American Idol’s ‘Magnificent Seven’ are less than inspiring!
Lee Dewyze and Crystal Bowersox were the only "American Idol" contestants who actually inspired us, setting the mood on the eve of the highly hyped two-hour fundraising extravaganza “Idol Gives Back.”
Lee Dewyze’s rendition of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Boxer” was au courant. According to Simon Cowell, it was “absolutely brilliant.” Lee sported a different, more universally appealing look as he gave a sincere, emotional performance.
Crystal Bowersox changed things up with an a cappella start as she performed Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready.” She absolutely slew the competition with her innovative, inspirational rendition. She was brought to tears at the end of the song, later explaining that she saw her dad in the audience. And she looked beautiful – black dress, plunging neckline and an up-do hairstyle.
My group’s consensus of opinion holds to their prediction of a Crystal vs. Lee finale.
We still like Siobhan Magnus, and we acknowledge her magnificent voice and ability to hit those glory notes. We’re also witnessing her stubborn adherence to her quirkiness, but her talent has kept her out of danger thus far.
A very bronzed, ponytailed Casey James gave a lazy performance of Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop.” He was good, but he’s not showing any originality or growth. He’s stuck in a time warp, and it wasn’t so shocking to see him in the bottom three. Tweens Nicky and Deanna T. were both surprised by Casey’s fall from grace.
Little Aaron Kelly took on a big song as he belted out R. Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly.” We thought he did a decent job, although he got mixed reviews from the judges. The 17-year old has a new nickname, according to his pal 'Big Mike' Lynche. “It’s actually ‘Aar Bear,’” said Mike. We think it sounds better than ‘Yoda’ or ‘Little Archie.’ Nicky T. was relieved when Aaron was given the good news that he was safe.
We’ve had our fill of 'Big Mike,' and we picked him to go home. While he was safe this week, we think he’s worn out his welcome. He’s just not entertaining us . . . he’s boring!
Tim Urban’s good looks and teen/tween appeal have earned him a respectable 7th place spot in the Season 9 hall of fame. Not too shabby, considering he was a top 24 replacement for the disqualified, much more talented Chris Golightly. Tweens Skyla and Jason P. were really glad to see Tim’s run finally end.
Casey James, Michael Lynche and Aaron Kelly will be picked off one by one. Their performances have been static – there’s no movement toward growth or challenging themselves. The question to ponder is will Aaron Kelly inherit the Tim Urban voters? If so, it will inevitably prolong Aaron’s stay on the show. He won't be getting the VFTW.com votes, as they've adopted the quirky Siobhan Magnus as their next poster child.
And here’s the dish from my three-year old granddaughter Alex’s standpoint. First off, she spotted her former favorite Lacey Brown in the audience (very observant on her part I thought). She also noticed Lee Dewyze's new look and commented on his hair (she liked it). As Tim Urban performed, she ran out of the room to find her toy guitar so she could play along. She noticed that Aaron Kelly didn’t play the guitar but commented on all of the instruments that accompanied him in the background. Alex likes Siobhan Magnus (because she’s a girl, of course), and remarked “she’s so cute.” She also liked her hair.
Alex, like her grandmother, picked 'Big Mike' Lynche to go home last night. Well, we were both wrong!
Rumor has it that the top 6 will be mentored by Canadian country pop singer, Chicago guest judge Shania Twain next week. This is going to be very interesting as the "Idol" wannabes tackle Shania’s songbook.
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