Dear Tina,
By the time the third contestant came round last night to perform, this trio officially marked season 9 American Idol: Acoustic-Off 2010. Seriously, in all nine seasons that I have diligently watched (except season 6 which, really, no one cared about), there has never been so much emotional guitar strumming. Granted, instruments have only been allowed to accompany the performers in the last couple of season, but still I don’t imagine, even if given the opportunity, Fantasia Barrino or Clay Aiken would have picked up an acoustic guitar to engage our hearts and capture our votes. We finally whittled our way down to the top 3 which should have meant less work for me but of course each contestant had to sing twice. The night was divided into two rounds, the contestants’ choice and the judges’ choice. In both instances Casey left his hair down and with that I knew his journey was over. That, and he performed poorly. Let’s take a look.
Round 1: Contestants’ Choice
Casey James, Ok, It’s Alright With Me by Eric Hutchinson. A song this obscure is truly only appropriate during the original audition when it doesn’t so much matter what you’re singing as it does what you sound like. Sure it would be nice if this competition were solely about singing talent but nothing about the entertainment industry is solely about talent. I mean, Ke$ha has the number 10 most purchased song of all time on iTunes. The other reason why I was disappointed Casey chose this song was because it invited the almost too predictable critique from Randy, “It’s like the song says, it was just aiight for me.” Ellen told Casey that this was the night he needed to bring something bigger and Simon said if he was having dinner, that was salad. No one loves a nice metaphor more than SC. Well, if we weren’t sure of your departure before the episode began, I’m afraid we are now. Someday Casey will wake up and realize that American Idol was, in fact, not a jam band competition.
Crystal Bowersox, Come Through My Window by Melissa Etheridge. Moving in the opposite direction of Casey who picked an artist best known for his work on the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 soundtrack, Crystal chose a song that fit her as an artist perfectly. When it came to the performance, however, there was a rushed quality to Crystal’s voice that seemed to take away from Melissa Etheridge’s raw sound. Also, her choice to include the harmonica in her instrumentation (and in her accessories) didn’t necessarily give her the edge, it just gave me anxious hoping she had enough breath at the end to even play it properly. But in spite of these really minor setbacks, Crystal played by the rules and proved herself a great artist doing so. She picked a song people wanted to hear her sing and though Simon criticized saying, “not the most stunning version of the song we’re ever going to hear,” he commended her for never compromising herself as an artist, “I have a lot of respect for you for that.” And from Simon, that’s all you really need.
Lee DeWyze, Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Suddenly this competition has become the Lee show, which is pretty incredible considering the memory of him singing “Fireflies” by Owl City during the top 24 is burned in my memory. In the bad way. The man has come a long way and I’m delighted he has because he is incredibly talented and believably humble. When he was finished, Randy channeled Oprah and shouted “SOMEBODY FEELS LIKE THEY COULD WIIIIIIINNNNN THHHIIIISSSSS! HERE COMES JOHN TRAVOLTAAAAA!” Hmm, actually now I can’t remember if he said that second part or not… Kara commended Lee for showing us “everything you’ve got” and awarded him champion of round 1. Simon, perking up for the first time since the show started, told him it was a brilliant song choice and that he had crushed the other two. He did. It was without a doubt the strongest performance of the round and the only song/arrangement that fit the performer and the circumstances of the evening. When asked why he chose that song, Lee said “When I play it I’m really happy to be playing it.” So, no points awarded for articulation.
Round 2: Judges’ Choice
Casey James, Daughters by John Mayer. Alright so Kara and Randy selected this song for Casey. Kara explained their her choice of song because she feels that Casey’s audience is women and girls and this was the perfect song because it speaks to them and he can show them his vulnerable side. And then in an overtly sexual way she added, “So give it to them.” First of all, drink every time Kara says vulnerable. Second of all, and I say this as a John Mayer fan, I hate this song. It should be put on reserve for brides not creative enough to come up with something more unique for their father/daughter dance. Final 3, final song? No, no. After the performance Simon criticized the song selection and said “…they’ve chosen a song where the climax is a quite limp guitar solo and I think I hold these two slightly responsible for not working with you harder to give you a much bigger vocal moment.” Kara of course interrupted him explaining that the notes of the song are all in the same range and the song is about the emotion more than the vocals. Simon tried his best to ignore this insufficient argument and continued to say, “The song didn’t have that wow factor.” And Kara retorted, “Because that’s the way it’s written!” THAT’S HIS POINT KARA, YOU SHOULD HAVE PICKED A DIFFERENT SONG. Oh my gosh, I am not going to miss her after next week. Sorry Casey, you lost.
Crystal Bowersox, Maybe I’m Amazed by Paul McCartney. Honestly the biggest surprise of the evening for me was that Ellen was allowed to pick a song for one of the contestants by herself instead of Kara, the now two year veteran. That’s really neither here nor there because I suspect being partnered up with Randy is a lot like working by yourself anyway, but it turned out to be a good move on behalf of the producers because Ellen made an excellent choice for Crystal. Lightyears ahead of her first performance, Crystal reminded the audience how she got so far and even though she never got the memo about standing mute during the judging — save for one or two “thank you’s” — she is an amazing talent. One of the judges commented that she had used parts of her voice that they had never heard before that night. Again, this is the kind of wow factor and risk that Simon argued was missing from Casey’s performance. Simon told Crystal that she can thank Ellen next week for putting her in the final. WINK. Died.
Lee DeWyze, Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen/Jeff Buckley. I wrote earlier in the week that while I was at a party last Saturday, someone who attended Lee’s homecoming told me this was the song Simon chose for Lee. I don’t have any statistics to back this up but honestly “Hallelujah” has to be on the top 10 list of most covered songs of all time. So I was a little disappointed with Simon who clearly is as bored with American Idol as he seems to be. Well bite your tongue Catherine J. because Lee took this number and stole the show! It felt a little bit like he was on a different playing field than the other two, what with the gospel-esque choir behind him and the white lights recreating what heaven must be like if it is in deed, as I believe, a giant stage. Kara, bless her heart, summarized the performance and Lee’s journey the best: “Lee you are what this show is all about. Somebody who starts in one place and ends up here tonight in an incredible, epic moment. You are the heart of this show this season and you just owned the entire night.” Brava Kara, well put. Simon of course got all tingly and smiley because he once again had the best song selection of all the judges. He told him he was a fantastic singer and a great person and hoped he would return next week. If only he had demanded Lee shave that patch of grass under his chin.
One more week. Now that it’s almost over it seems to have gone by in an instant. It seems like just last week I was nervously shaking at the sight of Victoria Beckham’s skeleton during the very first audition episode. Casey was eliminated tonight. Not a surprise. I will miss the way his entire body stood stiff while he sang except for his head which just slightly shook back and forth. It reminded me of my neighbor from senior year of college whose body did the same thing when he was severely intoxicated. So check back in with me for the finale next week. I’ll try to post my thoughts on a day when people are actually still talking about it. And not three days later….eh, my b.
30 Rock Quote of the Day:
Jack: I walked in your shoes today, Kenneth.
Kenneth: I don’t think you did, sir. I’ve just got the one pair and I sleep in them.
Dear Tina 