Frank Sinatra and coach Harry Connick, Jr.

The remaining five American Idol contestants were given their most difficult task yet when they were assigned to perform a song from legend Frank Sinatra’s songbook on Tuesday. In order to supplement this difficult task, the contestants were given a coach who is not only a singer/songwriter but one who is also experienced in performing Sinatra’s songs himself: Harry Connick, Jr. Connick not only guided the contestants during their rehearsals, but he also composed and performed their arrangements.

Connick was not the only guest celebrity to appear on Idol this week. Rob Reiner and Anthony Hopkins were in the audience on Tuesday, along with Nancy and Tina Sinatra, who presented a monogrammed Frank Sinatra handkerchief to Simon Cowell. Lady Gaga also appeared and performed her new song “Alejandro” on Wednesday.

Under the guidance of Connick, Aaron Kelly performed “Fly Me to the Moon.” Judges Kara DioGuardi and Simon Cowell advised him to continue trying to break out as a performer and judges Randy Jackson and Ellen DeGeneres thought he sang beautifully. After hearing all the performances I thought he had one of the best three performances of the night.

Casey James performed “Blue Skies” and Jackson called it his worst performance. I don’t know if I agree with him, but James did give the worst performance of the night. DioGuardi told him that he wasn’t controlling his voice and his vibrato as well as before. “At least you held some notes,” she said. Cowell didn’t think he looked comfortable and I think that was what caused the lack of vocal control. He just wasn’t comfortable this week.

Crystal Bowersox performed “Summer Wind.” She stated that the song was personal to her but, despite the connection, her performance was not as good as it should have been. Jackson thought it was sleepy and the arrangement was too mellow. Cowell felt the first half of the song was too Jazz-like. He advised her to try to nail down her performances for the remainder of the competition.

Michael Lynche used a beautiful arrangement by Connick to perform “The Way You Look Tonight.” His vocals matched the arrangement in beauty and Jackson seemed very proud of “Big Mike.” DeGeneres said he appears to be more comfortable on stage than any of the other contestants. Cowell said that he felt that Lynche had been listening to them and all the aspects of the performance clicked together.

Lee Dewyze was the last contestant to perform and I was pleased to hear and see him perform as well as Lynche did, if not better. DeGeneres must have agreed with me because she told him “I think if this were the last night of performances you would have just won this whole thing.” Cowell told Dewyze he gave it 110 percent and it was the best performance of the night.

On Wednesday night’s results show Harry Connick, Jr. performed “And I Love Her” before host Ryan Seacrest announced that Michael Lynche and Aaron Kelly had earned the least amount of votes for the week. Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to young Aaron Kelly at the end of the show. Next week the final four contestants will perform songs from the cinema under the guidance of Jamie Foxx.

Shania Twain and Country Week

This week on American Idol the six remaining contestants were guided by guest coach Shania Twain. According to Twain, she didn’t know what to expect when the four guys were rehearsing her songs but she liked their vocals. She did still have words of wisdom to impart to each of them, starting with Lee Dewyze.

Dewyze chose to perform “You’re Still the One,” which is a slow, love ballad. He used his guitar and Twain helped him slow down the tempo to showcase his vocals more. He started the performance off slowly, without the guitar, and then moved into a Dewyze-type rock version of the ballad. I thought he did a great job. Judge Randy Jackson said he did a pretty good job and liked that he found a way to make the song his own at some point. Judge Simon Cowell said “I thought that was absolutely the perfect song out of Shania’s catalog…”

Michael Lynche chose to perform my personal favorite Shania Twain song, “It Only Hurts When I’m Breathing.” Twain said she was moved by him in his rehearsal with her, but I wasn’t convinced I would like his vocals on that particular song, which is one that means a lot to me personally. He did a good job, but I just didn’t like his voice for the song. It just wasn’t for me. Judge Ellen DeGeneres said she was nervous for him, but compared him to Luther Vandross. Judge Kara DioGuardi stated that Shania Twain is always connecting with her songs and with people and she claimed to feel a similar connection with Michael Lynche.

Casey James performed “Don’t.” Twain tried to inspire him to have more confidence in his vocal performance. This was one of James’ best performances, as Randy Jackson put it. DeGeneres claimed his vocal performance showed where he belonged. I agree completely. It was a beautiful performance that beat Lee’s performance for once, at least for me personally.

Crystal Bowersox performed “No One Needs to Know” as a message to her boyfriend. Twain advised her to sing in a happier tone so her vocals would sound more relative to the song. I thought it was great, but not as good as Casey & Lee. DioGuardi said “…You’re always coming from a place of truth and it always feels honest.” Cowell felt that she lacked conviction and that the song was forgettable.

Aaron Kelly performed “You Got a Way.” Twain advised him to feel more secure in his abilities. He sang it beautifully and I think this performance saved him from being eliminated. Jackson praised him for doing a great job and DeGeneres commented on how well all the contestants had done throughout the evening. Cowell stated that he thought Kelly had struggled in previous weeks, but this performance was “like a totally different artist.”

Siobhan Magnus chose to perform “Any Man of Mine.” Twain described how the song is about a woman who knows what she wants and then said Magnus needs to let her character shine through the performance. Seconds into the performance I could tell that this was the wrong song choice for her. She not only needs attitude for this song, but a country attitude and she just didn’t have it. I didn’t like the way she changed the song. It just didn’t fit and sounded flat, like funky karaoke. Jackson loved it, though. DeGeneres called it fantastic and Cowell claimed to really like it too. Hmm…I think they had a severe momentary lapse in judgment.

Wednesday night’s results show proved that I wasn’t the only audience member that didn’t like Magnus’ performance. With Casey James, Michael Lynche and Siobhan Magnus as the bottom three contestants in the voting system this week, Magnus was voted off the show. The results show also included cameo appearances by Antonio Banderas and Cameron Diaz, and performances by Rascal Flatts, Shakira, Lady Antebellum and Sons of Sylvia. Next week, Harry Connick, Jr. and the songs of the legendary Frank Sinatra. Now this upcoming week is one I can't wait for.