Sorry for the lateness of the recap tonight! Duty called…and then I had to sober up. And now I’m fust jine. Oops, that’s just fine. {hiccup} Seriously, I am sober. Promise. Tonight, it’s Inspiration night on American Idol and leading the top 7 IDOL hopefuls is mentor Alicia Keys. It’s part of the “Idol Gives Back” theme which raises money for various charities. It will be interesting to see which uplifting songs the wannabe stars choose to inspire us to give. So without further delay, on with the show.
Casey James — “Don’t Stop” by Fleetwood Mac — Alicia tells him to bring emotion to the song. He doesn’t. I am a little tired of seeing Casey just stand at the mic and sing. I feel like we are not seeing personality from him and at the stage of the game, he needs to bring it. The vocals are good, not great. He does a decent job, but the song is a classic and I don’t think he did it justice. Randy says, “I feel like every week we see the same thing from you.” Ellen says, “I don’t think anyone is going to be talking about that tomorrow.” Kara says, “You made yourself like everybody else tonight.” Simon says, “Zero emotion…you just stood there and played the guitar again…I actually thought it was a lazy song choice.”
Lee DeWyze — “The Boxer” by Simon & Garfunkel — Alicia tells him to really feel the lyrics of the song b/c he is in the same position as The Boxer. I don’t think I have ever heard this song, but I like the way Lee is singing it. He is such a natural vocally and he is starting to show more emotion in his face when he performs. Randy says, “I think you are a great artist, ready to make great music.” Ellen says, “We are seeing better and better from you…best performance by far.” Kara says, “Simon said you had your moment a few weeks back, but I think you had it tonight.” Simon says, “The difference between you and the first performance is staggering. It was sincere. It was emotional…I thought that was absolutely brilliant.”
Tim Urban — “Better Days” by The Goo Goo Dolls — Alicia told him to beef up a few lines of the song, but she said he sang it well enough to make it his own. I think Tim is starting to find his sweet spot. He will never be a great singer, but he seems to be finding songs that match his voice and vocal ability. Randy says, “It was just okay, good karioke for me.” Ellen says, “Some days I like the soup…today I didn’t like the soup.” Kara says, “I think this is where you belong, but it wasn’t the best execution.” Simon says, “You have improved over the weeks, but it was a little bit of a let down.”
Aaron Kelly — “I Believe I Can Fly” by R. Kelly — Alicia says Aaron needs to take the song to a whole other place b/c it’s been done so many times. I hope Aaron hasn’t bitten off more than he can chew, but I think he has. This is a tough song and I don’t think Aaron has the vocals yet to do it. Some parts are great, but it’s kind of rough. Randy says, “You definitely have pure vocal talent.” Ellen says, “You have a big voice…and you handled it real good.” Kara says, “By the end, I was like, alright, he got there.” Simon says, “It wasn’t very good, but you kind of made it quite good.”
Siobhan Magnus — “When You Believe” by Mariah Carey — Alicia says Siobhan does things with her voice that others can’t do and she’s impressed. She says her famous high note is “the money.” Someone please tell me why Siobhan is dressed like Mother Nature? Okay, I am a fan of this girl, but Mariah and Whitney are hard to duplicate. The song starts off slow, but after the bridge she hits some nice notes. Randy says, “You picked the toughest song of the night…it was just okay for me.” Ellen says, “I disagree.” Kara says, “Technically, it was very well song, but it’s not a musical.” Simon says, “I agree with Randy. I don’t think that was the right song for you.” Simon goes on to say that the “leaves” on Siobhan’s dress were distracting. Turns out they are butterflies. I thought they were leaves too.
Michael Lynche — “Hero” by Nickelback — Alicia says she likes when people take a song and stylistically deliver it in their way and that’s what Michael does. I have to disagree with Alicia on this one. I don’t think he changes the song enough and I am used to the lead singer of Nickelback having a gruffness to his voice that Michael doesn’t have. It was just okay for me. Randy says, “You held your own with it.” Ellen says, “You did a great job with it.” Kara says, “You don’t have the tone for that voice and it was all over and the song became unrecognizable.” Simon says, “I think you sang it pretty well… it felt a little artificial for me.”
Crystal Bowersox — “People Get Ready” by Curtis Mayfield — Alicia says she knows people will love this performance b/c Crystal puts her heart and soul into it. Crystal starts out acapella and you can easily understand why she is a front runner. Amazing. Her perfomance is BRILLIANT. I would download this on iTunes. Crystal gets so choked up she starts crying and barely finishes the song. Randy says, “Been a fan since day one. That is how you do it.” Ellen says, “That was so beautiful.” Kara says, “You just schooled all those contestants.” Simon says, “That was inspirational…you sang it fantastically. To me it was in a completely different class to everything else we heard tonight.”
Tomorrow night, will be a star-studded night of “Idol Gives Back” with performances by tons of A-list superstars, but the night will end with one Idol hopeful going home. I think it’s Aaron Kelly. He’s been in the bottom three before and I think his time is up. We shall see. Until then…