American Idol: 3.3.10 - Men's Night

Will Tim Urban (and most of the others) suck as badly tonight as they did last week?

Let's see!

The ladies were schedules were scheduled to perform, but Crystal went to the hospital and couldn't perform tonight!  Oh no!!!  I hope that she is ok tomorrow!!!

Phone numbers are again 1-866-IDOLS-##

Ellen has moved her seat again, and Kara looks like her hair was styled in a wind tunnel.  Ellen went on about missing shows, and she said that she missed American Gladiators and the original was better than the remake, because she liked Nitro and Ice, and then Bewitched was almost off the air, but they replaced Darren... but missing her own shows?  Well, she did a show (with Ryan as a guest) from a hospital bed when her back went out.  Awesome.

Tonight, we'll be hearing some hidden things from the contestants.


01) Michael Lynche (This is a Man's World, by James Brown) Michael can curl Aaron, and he is big into musical theatre.  Love it.   He is really great on the stage, and he is sure of himself.  Again, I am glad that he wasn't disqualified.  He's got a really controlled voice and knows how to use it.  His falsetto notes were perfection.  I remain pleased at his tailoring, and lack of Ruben Studdard-esque giant t-shirts.  Thank you, for knowing how to dress your body, Michael.  Oh, and the singing?  I loved it.  Really truly loved it.  Randy yo-yo'd him and said that the season is rolling, and Michael has a fire in his eyes.  He gave Michael a standing O.  Ellen loves every song choice he's made, and thinks it is the way to start out the night.  Kara said that she didn't get his appeal until tonight, but thinks he owned it tonight, and wonders what he ate in the intervening week to change himself.  Simon said he has changed from a pussy cat to a lion, and said that it didn't sound dated.  He called it Michael's best performance so far.  Michael said that his wife and his baby are moving out this week, so if he's still around on Friday, she'll be there.  I like Michael.  He's got a sense of humor, too.  Nice.


02) John Park (Gravity, by John Mayer) John speaks English as his second language, because he moved to Korea when he was 6, and lived there until moving back to Chicago in 4th grade.  He's got the sitting on the stool treatment going on.  I really don't like John Mayer for the most part, so he's going to have to really do a good job to win me over.  He's got a strange breathy quality at the beginning of his phrases.  His voice sounded good, though.  I generally don't like the sit on the stool performances, though.  Some of his moments seemed a bit sloppy to me.  The song was boring.  Yo-yo, Randy didn't think he brought anything new or spicy to it, and it fell kind of flat, without anything special.  Ellen thought it was the right song choice, but he could have used a little more soul to it.  She wants him to feel the song a tiny bit more.  Kara called it way better than last week, but she missed the connection to the music with him.  She wants him to take risks.  Simon thought that he may be going back to his a capella group after it.  He called it a "So What" performance and thought he needed more feeling in it and it didn't feel authentic.  I agree.  Ellen loves his look, but wants to be wowed.  Kara wants him out of his sleepy ballad comfort zone.

03) Casey James (I Don't Wanna Be, by Gavin Degraw) Casey never watched American Idol before and didn't know that the song he chose had some Idol history.  He hopes to do something different.  He hasn't had a tv for most of his life, after lightening struck his house when he was 7 and blew out the tv.  He bought his own little house and fixed it up instead of watching tv.  Nice.  He's got a secret pre-show ritual and promises to share it if he gets to the Top 10.  He is rocking the electric guitar tonight and I like it.  His phrases end weakly, and he's got a little too much vibrato going on.  Nervous?  Or intentional?  He's good on the guitar, though!  Unfortunately, I think he's surrounded by identity cris, because the "is" was lost... He may just be really nervous.  The guitar?  Super.  I have to appreciate the musicianship there, but the singing could have been better.  Randy loved the Hendrix channeling thing.  He didn't think he did the best vocal, but he thinks it's the right kind of music for him.  Ellen loves the song, loved the guitar, but thinks he's a little too stiff on stage and has a bit of a perma-grin.  Kara said they all got the memo that the Cougar is a fan, but she thinks he took two step backwards, because he played the guitar well, but the notes were off, and he didn't take the song to another level.  Simon wondered if he didn't return her calls.  Simon is kind of with Kara, and doesn't think he has the grit in his voice for the song.  More like sand.

04) Alex Lambert (Everybody Knows, by John Legend)  Apparently he threw up before he went out on stage last week.  Nice.  When he was in 6th grade, he created his own language, and he uses it when he's writing songs, before coming up with actual lyrics.  He's got his guitar this week.  What the heck kind of tweed jacket is that?  The mullet bugs me, and the song is kind of boring to me.  His falsetto was just a little off for me.  He's also sitting on a stool the whole time, and that's marginally better with a guitar in hand.  He seems to be swooping into a lot of the notes and I guess it's a style, but it's not my favorite style, and he really didn't hit his last falsetto note with conviction.  Blah.  Randy liked his package, and he thought it was a great change from last week.  He called him way legit.  Ellen said the unripened banana was put in a paper bag and she felt confidence from him this week.  "Under that mullet, there's a little Sam Cook voice."  Kara said that there isn't a person out there not rooting for him (I'm not), and thinks that people would die to have his tone, and he doesn't even know what to do with it.  Simon called it a million times better than last week, but told him not to be nervous unless he's useless.  He doesn't think that Alex is taking part to win, and wishes he could choose songs for him, because he needs killer instinct.  I didn't like him nearly as much as they did.

05) Todrick Hall (What's Love Got to Do with It?, by Tina Turner) He started dancing at 9, dancing in the Nutcracker.  Before performances, he does push ups to make his pecs look better on tv.  He's got the wavery kind of R&B voice that annoys me, and he hit some really bum notes in there to me.  Superfluous runs, thy name is Todrick tonight.  Again, it's another guy ending on a sub-par falsetto.  Humph.  Randy A-ight, yo, dawg'd him, and loved the falsetto ending.  Again, he didn't love the changes he made to the song, and urged him to not change things up all the time.  Ellen wants him to sing and also move - because that's his strength.  She didn't think it was the right song, and wants him there, but doesn't think it did him any favors.  Kara thought he was all over the place.  Awesome.  I love that the judges are calling him on the superfluous runs.  Simon doesn't think this is working out at all for him, and thought it was a theme park, corny performance.  He thinks Todrick is getting it completely and utterly wrong.  I agree.  If you change a song to make it your own, the changes need to be an improvement.

06) Jermaine Sellers (What's Going On, by Marvin Gaye) He's got footie pajamas because his dad doesn't turn the heat up high enough.  He uses a steamer for his face before going on stage to warm up his throat.  What's up with the faux hawk?  It's stupid.  And the mini-polka dotted shirt with a striped bow tie and weird half sleeve cardigan?  No.  Just no.  Oh right, the singing.  Boring.  It sounded like easy listening.  Randy called it better than last week, but thought it was so close, but so far... not a great performance for him.  Ellen likes his style and likes his onesie (which he did NOT wear on stage, btw).  She thought it was off and thought he pushed too hard.  Kara thinks he needs to pull it back, look at the meaning of the song, and thinks his performances seem forced, and thinks he's trying to show all his tricks in one performance.  She urged him to do one trick that means something.  Simon thinks he waters down songs and make them loose their importance.  Jermaine wants them to go to church with him.  Simon said he'd go, but this sounded cabaret, and would have liked to have heard him with just the piano.  Jermaine wanted song choice advice, and Simon said he wasn't sure he'd be there next week.  Jermaine said that he knows God, and he'll be there.  Um...


07) Andrew Garcia (You Give Me Something, by James Morrison) He's been a break dancer since middle school.  Cool.  He's got some crazy moves.  I'd like to see that.  Oh, dude.  It's another sit-on-a-stool performance.  I find him infinitely less interesting without his guitar, and I have never heard this song (in fact, I've never heard of James Morrison before they've been talking about him these past two weeks.  Jim Morrison, yes.  James Morrison, no clue).   At least he got up off the chair, but I was bored.  The arrangement was weird.  Randy yo-yo dawged it, thought it was the wrong vibe, pitchy all over the place.  He wanted him more quirky-guitar guy, more like Jason Mraz.  Ellen thought there were a couple pitch problems, but she liked it.  She said that the problem is that he set the bar so high with Straight Up, and everything else disappoints.  Agreed.  Kara sees potential, and wants to be surprised, and thought he was too safe tonight.  Simon thought it was frustrating, and the lack of proper song choice (by not just him) means something is lacking.  It was just an ok version, and he's better than ok.  Agreed.  Now, show us.


08) Aaron Kelly (My Girl, by The Temptations) He loves photography because the camera doesn't lie.  I really hate his enunciation.  He's also adding lots of superfluous runs and he still sounds nervous, though he looked a little more comfortable.  I just am not feeling him.  At all.  And his falsetto was weak.  Dreadfully weak.  His ending was dreadfully pitchy, too.  Not good, Aaron.  Yo, Randy didn't know if he would like it, but he loved the first half.  The end got a little strange, but he thought it was 200% better than last week.  Ellen called it a lot better than last week, likes how he used the stage, thinks he has a great voice, but didn't like the song. Kara really liked it, and really likes that he's consistent in what he does.  She really likes him.  Simon didn't like the song and thought it was all over the place, and thinks he needs to work out what kind of artist he wants to be.  He thought it was too old fashioned.


09) Tim Urban (Come on Get High by ... missed it.) He's got 4 brothers and 5 sisters, with a year and a half to two years between each of them.  Wow.  He prays before going on stage.  Oh, I like this song.  At least the original version.  Tim is playing the guitar, and he was singing flat all over the place.  It was just... blah.  Nothing new or interesting.  So randomly boring.  He and his moppy hair have got to go.  At least his long note seemed on key.  He is better than last week, but ... that's not saying much.  Boo, Tim Urban.  I just don't like you.  Randy asked how it was for him, which is never a good sign.  He said it was very karaoke and nothing was special about it.  Ellen thinks he could be good on Glee, where he is acting and then broke out in song, but thinks he would be the actor who can sing a little.  Kara likes the song choice, but he didn't make it his own and his performances just don't all add up.  Simon thought it was a marked improvement on last week, because he thinks Tim chose a better song and was more relevant.  He was impressed by Tim's work ethic.  Improving on crap is still crap.


10) Lee Dewyze (Lips of an Angel, by Hinder) He made bad choices in high school, and was in an alternative school and had good teachers there that helped him make better choices.  I really like this song.  A lot.  Is he putting on a fake British accent?  Maybe a little?  He changed the song up a little, but I liked it.  He was a little pitchy in a few parts, but I really enjoyed his performance.  Especially after the crap-fest that preceded him.  Randy wondered if he was glad it was over, or if he missed his guitar?  Randy thought it was a bold move, and even though there were a couple of pitch problems, he liked it.  Ellen agreed, and said that the passion and intensity were there for the song.  Agreed.  Kara thought it was a big improvement, and she can hear his voice on the radio, and thinks he is very commercial, and thinks he needs to own his stance a little.  Simon wants him to raise his shoulders, and thinks he is head and shoulders above the other men, but he needs to believe in himself.  He is waiting for Lee to totally connect.  Agreed.

I think that Michael and Lee were my favorites, good bookends to the night.  Casey was also good (though he needs some improvement, vocally.  Andrew I still like, but he was kind of bad this week.

Who can go home?  Aaron and Tim.  Please.  Alex?  Also blah for me.  Oh, right.  And Jermaine.  And Todrick.  They sucked, too.

What did you think?