American Idol - Week Two- 3/04/10

Welcome back Crystal!
And what a comeback it was!

The women performing last night on Idol were on even ground with the boys, with a couple of performances that stood out. (Siobhan, Crystal and Lilly, I'm looking in your direction) I have to admit, after last night's performances I am really digging Ellen as a new judge. Now granted, I was already a fan of hers to begin with (I DVR her talk show and watch every day!), but I like the new dynamic she brings to the judging panel. She knows how to talk to people, and it really helps when your song choice and performance reeked. (looking in your direction, Didi and Haeley) Ellen lets contestants know, "Hey I didn't like that performance, but here's a positive..." She's definitely a step up from Paula in being the polar opposite to Simon.

I say it time and time again, but I really don't understand some of the song choices these contestants make sometimes. I'm no singer by any stretch of the imagination (though in the shower, I have millions of fans - wait that didn't sound right...nevermind). But I would never make some of the song choices some of these girls made last night. Some just didn't fit at all, and some could have been great if they would have just done something different with them.

Okay, I know you guys think I chat too much, especially since I know you want me to get to the good stuff. Shall we begin? Of course, we begin the night with my #1 favorite so far, and that is...

1. CRYSTAL BOWERSOX – sung “Long as I Can See the Light” - Randy was right when he said this was one of those "moments", when you realize you're dealing with a true artist that is going to go far. Seriously, this was a standout performance, and it almost seems laughable that there would be anything wrong with it. This, and Crystal was coming back from being extremely ill just 24 hours prior! Her tone was perfect, she hit every note with skill, and to quote Ellen, I too forgot I was watching someone competing. It seemed like just a performance to me, and I was being entertained. I know it's only the second week, but I'm making my prediction already: look for Crystal in at least the final Three. SAFE

2. HAELEY VAUGHN – sung “The Climb” - What happened to this girl? I had such high hopes for her, but so far, she has been completely disappointing. On paper, Simon was right: Haeley doing a Miley Cyrus song makes sense, because they are around the same age. But this was, to quote Simon, "a complete and utter mess". Her notes were all over the place, the pitch was so off I think my flat screen cracked. I would say she lost control of the song, but I don't even think she had control to begin with. I'm very disappointed in Haeley, and though I did like her during auditions, I have to agree with Kara when she said this girl needs at least another year of experience before she can tackle the types of songs she wants to sing. It's inevitable, but after this second bad performance in 2 weeks, poor Haeley best have her bags ready to go. IN DANGER

3. LACEY BROWN – sung “Kiss Me” - Better than last week, but again, I agree with some of the judges that it really wasn't memorable. (what is with that this season? I hardly ever agreed with the judges before? Hmm...) Randy mentioned that it sounded karaoke, and he was right. As soon as he described Lacey's performance with that description, I instantly agreed. It wasn't a horrible performance, but it just wasn't something I would be talking about the next day. Still, I think Lacey is likable enough to stick around another week. That, and the fact that a couple of the other girls were worse. SAFE

4. KATIE STEVENS – sung “Put Your Records On” - I was not impressed by Katie this week. I really want to like her, because she is sweet and has a pretty decent set of pipes. But this song choice just didn't blow me away. I like that she seems comfortable on stage, but her song choices are not quite there yet. Kara said Katie is frustrating because she fluctuates too much as a singer. Simon is right, Katie needs to decide what type of singer she wants to be. It's the same problem that Aaron has on the boys side. If both of these kids decide a direction they would want to take their careers, than the rest of their performances should soar. Still, this was a decent performance, so I think we'll be seeing Katie next week again. SAFE

5. DIDI BENAMI – sung “Lean On Me” - Oh dear me, where do I start? I can't stand the fact that Didi did so bad, because honestly? She very likable! But this song was a mess from beginning to end for me. Simon was right in describing it as "screechy" at times. I know more than a few notes were off. I think Didi could have really done something different with this song, but it never happened. I don't know if Didi plays a guitar or piano, but I could have seen her on one of those instruments, belting out this song with that big voice of hers, pulling it back into a slower rendition. Just like Michelle Delamor, this song had potential to be really good, but fails to deliver. On top of that, Didi was thisclose to tears when the judges were finished ripping her apart. She was biting her lip to keep her from bursting out crying, and I really felt bad for her. Will that save her? I'm not sure, but she may need to pack her bags. IN DANGER

6. MICHELLE DELAMOR – sung “With Arms Wide Open” - This could have went very badly, and I actually applaud Michelle for taking this kind of chance. But did it work? I think partially, it did. The beginning was really good, and I liked the direction it was heading. Somewhere in the middle, it started to break down, and started sounding like a watered down version of this song. She sounded like a girl who wanted to sing this song during karaoke night at the local bar. I think if Michelle would have kept it acoustic, and sung the chorus slower, it would have been great. As it stands though, for some reason Simon loved it, and I have to disagree. I didn't particularly hate it, but it was not great. It had potential to be great, but never quite gets there. All in all, Michelle's performance was good enough to have her stick around another week. SAFE

7. LILLY SCOTT – sung “A Change Is Gonna Come” - Lilly is really growing on me, and the fact that her and Crystal are similar in style and artistry, I can see why. I agree with Simon that Crystal's performance was stronger, but I really liked Lilly's performance as well. This song has been done dozens of times on Idol, but Lilly brought a great new acoustic version to the table. Her vocals were spot on, and I loved the tone she brought to the song. You felt the passion of every word, and that's what I think I like about Lilly the most; she really understands the words she sings. I get the feel she's an old soul at heart, especially with her song choices so far, but she's bringing a new air to them. They sound like new songs thanks to her renditions of them, so I can see this girl going as far as Crystal in the weeks to come. Bravo Lilly! SAFE

8. KATELYN EPPERLY – sung “The Scientist” - Zzzzzzzz. Oh my God, was this boring. I have to say, I like the original, and that's already slow. Katelyn somehow slowed it down even more. Boring performance aside, I really didn't hate it. She hit a few notes which sounded incredible, so it sort of saved the performance for me a little. But damn, she failed to impress the judges and me. I don't know how likely voters would be to pick up the phone for her after being bored, but Katelyn has a couple of things going for her; she's very pretty, and there were two other performances worse than hers last night. Though she has a slight chance of going home, I think we'll wind up seeing her next week. Side note: If you've never heard this song before, don't judge it on Katelyn's performance; Coldplay's original version is miles better. IN DANGER

9. PAIGE MILES – sung “Walk Away” - Paige really does have a great voice. I think I may have to agree with the judges when they constantly bring up that Paige might have the strongest voice in the competition. Saying that though, I think she made a great song choice, but for me, her performance was too copycat. Aside from a couple of change ups, she didn't do much with this Kelly Clarkson hit to make it her own. I found her voice to be just as strong as Kelly's to handle the tone and beat of the song, but Kara was 100% right; the "anger" was missing. When Clarkson sings it, you could hear the bitterness and disdain in her voice as she tells the guy "just walk away". Paige didn't have that tone in the way she sung the lyrics, but I think that is a minor flaw at this stage in the game. Paige might be surprising me in the next few weeks. SAFE

10. SIOBHAN MAGNUS – sung “Think” - Where did this girl come from? And where did that voice come from? Seriously, you have to have some serious stones to take on Aretha the second week of live performances. But, you know what? To quote Randy, she "rocked it out"! The beginning started off a bit shaky for me, but by midway through the song, Siobhan found her footing...and that note at the end? What? Siobhan could be a dark horse that could potentially make it to at least the final five, but she needs to keep up the momentum. This wasn't a stand out performance like Crystal and Lilly's, but it was strong enough to make it memorable. I have a feeling we'll be seeing Siobhan next week. SAFE

My Bottom Three Picks: Easy to pick this week, because they stood out as pretty bad. (except for one, who wasn't as bad as the other two.) But my picks for those in danger tonight: Haeley Vaughn, Didi Benami and Katelyn Epperly.

My Pick to be Eliminated Tonight: I think it's time for Haeley Vaughn and Didi Benami to pack up and go.

And with that, we're down to the Top 16 for next week. Can we see some potentials for the Top Ten? Who do you guys definitely see there? What do you guys think? Agree? Disagree? Let’s chat it up!

Until next week, faithful readers!