American Idol contestants "ain't got the same soul"

I know I am going to anger Miley Cyrus fans, but I cannot see what everyone else apparently sees in this girl, regarding her talent. I do not see her as a mentor to up and coming singing sensations. When Miley spoke about the top 11 finalists, she said, "of course they wouldn't be here if they could not sing." To that, I had to respond, "Why not, you are!"
While watching last night's performances on American Idol, I realized what it missing this year. Some of the contestants do not have 'the same soul' as the original artists of songs they performed from #1 hits on the Billboard charts. I also think they spend an excessive amount time on the judges this season. I assume it is to make up for the loss of Paula Abdul, whom we could always count on for 'water cooler' conversations the next morning.



Lee Dewyze chose to sing, The Letter, a song originally by The Box Tops, a Memphis rock group whose lead singer, Alex Chilton, recently passed away. I think he sang Joe Cocker's version of the song. I like the original version better.


Miley mumbled something about Lee not having stage presence, while Kara thought he raised the bar for the other contestants. Simon thought he sang it well, but looked a little corny.


I like Lee's bluesy style and I think he does have a chance at moving on into the finale this year. I was surprised to hear Ellen say that the Lee she loved was finally back. I never thought he left. I have always liked his tone and know from previous seasons that contestants warm up and become more comfortable with each performance. Maybe Ellen meant that he was easing into it now.


I give Lee an A for his performance and for his stage presence as well.


Paige Miles sang Against All Odds, and I knew immediately that she was in trouble. I like her voice and the tone of her voice, but that song was too big for her. She seemed petrified, did not hit any note right, and I think she will be in the bottom 3 tonight.


Randy even said it was terrible, and he does not say that often. Kara thought it was the worst vocal of the season. I do not know about the worst, but one of the worst, certainly.


I give Paige a D for her performance. It was terrible as Randy said. I did not give her an E because the girl does have a voice.


Tim Urban sung a song that American Idol contestants have sung many times, Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Simon thinks the song is pointless and silly, put I do not think anything recorded by Freddie Mercury was silly because I think he was extremely talented and no one else will ever be like him.


Tim has a decent-enough voice, but I think he is trying too hard to please the judges. Given the opinions of the judges on Tim in previous shows, I do not think he could do much to get them to like him more. Ellen and Kara both said they thought Tim performed like a kid in a musical like Hairspray or High School Musical. Oddly, the director of the feature film, Hairspray, Adam Shankman, was in the audience last night. He also produces and choreographs numbers in Broadway shows, as well as judging dancers on So You Think You Can Dance. I think the judges' comments might have had to do with the competition that show gives them. Either that or they were just being ignorant.


I gave Tim a C for his performance. It was enough to get the young girls' votes. If I were young again, I would vote for him.


Aaron Kelly had laryngitis and tonsillitis last night, and yet managed to see I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing, without missing a note. They sing this song a lot on American Idol as well. He does sound older than his 16 years and I think that it is a good thing. All the judges liked his performance, even though Simon thought it sounded old-fashion. However, he admitted that Aaron is a trooper for performing while he was ill.


I gave Aaron an A for his performance and an A+ for doing so well under the circumstances.


Crystal Bowersox, in my opinion, has this competition in the bag. Then again, I never thought voters would eliminate Lilly before at least six other contestants this season, so we know that no one is immune.


She sang Janis Joplin's Bobby McGee and she was flawless as usual. She is different from the other females in previous seasons who tried to sing Janis Joplin songs. Crystal is the only one who can pull it off and make it look and sound great.


Ellen and Kara unnecessarily pointed out something about Crystal's personality and stage presence lacking somehow, but Simon thankfully told Crystal she did not need to change a thing. I wholeheartedly agreed with Simon and Randy, who said she was a star. She is already in this competition.


I give Crystal an A+ and I would buy her version of Bobby McGee is she released it as a single.


Michael Lynche performed When a Man Loves a Woman and I thought he sang it well and did a good job of securing his place in this competition. The judges keep saying that contestants need to have what they call their 'moment'. The problem with having a 'moment' is that contestants cannot live up to that moment without trying extra hard. Michael's performance of This Woman's World was a moment in Idol history and even though he may not repeat that this season, he is a great performer and has a velvet voice like season two winner, Ruben Studdard.


The judges' gave Michael mixed reviews', saying it was a safe choice and boring, and that it was almost too much. Neither of these critiques made any sense to me.


I give Michael an A for his performance last night.


Andrew Garcia really needs to go home. I thought he should have gone home weeks ago, but voters thought otherwise. A big fan of everything Motown, I found it hard to sit through his performance of I Heard it through the Grapevine. I thought it sounded like a techno-version of the song and that Andrew looked like a robot. He definitely did not have the soul or rhythm associated with most Motown tunes, and his vocals were not even as good as they were in recent performances, which were not great anyway.


Simon said he sucked the soul of the song and he was right. Randy said it was not good, and I do not think the fans will be as sympathetic this week as they have been.


I gave Andrew a D- and only that high because I love the song by the original artist Marvin Gaye and the remake by the Temptations. Andrew sucked the soul, and life out of the song.


Katie Stevens seems to be more of a favorite of the judges than she has previously been. I thought the song she did, Big Girls Don't Cry, by Fergie, was a little boring, but sung well. When she tried to reach a few high notes, it sounded whiny to me.


Randy thought so, too, saying it was sharp and pitchy in spots. Simon thought Katie was still trying to figure out what kind of singer she should be. I thought, for her age especially, she did a good job with the performance. Ellen thought it was Katie's best. I gave Katie a B for her performance.


Casey James did one of my favorites, The Power of Love by Huey Leeis. I thought he sounded okay but nothing compared to the original soulful sound of the song. I also thought he did something a little weird, trailing off with his voice, at the end of every sentence in the song.


I did not think it was the best vocal of his as Randy and Ellen thought. I agreed more with Simon saying that Casey did not show any effort or originality with his performance. I am not a big fan of his, unfortunately.


I gave Casey a C for his performance, but compared to Huey's version, he did not get a passing grade.


Didi Benami started out as one of my favorites this season. Combined with the awful rendition of Linda Ronstadt's You're No Good, with the smart aleck backtalk she gave the judges, that is no longer the case. I do think she has a unique sound to her voice, but she totally wrecked the song last night. Linda Ronstadt, while not one of my favorites, has a powerful voice that can reach without sounding like screaming.


Didi sounded pitchy everywhere in the song and almost sounded gurgled at times for me. I knew Simon would not be able to resist making the correlation between the You're No Good title to her performance, but Ellen beat him to it by saying Didi is good. She is good but was 'no good' last night. She was, as Kara mentioned, trying to be something she is not and was not pulling it off.


I give Didi a D for her performance. I hope the viewers save her from elimination, but I also hope she curbs her backtalk to the judges, something I am not a fan of, and never have been.


Siobhan Magnus did Stevie Wonder's Superstition and I liked it except for the parts she screamed. She has a good strong voice but she overdid the loud stuff somewhat. She is confident and should be as she has the chops, but she should avoid songs that force her to scream. She did not need to do it with Aretha's Franklin's Think, and does not need to do it all. The judges all liked how comfortable she seemed but Simon said she should scream at the beginning of songs and tone down at the end. I do not want screaming at all, which is another thing I am not fond of, as far as singing goes.


For me, it was not a very good night and there were only a few standout performances, one was Crystal and the other was Aaron. Crystal, for me, stands out every week from the rest. Aaron did a fantastic job even though his voice was not up to par, because he was sick. The absolute three worst of the night for me, were Didi, Andrew (as he has been every week), and Paige. The rest were just 'aw right', as Randy says.


I think it will be these three in the bottom tonight, with Paige going home only because Andrew must have a strong fan base to stay as long as he has.


What did you think?