Last night Idol showcased the songs of Frank Sinatra and while all the elements were great - Harry Connick Jr. (who actually mentored!), the songs, the music, the orchestrations... overall I think it did a pretty awful job of showcasing the contestants. I always seem to get frustrated that the "kids" just can't sing what they want, especially at this point in the competition.
Oh, I am a bit jealous that I didn't come up with Entertainment Weekly's tag for last night: Chairman of the Bored. Ha!
But the good news is, after landing at the very bottom of my list last week and bemoaning the previous week that he never achieved it, Lee was my top performer of the night...
Lee (“That's Life”) - Now I am not sure how much of a compliment that is in what I think was probably the weakest night overall of this season, but being positive for Lee... I thought he was far, far better than anyone else. He kept faithful to his own style, but vocally boozed it up just enough to make a nice throwback to the Rat Pack.
Michael (“The Way You Look Tonight”) - As my regulars are well aware, I am totally done with Big Mike. His pimping and preening to the screen just grates on my last nerve, but being fair and balanced (ha!) I have to give him props for having one of the best vocals of the evening and as some judge said (Ellen?), he is... and certainly was last night... the most comfortable contestant when it comes to moving around the stage. Funny side note, I voted for Lee & Crystal... Todd asked me, given my rankings, if I would feel guilty if Mike got eliminated. My response: Absolutely not!
Crystal (“Summer Wind”) - I think this is the first time I have Crystal outside the bottom two, and while I don't think there was necessarily anything wrong with the vocal it just lacked that Crystal magic that we have been seeing each and every week... though I think it was M.I.A last week as well, which is a bit worrisome. She didn't help matters by defending herself against the judges, even if the contestant is "right" this always to be a risky move and even I thought she came across as a bit of a whiner. But again this does highlight my pet peeve about theme nights as I do not believe Crystal is likely or hoping to make a career out of Shania Twain and Frank Sinatra covers.
****************************************************************Aaron (“Fly Me To The Moon”) - This got better as it went along, but I found the first half of the performance to be pretty shaky vocally, which is a tad unusual for the youngster. Otherwise, I really don't have much more to say.
Casey (“Blue Skies”) - Ah Casey, doing the reverse Lee this week and going from champ to chump. This was pretty much a train wreck. Casey clearly lost without his guitar and attempting some stuff vocally that just didn't quite work... like holding a note, which Kara amazingly informed us that Casey had yet to do. Unfortunately, she also identified that he sounded like a sheep... which even more unfortunately the end-of-show reply show wonderfully illustrated. After one of his best performances of the season last week, he still landed in the Bottom 3... not sure he survives this week at all.
Elimination Prediction: At some point they stop doing a bottom 3 right? This week, I imagine only Lee could find himself safe from the triad of doom... even I could see Crystal having a scare, but the pecking order of who is next still seems to be Mike, Aaron and Casey. Since he got so slaughtered by the judges, Casey might have actually earned sympathy votes... but my gut still says Casey... if not and if I am allowed to hedge, Aaron.
Yeah, for some reason I'm not loving Big Mike, but I have to admit I think he did the best vocally. He knows how to own a song. I love Crystal, but she needs to step it up a little!
Posted by: Jeff | Friday, May 07, 2010 at 04:07 PM