American Idol – Semi-Final - The Top Three Compete

The finale is almost here, dear readers.

Only one more week, and then you don't hear from me again until next year! Can you imagine going that whole time without my words of wisdom?

Last night, Idol had its semi-final round, with Crystal, Casey and Lee leading the pack. I thought over all they did pretty well, except the obvious blatant favoritism they showed Lee. I'm not taking away from Lee's performance, but really, he was the only one a choir came out to. Where's the love for Crystal? What happened? Did Idol all of sudden decide that Crystal is not bankable? I doubt that's the case. What I really think is that they know Crystal is a shoe-in for the finale, and they wanted to make sure the person there with her would be Lee and not Casey.

Regardless, it was a very good night of music, but even I had to admit, the best performances did come from Lee. I thought the contestant song choices were a lot weaker than the judge's choices. The strongest song choice came from Simon, and proves to me that he will be sorely missed next season.

Not to ramble on and on, but you know what we all want to get to, so let's get started with a guy who started off the night with a bad song choice, that being:

1. CASEY JAMES – sung “Okay, It's Alright With Me” - To me, this was too much of an unknown song, and I agree with Kara's assessment 100%; you're in the semi-final, and this is your chance to put yourself in the finale. You do not choose a song that hardly anyone knows, because no matter what you did to change it up, no one will know it. To the general audience, they're just hearing the song, so any differences Casey put on the song were lost. As Simon said, the song had no lasting effect. Out of all the songs performed last night, this is the only one that people will say "oh what was that song Casey sung?", as opposed to actually remembering the title and the performance of a more main stream song. It truly was a very bad song choice, and regardless of whether or not Casey sounded good or not, (which he did), it was a big disappointment. It was a dud song choice, and not very memorable.


2. CRYSTAL BOWERSOX – sung “Come To My Window” - I was NOT happy with the arrangement at all. When I heard this is was Crystal's song choice, I really thought she was going to blow it out of the park. But that musical arrangement was so bad, Crystal wound up fighting to have her vocals keep up. For Crystal, the song choice wasn't bad, just the arrangement. She sounded fantastic, but the musical arrangement threw me off. I was trying to love it, when the love for it should have just come naturally. Still, I'm not surprised Crystal chose a Melissa Ethridge song, because that's the type of music she will excel in. She may not have Melissa's raspy tone, and perhaps that also contributed to the performance, but in the end she did sound like she deserved to be in the finale.

3. LEE DEWYZE – sung “Simple Man” - I will show my musical ignorance right now and say I did not know this Lynard Skynard song. But that being said, I think it fit Lee like a glove. It was a very good song choice for him, because coming from an ignorant musical guy like me, the song sounded like it was his original song. To me, it sounded like I was hearing a cut from Lee's album. Lee has established himself as a forerunner now, because compared to the guy we saw weeks ago, the Lee I saw last night was confidant, emotionally connected. This performance, along with Lee's next performance actually showed me that he can just as easily win it all as much as Crystal. I like Lee's humbleness, and I think that's what drawing me more in as a fan. I will never leave my Crystal, but this boy has surely gained me as fan too

4. CASEY JAMES – *Randy & Kara's Judge's Choice* - sung “Daughters" - Randy & Kara definitely picked a great song choice for Casey. I thought Casey started off a bit shaky, but got comfortable very quickly. The song fit Lee a lot better than his first performance. Kara was right when she said Casey shines when he's showing his vulnerable side, and since this is such a slow, laid back song, it could do nothing but show his vulnerable side. I don't know what Simon was talking about when he said it was a "lazy arrangement". Kara and Randy were right when they said essentially, the song is lazy; lazy as in laid back, methodical in its arrangement and tone. As much as I agree with Simon 98% of the time, there are times like this I truly need to question his choices. Casey sounded best during this performance, and though I don't think it will help in the end, he still established himself as a great artist. I see a very bright future for Casey in country music.

5. CRYSTAL BOWERSOX – *Ellen's Judge's Choice* - sung “Baby, I'm Amazed” - Great job Ellen! For someone who joined the judging panel this year, and her only experience in music is dancing, she made a great song choice for Crystal. Crystal didn't change the song too much (some classics should not be touched), but she instead pushed her voice more than I have ever seen her do. Not only did she perform the song without her trusty guitar (in the semi-final! Quite chancy.), she performed it strongly with just as much comfort. As one of the judges pointed out, this proved to audiences that Crystal isn't a one trick pony. She worked outside her comfort zone, sans guitar and blew the performance away. It was the best range I've heard from Crystal's voice to date. I don't think I need to worry, because with this performance, it's a no brainer Crystal is in the finale.

6. LEE DEWYZE – *Simon's Judge's Choice* - sung “Hallelujah” - Okay, I need to call a little bit of shenanigans on Idol for this performance. I'm not taking away from Lee's performance, because it was fantastic. (not better then Justin Timberlake & Matt Morris's version from Hope for Haiti). But really, a choir coming out, when no one else the whole night had that type production? It was a bit much, and a bit obvious they were playing up Lee's performance with that stunt. I really want to believe it was because they want to assure a Crystal/Lee finale, and not a Crystal/Casey finale, but regardless, it's a bit annoying. That aside, the performance was very good. This was definitely a moment for Lee, but did he "own the entire night" as one of the judges described? Maybe, but the choir at the end helped. I bet you the song would not have had a performance impact it did if the choir had stayed up with the band. Still I think Lee can start practicing for next week.

My Pick(s) to be Eliminated Tonight: If there was ever a doubt, you know what I'm going to say. Out of all the performances last night, it is finally time for Casey James to go home.

That's it guys. One more week, and no more reviews. Are you going to miss me? What did you think about the performances last night? Who had the best? Discuss in the comments below, and take the poll!

One more week left!!

Until our final week next week, my readers, I bid you farewell for now!!