It's Country Week on Idol; well if you consider Shania Twain to be a true "country" artist. For me its a little like saying that "The Hills" is a reality television program -- not entirely accurate. Or that Sarah Palin is not a raving lunatic - again, I'd beg to differ. So, I wasn't all that surprised when only the glassblower and the mother decided to stick to the theme and perform in true "country" fashion -- guitars, twang; outfits (well, maybe not entirely for Siobhan), etc. That's not to say that the paint salesman, the high school student, the father or the construction worker didn't bring their A game or failed to deliver. On the contrary. Shania Twain week proved to be the most successful night of the season if you are looking at things for a purely performance/song choice/vocals stand point. When else during Season 9 could you say that 5 performances were dare I say enjoyable if not worthy of the praise that the Judges dished out? I can't think of any night where more than 3 performances didn't make me wish longingly for the gift of deafness and in some cases (the Turban slide) blindness as well.
Now I'm just one person out of millions that watch the program and cast votes (although I've yet to cast a vote this season) and this being Idol, I'd be willing to bet that tonight's bottom 3 will be somewhat of a surprise. I won't go so far as to say that it will be a shocker like in Season 3 when Fantasia, J. Hudson and LaToya London made up a bottom 3 while carrot topped Rat Pack wannabe John Stevens looked on from the safety of the couches. But I also wouldn't be surprised in Lee, Crystal or Siobhan (none of which have felt the cold and unforgiving embrace on the Silver Stools of Doom) are in the bottom three or that even 2 of them are in the botton 3.
Onto my recap....
Paint salesman Lee was up first with "You're Still the One." My initial reaction to Lee's somewhat shaky vocals and Wet Seal tie pin was "MEH." Once I'd finished listening to his pitchy performance I was expecting the Judges to finally light him up for his less than stellar delivery and chastize him for not giving it his best only one moth away from the finale. But again, this being Idol and Lee being a front runner, only one quick "pitchy" from Randy was uttered before Lee was heaped with more priase than was warrented. I agree with Simon that it was probably a perfect song choice for Lee but it's time to take off the training wheels Judges and actually critique this guy. Maybe a bottom 3 appearence will do the trick.
"It Only Hurts When I'm Peeing." Oops, that should be "It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing" was Big Mike's choice. I was expecting this to be a mess but it turned out to be half way decent. I'm not a big fan of Big Mike, mainly because I think he infuses his vocals with too much unnecessary gymnastics and pulls too many cheesy looks but vocally, he's been as smooth as a baby's bottom on more nights than any of the other contestants and last night was no different. Ellen was on target with her reference to Luther Vandross but his overall stage presence was lacking for me and I found myself quickly bored.
"Don't" be surprised if Casey is the first person sent to safety tonight. While I'd argue that Casey didn't do anything different (still wore a western shirt, played guitar, didn't use the stage) from a visual stand point, he did more singing than he has all season (with the exception of "Jealous Guy") and said singing was perhaps his best yet. To borrow Kara's overused phrase, Casey really connected to the song and used his gravelly delivery to infuse emotion into each and every lyric. The only downside to the performance was the Clap Bots and Sway Bots that were in nearly every camera shot. Why must you do that Idol?
"No One Needs To Know." Do you hear that Crystal? No I'm not referring to a playback of the song you sang, I'm referring to your backtalk to the Judges after they all informed you that your performance was not so good. It's one thing to respond to a question from the Judges regarding song choice or feeling on the performance. It's quite another to interrupt them with sass and nonsense about "Bigger isn't always better" when they are trying to give you feedback on why this week wasn't your best. Say what you want about Tim and Katie (and I certainly did!) but at least they took the feedback from the Judges quietly (unless asked to directly comment) and used it to try and get better. Your song choice was lame and forgettable and if I were to look into my "crystal ball" I'd probably see a Silver Stool in your future. Oh and Kara, let's get something cleared up once and for all, Randy is a guy but Ellen is a woman. So stop saying "I agree with the guys" after Randy and Ellen give thier feedback. I've never heard Ellen say "now lets hear from the Cougar."
High schooler Aaron Kelly decided to dedicate "You've Got A Way" to his mommy which might have been very sweet if the song weren't about making love. It's as if A. Kelly was possessed by R. Kelly and all his smarminess. Aaron is probably my least favorite contestant left in the competition and frankly I wanted him voted off during Hollywood Week. But he's here and he's going to be here to stay, thanks in large part to the texting tweens and dialing grannies out there that adore the 17 year old. Ellen's comment that she was somehow "not as impressed now that you're 17" was the best part of his performance for me but everyone else seemed to love it.
Closing out the show was Siobhan with "Any Man of Mine." As Ellen stated, Siobhan was back on the Shania Twain and it just pulled into the station. Siobhan was the only contestant to utilize the entire stage and actually have fun with her upbeat selection. Was it the best performance ever, no. Was it better than the past few weeks, yes. Will it keep her out of the bottom 3, who know. What I do know is that I've got 5 points riding on Siobhan winning the whole thing and although it is unlikely to happen, I think it's still too soon for her to leave the competition, only for the kookyness factor that she brings each week.
Hit the comments below to give your thoughts on who will make up the bottom three.
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I think you are dead on Eric. This week was actually pretty decent all around making it difficult to judge who will get kicked off. Crystal rubs me the wrong way with her sassy attitude and for me of all people to say that's deep. And thanks for the instructions on how to really respond to this particular post.
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