Billboard #1s Week with Miley Cyrus

This past week was one of the most stressful weeks of the American Idol season 9 competition. Only the top 10 contestants go on the Idol tour, so whomever did not perform well was in grave danger of not only being eliminated, but missing the tour and missing out on a career. The topic was Billboard’s #1’s. Some contestants performed as if they belong on the Billboard charts and, as usual, some did not. Miley Cyrus was the guest coach for the week. I personally thought that was only a good choice for 17-year-old Katie Stevens as she can relate to Cyrus, but Cyrus doesn’t have enough musical or life experience to coach the other contestants.

Lee Dewyze started off the performances Tuesday with “The Letter” by The Boxtops. The judges loved how he loosened up and had more fun with it. “You’re finally owning the stage…you’ve raised the bar for yourself,” said Kara DioGuardi. Simon Cowell thought it was a bit corny, though. I personally really liked it. I think he can do better, but he did improve as far as relaxing and not over-thinking it.

Paige Miles performed “Against All Odds” by Phil Collins and it may have been the worst performance this Idol season. She was off-key the whole time and didn’t seem like she was as into the competition as in previous weeks. Randy Jackson called it terrible, said it was quite pitchy. Ellen DeGeneres complimented her on her looks, but not on her performance. DioGuardi said it was possibly the worst vocal yet.

Tim Urban performed “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” by Queen. His performance was great, including a stage slide, but his vocals were not exciting and that hurt him with the judges. DeGeneres said she didn’t get it. DioGuardi said he didn’t do much with the song so it was a little boring. Cowell said “It was completely and utterly pointless and silly.”

Aaron Kelly performed “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith and I was worried he would screw up the pitch, but it was actually quite good. Randy Jackson complimented him on performing well with a bad cold. DioGuardi complimented him on consistently picking pretty good songs.

Crystal Bowersox performed “Me and Bobby McGee” by Janis Joplin. Like Dewyze, she also loosened up this week and just really rocked it. When I closed my eyes during the chorus I thought Joplin had come back from the dead. Randy Jackson called her a dope singer and basically said she defines American Idol. DeGeneres just wants more of a connection from her. Cowell said her version was as good as Pink’s version of the song.

Michael Lynche performed “When a Man Loves a Woman” by Michael Bolton. It was a nice performance but missed the big moments that he’s had in the last two weeks. Jackson loves that he knows who he is, but it wasn’t his best song choice or vocal. DioGuardi said that while it was technically good, it was a bit loungey and Cowell agreed.

Andrew Garcia performed “I’ve Heard it Through the Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye. Again, not a good song choice. It was flat and uninteresting. He is in real danger of going home soon I think, which is disappointing because I think he’s better than that. He’s been the prime example of an excellent recording voice that is going to be eliminated due to poor song choice and poor performance each week. Jackson told him it wasn’t good and was the wrong song choice. DeGeneres echoed Jackson’s sentiments and wished him luck in garnering enough votes to stay in the competition.

Katie Stevens performed “Big Girl’s Don’t Cry” by Fergie. She performed better than some of her other performances, despite being off-key, but she is still lacking that big moment. DeGeneres called her the Dakota Fanning of American Idol. DioGuardi believes she should go down the Pop/R&B road and continue performances like that and Cowell believes she should go down the Country music road.

Casey James performed “Power of Love” by Huey Lewis. The judges didn’t seem to love it, but I disagreed. I thought it was great, especially with his guitar playing talent. The judges weren’t a fan of the song choice, but loved the vocals, except for Cowell. He compared him to an 80’s cover band.

Didi Benami performed “You’re No Good” by Linda Ronstandt and it was one of my favorite performances of the night. Although I think Bowersox had better vocals, Benami had a great performance with the right attitude and facial expressions. Jackson loved the idea, but said it was pitchy. DeGeneres didn’t like the song choice. DioGuardi thought it was over-dramatic and confusing. Cowell compared it to a part in a musical and said it didn’t sound like her.

Siobhan Magnus performed “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder and to me it seemed a little redundant. The screaming at the end is starting to get monotonous. Jackson and DeGeneres loved her performance though. DioGuardi loves how she expresses herself in every performance, as do I, but she can’t do the same type of arrangement each time or she has a good chance of not winning.

On Wednesday night, Paige Miles, Tim Urban, and Katie Stevens were the three contestants with the lowest votes. Miles was the one they sent packing with not even a chance to sing for a save as the judges kindly told her she didn’t even need to try.

The results show opened with the 11 contestants performing “Jitterbug” by George Michael. Some vocal pairings meshed, some didn’t, which has been typical. Miley Cyrus performed “When I Look at You” part way through the show and was actually not so good herself, which just reinforced my previous statement that she didn’t have enough experience to coach the contestants. Next week is R&B Soul week with guess coach, Usher.

The Top 12 and A New Idol Policy

This week was Rolling Stones week on American Idol and strong performances came rolling out Tuesday night. Michael Lynche opened up the performance show with “Miss You” and, for the third week now, he rocked the house. “…That’s the way to start the night. Amazing,” judge Ellen DeGeneres said of Lynche’s performance. Kara DioGuardi said he performed the way the Stones had by conveying the song’s message while putting on a great performance. Simon Cowell said that some of the performance appeared desperate. Host Ryan Seacrest then got into a verbal confrontation and stare down with Cowell that, I think, was very immature and ruined that segment of the broadcast. Fortunately for Lynche, things got better on Wednesday night’s results show when he was voted safe by the Idol fans.

Didi Benami gave a fiery performance of “Playing with Fire.” Her dark facial expressions went well with the emotional tone of the song and her overall vocal performance was her best one yet. Judge Randy Jackson liked it and told her she was on fire. DioGuardi liked how it was dark because it went well with the song. The judges all agreed with me that she has improved consistently each week since the beginning. Apparently, so did America and she was voted safe on Wednesday.

Casey James performed “It’s All Over Now” and, though it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t his strongest performance. He did give it a country flare, though. Unfortunately, he has yet to duplicate his great performance of the first Hollywood week when he acoustically performed a Bryan Adams hit with his guitar. All the judges, except Simon Cowell, disagreed with me. DioGuardi called him a rock star and said it was his best performance. However America felt, they liked it enough to vote him into the next round on Wednesday’s results show.

Lacey Brown once again gave a slow, non-captivating performance. Her vocals on the Stones’ song “Ruby Tuesday” were good, but the performance didn’t come together the way it should have. DeGeneres commented on how she was standing during the slow part of the song and sitting during the more upbeat portion. That hurt the performance part I think. Though the vocals were good, everything else, from her movements to the arrangement, just didn’t make sense. Cowell told her she was over thinking everything. Unfortunately for Lacey, a lack of votes put her into the bottom three this week.

I was worried for Andrew Garcia this week because I thought that the Rolling Stones would be a hard group for him to duplicate and it was. He performed “Gimme Shelter” and it was one of his weakest performances due to pitch problems. He consistently did not hit the high notes with accuracy and it made for a vocally weak performance. DeGeneres said “What do I know; I think that was your best performance yet.” Well, what does she know…about music anyway. Next to nothing, so I tend to take the other judges’ criticisms as having more weight personally. DioGuardi didn’t feel the message of the song. I thought he might be voted into the bottom three this week, but he was safe and will be back to try again next week.

Katie Stevens picked a great song choice with “Wild Horses.” She normally doesn’t perform anything country-like, but she surprisingly turned a Rolling Stones song into a modern country song. DioGuardi liked her melody variations and Cowell said it’s the first time she chose a strong song, but she lost some emotion during the performance. America seems to like her enough to keep bringing her back as she was safe again on Wednesday’s results show.

Tim Urban put a reggae twist on “Under my Thumb” and, despite my indifference to reggae music, I liked it; The Idol judges, however, disagreed. Randy Jackson called it bizarre and said he didn’t get it. DioGuardi likes that he made it his own with the extreme change, but they all agreed it didn’t work. I think it worked for him and other performances, like Garcia’s, were worse. America didn’t seem to get it either as Urban was in the bottom three of the vote totals on Wednesday night.

Siobhan Magnus’ “Paint it Black” performance was the best performance of the night. She started out sitting on the steps at the back of the stage in an outfit that showed her personality while being completely fitting for the song and performance. Jackson called it hot, DeGeneres loved how it all came together to make a great performance, and Cowell liked how she stirred up a reaction of either hating it or loving it. I loved it and, other than a slight screech at the highest note, thought it was perfect. If she just steams her vocal cords a bit she can open up her voice and project a screech free sound. Again this week, Magnus was announced safe during the results show.

Lee Dewyze performed a good performance of the Stones’ hit “Beast of Burden,” but it wasn’t his best performance. Jackson thought was one of his better performances and DeGeneres said she had expected a little more. DioGuardi thinks he has grown a lot. Cowell loves him and his voice, but thinks he is causing frustration by not having bigger moments that others are having. America still loves him though and voted him safe again.

Paige Miles was another performer that I was worried about being able to perform the Rolling Stones well and she did, indeed, disappoint me a little. With her performance of “Honky Tonk Women” she tried to rock out and perform well, but the song style just didn’t fit her vocals. She apparently had laryngitis during the week and performed without much rehearsal and without being completely over the disease. Her vocals were very good with that in mind, but she isn’t connecting with the audience according to Simon Cowell. He was right as she did not get enough votes to be safe and was the final contestant in the bottom three.

Aaron Kelly, after having a rough week vocally last week, came back with “Angie” and it was a great song choice for him. He changed it up a bit and it fit perfectly for him, thus giving him a great performance. DeGeneres thought he gave the best male performance and DioGuardi thought he really connected with the audience. Since he was voted safe, I guess she was right.

Crystal Bowersox, who has consistently had the best female performance each week, was beaten by Magnus this week. Her performance of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” was very good, but not quite the best and the judges told her so. They really like her and her performances but told her she was over thinking this week. She was safe again this week and I think she is a favorite among the voters.

Once the bottom three was announced Wednesday night, host Ryan Seacrest told Tim Urban he could sit back down as he did not have the lowest amount of votes. Lacey Brown, however, did. What was interesting about this results show and about this particular season in general is that a new policy has been put into affect allowing the judges to save one person that America votes off during the season. The vote has to be unanimous and unfortunately we all had to say goodbye to Lacey as the judges did not think she was worth using their one and only save.

The Top 8 Guys and Elimination Night

Wednesday night the eight American Idol male contestants performed for a spot in the final 12. On Thursday night, there were four eliminations, two girls and two guys, and the final 12 contestants were announced.

For the second week in a row, Michael Lynche had the best performance of the American Idol male contestants. His performance of Maxwell’s “This Woman’s Work” on Wednesday night was as good as the original.

Casey James sang an unplugged version of Keith Urban’s “You’ll Think of Me.” Randy Jackson liked it but thought it was a safe choice. Kara DioGuardi thought it lacked a spark. I liked it and thought it may have been the second best performance of the night, though it was a bit of a safe choice. James’ voice, to me, is sounding reminiscent of Bob Seger.

Lee Dewyze started off the show with “Fireflies” by Owl City. He made the song his own, but there were a couple instances of a missed pitch. Simon Cowell said he had a great chance of making it to the top 12, but he is a better performer than that particular performance.

Tim Urban and Alex Lambert produced decent, improved performances. Urban performed Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah.” DioGuardi thinks he is moving up to the top of the male contestants and DeGeneres hugged him. Cowell called it Urban’s best performance yet and I agree. Lambert performed Ray LaMontagne’s “Trouble.” Jackson thinks he should have made it slower, though I think he should have done a harder, slightly faster song. DioGuardi told him he is too stiff. He still isn’t as comfortable as he should be.

Aaron Kelly and Andrew Garcia truly disappointed me and the judges as well with their performances. Kelly chose Lonestar’s “I’m Already There.” What should have been a good song choice for him started off on the wrong key and only got worse. Jackson told him to work on the lower notes. Cowell told him it had emotion but the vocals were not great. Garcia decided to go in a very brave direction with Christina Aguilera’s “Genie in a Bottle.” He wanted to bring back the wow factor from his Paula Abdul audition performance. It was off key and had no great moments whatsoever. Jackson told him “It was a little pitchy all over the place…you made us feel like the whole song was three notes.” Cowell called it desperate and thought he was over-thinking it. Whatever the problem was, it was his worst performance yet in my opinion.

Todrick Hall also had a not so good performance with Queen’s “Somebody to Love.” At first I thought this could be a great song choice for him, but it didn’t work as well as I’d hoped. It was better than the previous two weeks, but he needed to open up his vocal cords more at the end. The judges, except for Cowell, seemed to like it though. DioGuardi did call it dramatic, but thought the singing was good. As Cowell remarked though, some parts were not good. I really think he has put on too much of a Broadway performance every week.

When the eliminations came Thursday night, Hall was eliminated, which did not surprise me at all as I’ve been putting him at the bottom of the barrel for weeks. I thought Garcia had blown his chance as well, but he was voted into the top 12 and young Alex Lambert was the one who did not score enough votes to continue.

Thursday was a very emotional night for the contestants as the four eliminations started off with Katelyn Epperly. I’ve been saying her voice was the weakest of the girls so I was relieved and not at all surprised to see her go. However, as the emotions ran high at the end of the show, the most shocking elimination yet occurred. Lilly Scott, who had consistently performed as one of the top three females was eliminated while Katie Stevens, who has yet figured out who she is as an artist, was told she was in. Stevens is arguably not ready for the competition and at 17 years-old still has to figure out who she wants to be as an artist, so we’ll see if she can get it together in time for the next performance.

The contestants performed a group version of Micheal Buble’s “I Just Haven’t Met You Yet” at the beginning of the show and I thought the beginning vocal pairings were quite good. It was a good kickoff to an emotional night that ended with our final 12 season 9 contestants: Michael Lynche, Lee Dewyze, Casey James, Aaron Kelly, Tim Urban, Andrew Garcia, Crystal Bowersox, Siobhan Magnus, Didi Benami, Paige Miles, Katie Stevens, and Lacey Brown.

The Final 16- The Ladies

Tuesday night’s American Idol show was the make it or break it performance for the ladies. The final 12 contestants will be announced on Thursday night and the performances needed to show that each person not only has what it takes to be the next American Idol, but that they know who they are and want to be there. Five women did just that…and three didn’t.

Crystal Bowersox and Lilly Scott gave their normal great performance, though I personally didn’t like Scott’s song choice of Patsy Cline’s “I Fall To Pieces.” Judge Kara DioGuardi said “You made Patsy Cline feel current.” Judge Simon Cowell thought it lacked a wow factor and I agree, but it was still pretty good.

Siobhan Magnus performed The Animals’ “House Of The Rising Sun.” She chose a good song to show off her range. It has difficult transitions from the alto to the second soprano to the first soprano range and made each transition quite well. Both Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi remarked how she surprises us week to week. However, Cowell remarked how she didn’t have any great moments as opposed to the previous week and she didn’t do much with the song itself.

Lacey Brown and Didi Benami, two of my favorite voices in the competition, showed great improvement this week. Brown performed Brandi Carlisle’s “The Story,” which was very slow, but, as Simon Cowell stated, she sang it very well. Ellen DeGeneres told her it was her best performance yet. DioGuardi said “Performances like this are why you got here. It was a brilliant choice.” Benami played her guitar for the first time in Hollywood and performed Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon.” It was a risk that, performed well with the right voice, could really pay off…and it did. Jackson said it was much better than the week before but she could probably do a little better. Cowell thought is was well balanced and one of the best performances of the night.

Katie Stevens, Katelyn Epperly, and Paige Miles not only fell short of the other performances but fell short of their own previous performances. Stevens took the judges advice and performed a younger song with Kelly Clarkson’s “Breakaway.” Unfortunately, she was off-key on the opening verse and Randy Jackson compared it to karaoke. DeGeneres said it lacked personality. DioGuardi and Cowell both think, as well as I do, that she doesn’t know who she is yet or what kind of artist she is. Until she figures that out, she isn’t going to have stellar performances and be ready to really compete in the competition.

Epperly doesn’t appear to be trying as hard as the others and I just don’t think her voice is good enough. Her performance of Carole King’s “I Feel The Earth Move” should have made the audience feel the Earth move and we didn’t. Jackson called it sleepy and said it lacked a connection with the audience. DioGuardi and Cowell feel as if she isn’t trying hard enough either.

Miles’ performance of the classic hit “Smile” was completely the wrong song choice as the performance was off-key and didn’t have any interesting moments. Jackson thought it fell flat, DioGuardi said it was all wrong, and DeGeneres told her “…it was supposed to be inspiring, but it was sad and heavy.” Cowell claims they don’t know what kind of artist she is and neither does she.

Though anything can happen in the Idol voting, I think Bowersox, Scott, and Magnus are definitely safe. I personally think Epperly has the least interesting voice and no great performance so she should be eliminated. Stevens, though I like her and her voice, really is unsure of who she is as an artist and needs more experience and maturity before she can really compete, so I think she should be eliminated also. I’ll give Miles one more try, but she needs a fantastic performance. I think if she figures out who she is as an artist and makes a right song choice then her voice is strong enough to pull it off.

The Final 10 Girls & Elimination Night

Thursday night with over 27 million votes, four American Idol contestants were eliminated. But, first let’s go back and review the ladies.

On Wednesday night the 10 remaining female American Idol contestants performed for the second week in Hollywood, starting with the formerly hospitalized Crystal Bowersox. When asked by show host Ryan Seacrest how she was feeling she replied that she was fine and ready to perform. Bowersox performed “Long As I Can See The Light” by Creedance Clearwater. All the judges agreed that it was excellent and she had set the bar for the night.

Katelyn Epperly, Paige Miles, and Siobhan Magnus’ performances were greatly improved from the previous week. Epperly performed Coldplay’s “The Scientist” with the aid of a piano and although it was the slowest song of the night, the performance was quite good, and that is a difficult song to sing. Judge Randy Jackson did let her know that she had fallen off pitch at the end and Kara DioGuardi told her to figure out who she is since she confuses them a little by changing things up a lot.

Miles performed “Walk Away” by Kelly Clarkson. DioGuardi, who wrote the song, liked the vocals, but told her she was exhibiting the wrong emotion. It was meant to be an angry song and Miles had smiled strongly throughout. Cowell claims she failed to choose the right song two weeks in a row, but I don’t agree. This performance, though not perfect, was much better than the week before.

Magnus made an extremely bold choice by choosing Aretha Franklin’s “Think.” It was a nearly impossible performance that she mostly pulled off. It was a little pitchy, but as Jackson pointed out “It was so bold, so fearless.” There was one note that was brilliant and she definitely made a statement. I would have been very surprised to see any of these four women voted off on Thursday, but they were not and remain safe for the third week.

Lilly Scott performed “A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke. Jackson called it his favorite performance of the night. DioGuardi claimed she had her first moment of the competition and DeGeneres actually forgot it was a singing competition. Cowell pointed out that she over sang in the middle but he liked it as well. I thought it was the second or third best performance behind Bowersox again and maybe Magnus. Scott was also voted to stay for next week.

The other half of the contestants, though most had improved, were not as good. Katie Stevens decided to take the judges criticisms to heart and go a little more youthful. She performed “Put Your Records On” by Corrine Bailey Ray. It wasn’t bad and the song choice was better than last week, but she still has some improvements to make. Cowell told her that she needs to establish what type of recording artist she would like to be and then portray that to the audience. I think she is still trying to be too mature for her age and DeGeneres agreed. That fact of making herself appear older also goes hand in hand with deciding what kind of recording artist she is.

Didi Benami chose “Lean On Me” by Bill Withers and it was the wrong song choice that almost cost her a spot in the final 12. Jackson told her she shouldn’t have picked a soul song. DioGuardi compared her performance to karaoke and Cowell said it was “frustrating because you’re kind of a cool artist who did something very generic.”Fortunately for Stevens and Benami, America likes them and gave them another chance for next week.

I personally was the most disappointed in Lacey Brown and Michelle Delamor and Haeley Vaughn was just awful for the second week in a row. Brown decided to take DioGuardi’s advice literally and perform “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer. I think it should have been a good song choice, but she screwed it up by coming off as too much of a karaoke singer. Cowell remarked that he doesn’t feel like she is showing who she is.

Delamor made a horrible song choice with Creed’s “With Arms Wide Open.” There were several pitch problems during the song and Randy said “It fell flat to me.” DioGuardi remarked that it was her favorite performance of Delamor’s, however, on Thursday she told Delamor “…when I went back and watched the tape, it really wasn’t good.”

Vaughn tried to sing a song from her generation but it was not even remotely the right song or vocal styling for her. Her version of Miley Cyrus’ “The Climb” was “…a complete and utter mess,” according to judge Cowell. All the judges agreed it was not good and she needs more training. American agreed as well and Vaughn was sent home on Thursday, along with Delamor. Brown was voted to stay one more week, but she needs to step it up or she will be the next to go.

Joining Vaughn and Delamor Thursday in leaving the show were Jermaine Sellers and John Park. Unlike last week, there were no surprises on elimination night and the competition is getting more and more serious. Before the eliminations the 20 remaining contestants performed “I Got a Feelin’” by the Black Eyed Peas. There were individual parts that did not come off well and a more unison performance would have been better. Former Idol contestant Danny Gokey performed his new single “My Best Days are Ahead of Me,” which was a nice performance to break up the sadness of eliminations. Now we are down to 16 and next week we will have our final 12. Stay tuned.

American Idol final 20- The Guys

My prayers were answered…the American Idol contestants can live up to their potential, or at least, most of them. After a slow and lousy start last week, the final 10 male contestants stepped up their game Tuesday night and showed a marked improvement. This is despite a last minute change in the line-up for Tuesday’s show. The women were scheduled to perform but, according to contestant Michael Lynche, the men got a call at 10:00 a.m. that morning and were told to be ready at 10:30 to prepare to take the stage that evening. Contestant Crystal Bowersox had been taken to the hospital and was told by doctors that she could not return to the stage until Wednesday. The viewers were not given a reason for the hospital visit, but rumors have circulated that it is due to complications with her diabetes.

When host Ryan Seacrest opened the show by explaining the change in line-up my first thought was that there would again be lousy male performances due to nerves and un-preparedness. However, that was not the case. Though, several performances were not stellar, almost all were better than last week.

Michael Lynche opened the show with James Brown’s “This is a man’s world.” When he was done, judge Randy Jackson stood up, clapped, and called him a real R&B star. Simon Cowell praised him for performing an old song without making it sound dated. Surprisingly, judge Ellen DeGeneres summed up his performance best by saying “Seriously, that was the one to beat. That is the way to start out the night and everybody has now got to top that.” By the end of the night though, despite the improvements, no one had.

John Park, Tim Urban, Todrick Hall, and Jermaine Sellers all showed improvement from their performances last week, but they are again at the bottom of the great performance list. Hall performed Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With it?” Like last week, he changed the arrangement so much that it ruined the song and all the judges let him know it. Sellers performed “What’s Goin’ On” by Marvin Gaye. Kara DioGuardi accused him of trying to use all his tricks in one performance and I agree. Cowell called his performance Cabaret-like. Park performed John Mayer’s “Gravity” and it was a better song choice, but he’s still not connecting with the audience. He was also off pitch several times, which was explained to him by Jackson. Tim Urban also performed better, showing less nerves and chose a much better song for his voice and style. His rendition of Matt Nathanson’s “Come On Get Higher” was youthful, but lacked good execution of the high notes. Both Cowell and I are impressed with his dedication and work ethic, as are probably a lot of viewers. However, as DeGeneres pointed out he lacks stage presence and charisma. All four of these men are in danger of being eliminated Thursday. Urban, due to his look and the fact that he seems to ooze innocence and sweetness, has the best chance of staying.

Casey James and Aaron Kelly both had decent performances again this week, but didn’t really improve. James performed Gavin DeGraw’s “I Don’t Wanna Be” with the aid of an electric guitar. His vocals were good, but not great, though the guitar playing was great. Unfortunately for him, American Idol is a singing competition and the vocals have to measure up. DioGuardi sort of ripped him apart, saying his notes were off on the bottom, which I agree with, and that he wasn’t staying true to himself. Jackson, DeGeneres, Cowell, and I all thought she was over the top with her criticisms. Kelly performed “My Girl” by the temptations and I was disappointed. Kelly’s one of my favorites in this competition and he has the voice to make it to the top five or six, if not win. I thought he started off great, as Randy Jackson said, but the second half fell flat with some slightly screechy vocals. Cowell claimed the arrangement was too old fashioned. Compared to some of the others these two were good and should stay until next week.

Andrew Garcia and Lee Dewyze didn’t improve as much either, if even at all. Dewyze, who had the best performance last week, only had a decent one Tuesday night. Jackson pointed out that he took a risk by performing Hinder’s “Lips of an Angel,” but he had more pitch problems than the previous week. Cowell wants him to connect more because he believes he’s the best vocally. Garcia had a good, but not great performance last week and the same was true again Tuesday night. He performed James Morrison’s “You Give Me Something.” Jackson called “…it pitchy all over the place,” but I think he’s wrong. Three or so pitchy notes do not make a performance pitchy all over the place. Cowell was frustrated because he loves Garcia’s voice, but he hasn’t chosen the right song in two weeks. I totally agree. I think he can wind up near the end of the competition if he can choose better songs.

Alex Lambert showed the most improvement on Tuesday with his performance of John Legend’s “Everybody Knows.” He exhibited less stage freight, vocally sounded clearer, and had fewer pitch mistakes. Cowell said he was “a million times better than last week.” He still has some improvements to make though, and needs to feel more comfortable and confident on stage.

Anyone can be eliminated, but I vote for Sellers to be eliminated this time and, again, I vote for Park because I think he is the worst vocally. I’m choosing to give Urban one last stay of execution.