Wednesday, May 12, 2010

American Idol: down to the final three

Lee 5½
A Kiss From A Rose will always be Seal's track and Lee could only kind of appear in his reflection. Not impressive enough to make us pay attention. Well sung, but no character and he didn't make the high notes well. Nor did he seem at one with other people backing him. On his own, he could be good, doing his thing his way. Much will depend on how Casey and Mike perform and I have a feeling they will turn it up and turn voters on more effectively. 4th is probably way higher than he ever imagined he'd get, though, and he'll gain a lot from the Top 10 tour. I just don't see his album in the charts for more than a week or so after its release.

Mike 7
Great start. This sounds like his typical brand and suits him well. I'm Only Human was, I think, the title of a track I've not heard before, apparently from Free Willy. Very, very short, though and he just never got going with it. Good as far as it went but . .  that wasn't far. Maybe not far enough. He did work so well with the choir and backing track, though, and should be safer than Lee.

Crystal & Lee 8½ & 9
Falling Slowly duo saw Lee back doing what he's good at. Crystal seemed to carry him along and yet wasn't as noticeable which sounds odd now I've written it but I know what I mean. Nice track and may have rescued Lee's earlier lack of star quality. Good choice but not stunning.

Casey 7½
Singing Simon & Garfunkel's Mrs Robinson just seemed lame and nothing in the heart of that tune from the 1960s came through. I liked the relaxed style and notes were accurate and fairly cool. It could have been something added to an evening session but not really a main number designed to electrify people to make those important calls. He could, with just a bit of effort, have turned it into something special and, for a moment, I thought he was going to but he didn't. He could be in trouble and may, barring a super performance with Mike coming up, possibly have saved one of the other guys.

Crystal 15
I'm All Right was back there in the Crystal zone. Totally at home and everything worked. Again, like most others, the track was way too short and she had just got going and got us grooving along when it stopped. This has got to be addressed for AI10.

Casey & Mike 7 & 11
When You Really Love A Woman saw this odd duo on stage. Both may have done this really well individually but, together, I'm not so sure. Strong song and Mike made a good job, the song being absolutely in his zone. In a way he defeated Casey which probably means everything between the three guys finishes up even and it could be anyone's guess as to which one goes.

The results show kicks off with AI3 winner Fantasia and I was dying to hear Randy tell her it was 'pitchy' but people applauded politely and she went away. She would have had trouble reaching the last 24 this year.

The Final 5 got Lady Gaga so these guys must have felt pretty hard done by for a while, not that the producers would be too worried, having made their cut of the 37 million calls the good people of the States made the night before. They later revealed they'd spent a bit of it on Daughtry and a massive amount on Bon Jovi, though.

Nice shot of Crystal reading Ryan's prompt card. 

Chris Daughtry was impressive, showing Lee how it should be done with another of his consistently classy acts over the years since coming 4th. Compare the audience reaction to Fantasia's.

Mike or Crystal? Really no competition and, sure enough, we bid farewell to Big Mike.


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