season’s third place contestant, and favorite of the judges (not us) for most of the season, Danny Gokey came on to perform his new single.  Apparently Gokey has crossed into country territory these days.  Surprisingly, we actually enjoyed the song, My Best Days (Are Ahead Of Me) and thought that it was a pretty good fit for Gokey, even though his performance seemed slightly “pitchy”.  Things seem to be going well for the very chatty Gokey who is getting ready to tour with Sugarland.

Elimination time for the girls was next, pitting Didi Benami against Michelle Delamore.  Delamore is out, and that leaves one less Floridian in the competition.  Another one we didn’t call correctly.

The final departure saw both of our picks, Haeley Vaughn and Lacey Brown, vying for a chance to stay on the show.  If we had to choose between the two, we would have definitely picked Vaughn to leave.  Surprisingly, America agreed and Vaughn left the show performing The Climb, and performing it poorly, one more time.

Do you think America got it all right this week?  Should the vocal limitations of pretty boy Tim Urban have sent him packing this week instead of Park and Sellers?  Chime in below and let us know what you think.

After a night in the hospital, Crystal Bowersox returned to the Idol stage to open the show with a bluesy rendition of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Long As I Can See The Light.  For someone who was out due to illness, she did an amazing job.  Kara congratulated her on hitting a new level of performance.  And Simon, who last week compared her to a subway performer, said that he had completely underestimated her.

Haeley Vaughn, who introduced her love for making headbands, tried to target her talent to her age group with The Climb. It’s a big voice, but she doesn’t have a much control over it and is sorely lacking in the phrasing department.  We realize she’s only 16, but this is a competition.  And when she obliterated the final phrase, it seemed to us like this could definitely be her last week.  The judges all pretty well agreed with us with Simon calling it a “complete and utter mess.”

One of our choices for leaving last week was Lacey Brown who happened to hold on.  Last week Kara told Lacey that she could hear her singing Sixpence None The Richer’s Kiss Me, which is exactly what she brought to the stage tonight.  It was a so-so performance and it didn’t seem like she had any clue as to what she was singing about.  Randy felt it was karaoke-like, Ellen disagreed, Kara said she really needs to step it up, and Simon called it only marginally better.

Idol’s other teenager, Katie Stevens, tried to show her youth marketability this week with Corrine Bailey Rae’s Put Your Records On.  She has a nice voice with a good sense of control of her instrument, but she definitely didn’t “shine”.  It was more like a performance from a Junior Miss pageant.  Randy critiqued her confidence level, Ellen and Kara both said she still needs to go younger, and Simon felt that he was still unsure of what kind of recording artist she wanted to be.

Didi Benami tried to bring a bit of soul to the competition with Bill Withers’ Lean On Me.  She has a unique voice, but the song didn’t serve to show that off much.  As Randy said, it showed more of her imperfections rather than heightening what she did well.  And Kara noted that if she sees herself as a singer/songwriter, to do something in that vein.

In an attempt to do the unexpected, Michelle Delamor chose Creed’s With Arms Wide Open to prove that she was capable of taking risks.  In the hands of a more talented vocalist, that risk may have very well paid off.  But Delamor just doesn’t have a strong enough voice or (what seems to be the key word for the night) control to make it work completely. Kara told her that it may not have been technically perfect, but she thought Michelle believed in it and she bought it.  Simon agreed.

Quirky Lilly Scott brought Sam Cook’s A Change Is Gonna Come to the Idol stage along with her unique talent.  Unlike all other contestants so far excluding Bowersox, she came on with complete confidence.  Some of the vocals weren’t exactly stellar, but she definitely exemplifies the “artistry” the judges are always looking for.  All judges were extremely complimentary, with only Simon saying that he thought Bowersox outsang her.

Katelyn Epperly, who failed to impress us last week, really brought something new this week with her rendition of Coldplay’s The Scientist.  Randy and Ellen both based their somewhat negative critique on the “slowness” of the song.  We totally disagree, as did Kara and Simon who both felt she was rising to the challenge.

Paige Miles brought an R&B feel to initial American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson’s Walk Away.  It worked well for her vocally, although her interpertation, particularly the ending, was rather lackluster.  Ellen loved it, but Kara, who wrote the song, agreed with us on the physical performance aspect of it.  Both Simon and Randy felt that it was a forgettable performance.

Our favorite from last week, Siobhan Magnus, closed the show with a showstopping rendition of the Aretha Franklin classic Think.  We agree with what Simon said, that she’s a “funny little thing” but we love that about her.  Sure, there were some technical issues with the performance, but when she belted that insanely high note at the end, she brought the house down and earned well-deserved praise from the judges.  As Randy would say, she’s definitely “dope” and our choice for favorite female performance of the week.

Last week we predicted a departure for Lacey Brown, which didn’t happen, so we’re going with that one again this week in addition to Haeley Vaughn.  And you?  Let us know what you think.

In an unprecedented Idol move, the show’s producers made a last minute switch-up, putting the guys on the Tuesday night epsiode due to an illness of one of the girls. It turned out that the earthy Crystal Bowersox had been hospitalized earlier that day and was not allowed to perform due to doctor’s orders.  Reports had said that she was suffering from complications due to Type 1 diabetes.

Idol has a standing tradition of placing the “most anticipated” performance at the end of the night, and starting out the show with the “lower end” performers.  This week’s wide open Billboard hits show began with Michael Lynche who put a kink in that theory with a nuanced and soulful performance of James Brown’s It’s A Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World.  According to Kara, “Tonight you went from someone who was a singer to someone who could potentially be a great artist.”  Simon said it was like going from “a pussycat to a lion.”  While we hadn’t exactly been a “Big Mike” fan up until now, we were pretty impressed with the performance.

Next contestant, John Park started out by revealing his game plan, to take an honest approach to his performance.  Performing John Mayer’s Gravity, it WAS a more honest performance than he did last week, but there still wasn’t much interesting about it.  And he definitely has strong intonation issues.  The judges pretty much agreed, with Simon calling it a “so what performance.”

Casey James was up next with Idol standard I Don’t Wanna Be.   His vocal was all right, but nothing exceptional, and there was nothing electric other than his guitar about his interpretation and performance of the Gavin DeGraw hit.   Randy disagreed and gave him “mad props” for his guitar work, although this is a vocal, not instrumental competition.  Ellen seemed to be more in line with our opinion, saying that he needed to loosen up in his performance.  Kara, his initial number one fan, also let him know that in her opinion he had taken two steps back.  Simon said that he didn’t have the grit in the voice, claiming it was more like sand.

The novice stage performer Alex Lambert was up next with John Legend’s Everybody Knows.  We felt that last week’s performance was really nice vocally, but the stage presence was completely void.  All we can say about Alex’s improvement is WOW!  Liked the song, LOVED the vocals (one of the most “listenable” voices we’ve heard in a long time) and we actually weren’t uncomfortable watching him perform this week.  The judges all agreed, and with any luck, we’ll get to hear more from Alex Lambert.

Todrick Hall came out with a mission to prove that he was just as much of a singer as a dancer with his interpretation of Tina Turner’s What’s Love Got To Do With It.  He’s definitely a performer, but there is absolutely nothing unique nor impressive about his voice, which suffers the most when he tries too hard to put his own mark on a tune.  The judges were rather harsh with their critiques, with Simon, who butchered his name and called him Tondrick, comparing him to a theme park performer.  We have to agree.

Jermaine Sellers, who we thought would be leaving the competition last week, took the stage with the Marvin Gaye classic What’s Goin’ On.  When he stuck to the original melody he sounded good, but much too often he launched into strange variations of the melody that just didn’t seem to work.  The judges weren’t impressed.  Kara said that his performances feel forced and Simon said that they were all frustrated with his choices.  Sellers concluded the critique session by asking what song he should sing next week, with Simon stating that needed to first worry about still being there next week.

Andrew Garcia, whose calling card so far had been strumming his guitar to offbeat arrangements of familar songs,  took a different course this week by peforming James Morrison’s You Give Me Something with only a stool and a microphone.  The judges weren’t impressed and once again brought up their disappointment after being so gung ho on him after his Hollywood week straight up.  It definitely did little to bring him back to the forefront.

Aaron Kelly said that he was going to prove that he had the confidence to be there this week.  That included some rather quirky dance moves to start it out.  We’re still not big fans of his raspy country-styled vocals, but the judges seem to really like Kelly.  All except for Simon.  He critiqued Kelly’s lack of focus in terms of his artistry, while Kara still maintained her support.

Last week’s disaster Tim Urban came on to redeem himself with Matt Nathanson’s Come On Get Higher.  It was definitely a major improvement over last week, but Urban has some serious problems with singing in tune.  As the judges would say, it’s all kinds of pitchy.  His voice also just doesn’t seem to have a real focused tone.  Randy called it karaoke, Ellen said she doesn’t think his stong point is his singing, Kara said he didn’t make the song his own, and Simon gave Urban a jaw-dropping surprise by saying that he completely disagreed with the others saying “Congratulations, I thought you did great.”

Closing the show was Lee DeWyze with Hinder’s Lips Of An Angel.  DeWyze is another one of the contestants that seems to be uncomfortable without an instrument in their hands.  This was particularly noticeable when he took time out to hike up his pants during a short vocal break.  DeWyze also has lots of pitch issues, which came to the forefront last week when his selection on iTunes was questioned as being enhanced by Auto Tune.  He’s another contestant that the judges appear to really have a soft spot in their hearts for though, with all of them acknowledging his pitch and confidence issues, but calling him one of their favorites nonetheless.  He just sounds too much like David Cook and countless others to us, without a true identity of his own, for us to jump on the judges’ bandwagon.

There are two more male contestants heading home this week and we’re sticking with our predictions of last week and going with Jermaine Sellers and Todrick Hall.  Maybe we’ll get it right this time.  What about you?  Who do you think is out of there?

Nick Mitchell, probably better known by his outrageous Idol persona Norman Gentile, went on a Connecticut TV station last week to let “fans” know what he’s been up to lately. Take a look below:

Idol is back on Thursday nights again as the elimination shows begin and four Idol hopefuls pack their bags.

Our least favorite part of the show, the cheesy group number, started the show out with the contestants crooning American Boy and attempting to master simple touch/step moves.  Casey James appeared to be the most out of his element in the “show choir-esque” number, giving the camera a look like “What am I doing here?”

The first elimination of the night sent Central Floridian Janell Wheeler packing.  Wheeler showed grace and style as she gave her parting words and performed Heart’s What About Love one more time.

Season 8 third place contestant Alison Iraheta was up next performing her latest single Scars.  It was a strong and confident performance with her voice in great shape.  It was a world away from the girl we first saw take that stage only a year ago.

The second female elimination saw it down to Ashley Rodriguez and Didi Benami.  We had picked Rodriguez as one of our choices for departure and America agreed with us, giving us one correct selection so far for the night.  Our other choice for elimination, Lacey Brown, will be back for at least one more week.  One thing that is always interesting is that when they sing the farewell song, as Rodriguez did with Happy, you can hear exactly why it is that they are going home.

Next up was the first male elimination.  It really takes a lot of the anticipation out of the proceedings when you realize that the two who will be up for the elimination face off are the two on the end of the row.  As we predicted last night, the absolutely horrible Tim Urban would make it through.  Unfortunately, one of our favorite talents from the night before, Joe Munoz, received the boot.  We commented before that the farewell song can show why it is they are leaving, but in the case of Munoz, we got to hear exactly why it was we wanted him to stick around for awhile.

American Idol launched their Idol Gives Back program tonight with last year’s winner Kris Allen performing Let It Be, which will be available for iTunes download with proceeds going to Haitian relief efforts.  We weren’t crazy about the arrangement, and much preferred the Jennifer Hudson rendition in an earlier relief effort, but it was good to see Allen back on the Idol stage.

Luckily they switched up the elimination process in the next round of guys.  We had picked Jermaine Sellers to go but he was quickly saved, leaving Alex Lambert and Tyler Grady facing off in the end.  We agreed last night that Lambert’s stage presence was incredibly lacking, but we loved the voice.  Grady just didn’t seem to have it going on in vocals or presentation.  Surprisingly, America agreed and Grady was sent home.  Neither of our choices, Sellers or Todrick Hall, saw elimination.

In the past two seasons, we picked a favorite from the get go.  In Season 7 it was David Cook and in Season 8 it was Kris Allen.  Both went on to take the whole competition.  This year, we really don’t see anyone that is a true standout.  Maybe we will come up with our choice after next week’s performances, but I wouldn’t bet on it.  What about you?  Do you think there is a clear cut front runner at this point?  Do you think the eliminations tonight were the right ones?  Comment below and let us hear what you have to say.  Until next week, we’re Blogging Idol.

Last minute replacement Tim Urban

Night two of the competion kicks off with a jolt of testosterone as the guys take the Idol stage for the first time.

The show opened with former member of The Color Purple cast Todrick Hall doing his rendition of Kelly Clarkson’s Since U Been Gone. While the judges often urge the singers to take a song and make it their own, Hall’s arrangement of the song was virtually unrecognizable. The judges seemed to agree that Hall came off more dancer/performer, less singer, and we tend to agree.

Next up was 16-year-old Aaron Kelly, an experienced child singer who surprisingly made it into the top 24 after flubbing his lyrics twice during Hollywood week.  Kelly chose Here Comes Goodbye by Rascal Flatts.  It was a solid performance and the judges were all supportive.  Simon urged him to boster the confidence, as did Ellen who also suggested that he still not lose his humble nature.  Take a look at a 13-year-old Kelly performing below.

Jermaine Sellers started his performance of Oleta Adams’ Get Here rather timidly, but things ramped up nickely midway through the song.  The ending was a little weak though.  The judges weren’t impressed, particularly by the insincerity of his performance and Simon thought it could be the end of his Idol run.

Last minute top 24 contestant Tim Urban was up next and the show took full advantage of the surprise return.  While his Disney Channel good looks will probably nab him lots of votes from the tweens, his performance of One Republic’s Apologize was not good.  The necessary falsetto for the song fell flat and the judges hammered home the fact that his vocals just weren’t good enough.  Simon voiced the fact that they had definitely made the right decision sending him home the first time.

Joe Munoz  was up next with the Jason Mraz tune You & I.  Munoz, who got little screen time during Hollywood week, gave a confident performance exuding quite a bit of charisma and displaying a versatile voice.  The judges weren’t exactly overwhelmed, but they all agreed that his performance was solid, with Kara stating that she thought he had displayed the most consistently strong vocals of the night.

Jim Morrison wanna-be Tyler Grady disappointed majorly.  Unlike Adam Lambert last year, who brought a song sense of stage presence and style by reinventing the rock stars of yore, Grady came off merely as a weak imitation as he performed American Woman. The confidence just wasn’t there and the judges, and ourselves, instantly picked up on that fact.

Echoing past contestants like Daughtry and David Cook, Lee DeWyze strapped on his guitar and performed Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars.  Unlike Daughtry and Cook, Dewyze showed little stage presence and also had quite a few problems staying in tune.  The judges were split on their commentary, and not nearly as critical of the performance as we were, with a surprisingly enthusiastic response from Simon.

John Park brought out some Asian soul with the Billie Holiday standard God Bless The Child.  It’s a strong voice but there was nothing incredibly special about the performance, and some of the phrasing was sorely lacking.  Simon called it a “pointless peformance” and saw him as a “copycat Michael Bublé”.

St. Pete native Michael “Big Mike” Lynche strummed guitar to a soulful version of Maroon 5’s This Love.  Nice sound, appealing performance, but it didn’t necessarily bowl us over.  Plus, we’ve had enough of the “baby born during Hollywood week” human interest story, although Ellen still brought that into the mix as if it were part of his performance.

It’s the second year in a row for a Lambert on the show, this time Alex performing Wonderful World by James Morrison.  We liked the sound a lot, but were less impressed by his stage presence.  The tentative physical performance was in sharp contrast to the interesting vocals.  Simon immediately caught on to the fact calling it “the most uncomfortable performance of the night.”  Ellen compared him to an unripened banana.

Cougar bait Casey James was up next with Heaven by Bryan Adams.  The poor guy’s mood was broken as the song began to giggles from the audience at the offstage antics of Kara and Randy.  We’ve been a big fan of James’ voice since Hollywood week, and we continue to like the sound, although the actual performance didn’t really contain anything special.  We actually felt sorry for James, who had his performance upstaged by the unprofessional and unnecessary antics of the judges.

Early front runner Andrew Garcia finished out the night with his unique acoustic version of Fall Out Boy’s Sugar, We’re Goin Down.  Unlike Todrick Hall earlier, Garcia gave the song an entirely new sound which completely worked in our opinion, drawing new meaning from the song.  Simon and the rest of the judges completely disagreed with us, with Simon calling it indulgent and forgettable.

Tomorrow night we’ll be losing two guys and two girls.  Our bets are on Todrick Hall and Jermaine Sellers for the guys (only because we think the tweens may save deserving-to-leave Tim Urban).  As for the girls, we’re going with Ashley Rodriguez and Lacey Brown.  What say you?  Chime in below and let us know what you think.