American Idol 9: Finals Week 8 Performances, Tuesday May 4, 2010

Harry Connick, Jr. served as celebrity mentor to the top 5 as they took on the Frank Sinatra songbook.  Further, Connick wrote the orchestrations and arrangements for the contestants' versions of the songs.  Sinatra's two daughters, Nancy and Tina were in attendance in the audience and, in a cutesy TV move, presented judge Simon Cowell with a monogrammed Frankie Hankie.  Note that the dates given next to each song below refer to the year that Frank Sinatra's version of the song was released.

(1) Aaron Kelly sang "Fly Me to the Moon" (1964).  Passable, but nowhere near as transcendant as it needs to be at this stage of the competition.  Vocals were too low at the beginning, and as a performer, we agree with Kara in that he doesn't exhibit much stage charisma, which was Frank Sinatra's stock-in-trade.  Grade: C-

(2) Casey James sang "Blue Skies" (1946).  Classic Irving Berlin track composed in 1926 pretty much butchered by Casey in 2010.  Off-key from note one, Casey just never recovered.  One of the absolute worst performances in this Idol season, which already has the reputation of being quite lackluster.  Grade: F

(3) Crystal Bowersox sang "Summer Wind" (1966).  Not the best we've heard from Crystal, but she didn't embarass herself like the previous two contestants.  We agree with the judges that the second half of the song was stronger than the open.  Still, Crystal should be safe for another week, but we agree with Simon in that we want to see a killer performance from her again, which we haven't seen in the last two weeks.  Grade: B

(4) Michael Lynche sang "The Way You Look Tonight."  Classic American songbook track originally sung by Fred Astaire in his 1936 film, Swing Time.  Of the contestants, Sinatra week was tailor-made for Michael, and he nailed it.  He gave a rousing performance that was respectful to Sinatra's style, but still infused with his own personality.  Grade: A-

(5) Lee DeWyze sang "That's Life" (1966).  The only song of the night that was actually written for Frank Sinatra rather than being covered by him.  Good vocal by Lee overall, with just a few minor problems during the song.  Lee's voice is very well suited to the swing genre, and he fared better than most tonight.  We disagree that Lee was the best of the evening -- we'd give the crown to Mike, but Lee was a very strong second placer.  Grade: B+

Given that there are only five contestants left in the competition, they probably won't be pulling out the bottom three.  They'll likely just give us the bottom 2, which makes this week's choices pretty easy to figure out.  Unless there is yet another cruel twist of fate this season as there was last week when Siobhan went home, the bottom two should consist of Aaron Kelly and Casey James.

When the results are announced, we predict that Casey James will be sent home tomorrow.

American Idol 9: Finals Week 8 Results, Wednesday May 5, 2010

Unexpectedly, Michael Lynche ended up in the bottom 2 this week after one of his better performances.  Looks like Casey's fans rallied around him to spare him for another week.  Casey did not even appear in the bottom 2.

It was Aaron Kelly who, as we thought, ended up in the bottom 2.  When the results were announced, he was also the one to go home.  At this stage, it's difficult to predict who will end up in the top 2, but we hope at least Crystal Bowersox secures her well-deserved spot.  The three remaining guys – Lee DeWyze, Casey James, and Michael Lynche – all have talent, but have all been uneven throughout the season.  It might just be a matter of dumb luck more than anything else that determines who lands in the top 2.

Next week's theme: songs from the movies.