American Idol: And Then There Were Three

I’m confused. There are only two weeks left, and these are America’s top choices. From what I saw Tuesday night, anyone could win and everyone could lose, and it wouldn’t make a difference. (But if Crystal loses I swear I’ll burn the Idoldome to the ground!)

Jaime Foxx stopped by and did much of what he did last season, be king of “let me violate your personal bubble and see if your performance can hold under the pressure.”  But I swear he was auditioning for Simon’s job. The look on his face, after he uttered the Paula-like metaphor of hoping to see the contestants transform from caterpillars into a butterflies, was kind of sad and defeated. And while I appreciate his attempts to push our hopefuls to shed the contestant label and embrace their inner artist via T-shirt, he didn’t really give any meaningful critiques.

It didn’t help that “Movie Soundtrack” week is just another way of saying songs that are even MORE overplayed than all the other played out songs that have come before. “My Heart Will Go On” was an undeniable hit, but it also became an undeniable laughing stock. And that was before American Idol and their “turn a popular song into road kill” music machine. It also made me think that these contestants, who have yet to really turn a song upside down on its head, a la Kris’s “Heartless” or Adam’s “Ring of Fire” or David Cook’s almost everything, would keep these songs just as they were.  And I was right.

I also noted how strange it was to see four different acoustic guitars take the stage. It epitomized, in a way, why this season has been so boring. It’s not that these kids aren’t talented because, in the real world, they’d kick my Kumbaya strumming (no chords though!) butt. It’s that so many nights have been a totally one note experience. Each contestant has stepped out to prove who they can be as an artist – Lee, the rocker, Casey, the blues man, Crystal, the folkie one, and Mike, the R&B crooner. Crystal’s is clearly the most authentic, but overall, each contestant has fallen back on that laid-back, sing-songy, acoustic guitar feel. The stage shrinks to the small space of a contestant, a mic stand and a guitar, and the performances pale in comparison to past belting singers or showy rockers who didn’t rely on instruments.

TOP 4
4. Lee – “Kiss From A Rose” – The confusion I felt over Lee’s performance was the most disappointing moment of the night. He, easily, reverted back to the same performer we saw during the semifinal rounds. And, no, keeping your eyes open so that you can make eye contact with the audience is not enough to display improvement. His vocals were off-pitch and uneven, and the performance was, overall, boring. “Kiss From A Rose” is a dramatic love song, and I felt no intensity or drama.

3. Mike – “Will You Be There” – So far, I’ve championed him for all the growth and improvement, much like Lee. But this week, Mike picked an extremely difficult song, not because it’s anything different vocally or musically, but because it relies heavily on a choir (the pinnacle of the song) and on the King of Pop’s cache. Couple those two things together, and the ballad became this sweeping monstrosity of hope, but without them, it was just lackluster. The song also has very few prominent lyrics, and he chose to stay away from those areas of the song so for most of the time, it seemed like he was just ad libbing. For the first time, I felt that he was pushing it with all the vocal runs and the repeat screaming of “I’m only human.”

2. Casey – “Mrs. Robinson” – I like the cheeky play on choosing the song after all the Kara cougar comments this season. The judges obviously grabbed onto that assumption and ran with it, so whether he did it purposefully or not, the choice might have backfired on him. But I also agree with Kara that the song showed a more vulnerable side to him. A side he’s clearly not comfortable with. He didn’t sound horrible, but he certainly didn’t do anything new or special with the song, but very few did this week. His bleat was a little more pronounced, but by now, I have accepted that his voice will always sound a little goat-y. If the judges didn’t notice this until his performance last week, than they clearly haven’t been paying attention. Unfortunately, the only thing I could think of as he sang sitting on the stage with his mandolin is, “what is up with this season of questionable instruments?”

1. Crystal – “I’m Alright” – She was the one shining star out of tonight’s solos. Though most of the judges agreed it wasn’t her absolute best, at least she put on a show. She did something upbeat and lesser known than the other choices, another smart move in my opinion. And, as always, I felt like I was watching an artist, not just a great karaoke performer. Plus, how cute is her semi-fiancé with his total eyesore American flag pants and off-beat dance moves.

DUETS
Lee & Cystal’s – “Falling Slowly” – After Kris Allen did such a beautiful version during Season 8, I was pleasantly surprised to hear a different take done with gusto. Though their voices don’t blend in the best way, they sounded great together and fed off each other’s energy.

Casey & Mike’s – Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman” – I’m kind of surprised that Mike didn’t choose this song at some other point in the season (if he could). Maybe he stayed away because Chris Daughtry, Matt Giraud, Kris Allen, and Danney Gokey. It certainly fits into the overplayed-overstayed category. but it suits his vocal styling to a tee, and he was the far superior performer of the two. Both weren’t vocally at the top of their game with Casey’s baaa exacerbated and Mike going off-key in moments. But they were in touch with the performance so I felt it..

IDOLS RETURN
Two of my favorites Idol graduates returned to the big stage to show us how it’s really done. Fantasia broke it down on “Bittersweet”. It wasn’t exactly the best song to showcase her pipes, but it had a great hook that screamed “I’m Back!” And then there was Daughtry. His return basically said to the fourth place loser that not winning Idol doesn’t equal failure or the end. At. All. Man, did he kill it. Bon Jovi, the band and front man, are true Idols, but “Superman Tonight” live just reminded me of how old they all are. The energy was low, and Jon seemed out of breath more than once.

WRAP UP
In the end, Big Mike said goodbye. If I tallied the season’s performance scores, Mike would definitely surpass Casey in voice and showmanship, but neither could win or even make it to the top two. And I’ve been so disheartened this season, that it doesn’t really make a difference to me who goes first. So goodbye, Mike. I’m sure your buddies will miss your bear hugs.

Not enough American Idol for you? Check out Erin Bigelow’s take on this episode here.

Season 9, Episodes 38 & 39: Top 4 Performance and Results (originally aired May 11&12, 2010)

For more on American Idol, click here.

Photographs courtesy of Fox Broadcasting Company and IMDbPro.