America Idol : Shania Night

Lee Dewyze - Arguably the biggest male frontrunner in the competition, Lee chose to sing one of Shania's biggest songs, "Still the One." And he's probably still the one to beat among the males...but this was not great, people. He certainly did make the effort. For instance, after Shania astutely advised him to "not be buried by his guitar" and show more personality, he even smiled at certain moments--rare behavior from the normally stone-faced Lee that left judge Kara absolutely stunned.
Simon, however, just griped about Lee "pulling faces," and I must say muggy Lee did look a Taylor Hicksian at times. But hey, at least Lee was trying, for once. As for the vocals, though, Lee usually excels in that regard, but at the beginning of the song in the difficult lower register, he sounded terrible--or "hesitant," as the kid-gloved Simon nicely put it, out of fear for being too harsh on his chosen pet. (Kara and Simon both went way too easy on Lee, in fact.) Lee did find what Randy Jackson called his "sweet spot" once the chorus kicked in, but it was too little, too late. But hey, he "never looked cuter," according to Ellen, so maybe he'll pick up some of fallen heartthrob Tim Urban's votes this week.

Michael Lynche - Michael was back in Ruben Studdard "balladeer" mode for "It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing," which made his performance sound a little dated. But his vocals were impeccable as usual--the falsetto at the end was a nice touch--and Shania said she was moved by his emotional performance.
Randy told him he was "in the zone" (gee, I've never heard Randy say that before);
Ellen actually compared him to the almighty Luther Vandross; and
Kara praised his heartfelt connection to the song.
But Simon found the dramatic performance "wet" and "a little bit girly." Hmm. I bet that was the first time anyone had ever called Big Mike "girly."

Casey James - Casey has always been a favorite with the ladies, ever since he shed his shirt at his first audition or practically inspired Kara to throw her undergarments and hotel room key onstage during his bedroom-eyed performance of Bryan Adams's "Heaven." I'd always assumed the female vote alone would be enough to advance him to the top five, but last week he was in the bottom three for the first time, only two weeks after his tender, raw, lump-throated acoustic version of "Jealous Guy" on Lennon & McCartney Night. After two weeks of Casey cranking out generic bar-band jams, "Jealous Guy" started to seem like a fluke. "Jealous Guy" became to Casey James what "Straight Up" was to Andrew Garcia: an amazing performance he was unable to replicate, a bar he set too high for himself. Luckily, this week he realized that he's at his best--and is best received--when doing poignant acoustic ballads, not good-time Huey Lewis covers, and his stripped-down performance of "Don't" was a fine return to form.
Randy, Ellen, and Simon all declared it his best performance to date (I still prefer "Jealous Guy," but this was a close second for me),
Kara told him, "Keep it up and you'll be at the front of this competition." I hope Casey listens to her.

Crystal Bowersox - Shania gave Crystal some sound advice when she told her to be "more cheerful"; I've always said the one thing that might keep Crystal from winning this whole thing is her mellow personality, which could be perceived by viewers as aloofness or even iciness. But you know what? I didn't really dig Happy Crystal. I think I prefer Moody Crystal. Her bluegrassy, Nickel Creekish cover of "No One Needs to Know" was just a little ho-hum, a little underwhelming--not bad or anything, but certainly not up to par with last week's stellar "People Get Ready." All of the judges were unusually unimpressed:
Simon, normally Crystal's biggest fan, actually called her performance "limp," said it had no conviction, and likened it to an intrusive coffeeshop band customers really don't want to hear while sipping their lattes.
But Ellen and Kara went out of their way to defend Crystal, with Ellen arguing, "Saying it's not my favorite Crystal performance is like saying, 'What's your least favorite color of the rainbow?'" and
Kara claiming, "It's impossible for you not to be good." This all seemed a little defensive, as if the judges were worried that Crystal might be in trouble this week. But I am pretty sure she'll be safe.

Aaron Kelly - Aaron has floundered in past weeks, has been in the bottom three several times, and has never been my favorite on this show. But I suspected he would do well this week because he's the most countryish contestant in the competition. Shania urged him to be more secure and relaxed as he belted out "You Got a Way," and he certainly seemed, as Randy might put it, in his zone. It was Aaron's best performance to date, by far--even if it was a little creepy/awkward when the 17-year-old revealed that he'd changed the song's original "when we make love" line because he was singing the tune for his mom.
"This is definitely your wheelhouse!" howled Randy.
"Tonight you were like a different artist," raved Simon. Aaron ought to have hugged Shania, too, just like Casey did. I am pretty sure Shania saved Aaron this week.

Siobhan Magnus - Siobhan picked "Any Man of Mine," a song brimming with attitude according to Shania, and hard as it may be to believe, Shania really had to work hard to coax the sassiness out of Siobhan. I think the past few weeks had taken a toll on this fragile free spirit; Siobhan just hadn't exhibitedher usual wacky pizzazz lately. But Shania's efforts paid off, because this week a beaming and reborn Siobhan spectacularly closed the show, strutting out onto the stage and then into the audience in her punk-rock cowboy boots. Siobhan looked like she was really having fun for the first time in weeks--Shania had obviously helped her get her groove back.
Simon griped that Si's signature scream at the end sounded like that of a woman giving birth, but hey, a Siobhan Magnus performance without a little shrieking is like a Shania Twain performance without a little midriff--and at least Siobhan nailed that off-the-musical-scales note.
"Guess who's back?" shouted Kara. Clearly Kara was happy to see the old, on-fire Siobhan, and so was I. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come for her.


So now it is prediction time. Before I might have guestimated that Aaron would go home this week, but this was his week to shine, so I think he will be safe. Casey and Siobhan were great, so I assume they'll be okay; Crystal was not at her best but she's so popular, so I doubt she'll be in danger. Lee, delivering one of his worst performances ever in the problematic first slot, may end up in the bottom for the first time, but ultimately I think he'll make it through. And so, that leaves poor Michael Lynche. I'd personally like to see Big Mike continue on, but he didn't really shine this week the way some of the others did. If he does indeed go, he'll be missed. He's still the one, as far as I'm concerned.


creadit for music blog at yahoo website...../ artickle by: Lyndsey Parker in Reality Rocks