Top 9 - The Fab Two

Another theme week has been resurrected: Lennon-McCartney Night, as previously seen in the Top 11 of Season 7! Hey, Lacey Brown is in the audience! Too bad she wasn't here tonight to sing a boring version of "In My Life" or something.

Just in case you've never heard of them, there's a special video package telling us ignorant Americans who Lennon and McCartney were and why they were so great. And hey, there's an extra special treat at the end! Paul McCartney's corpse sends his best wishes to the remaining contestants!

Tonight's pre-performance video clip theme is "how do the contestants describe each other?" How juicy!

First up is Aaron Kelly, whose fellow competitors call him "Yoda." I guess you had to be there. His song choice is "The Long and Winding Road," previously done by David Archuleta, this show's last teenage heartthrob. He doesn't sing it any better than usual, and his voice is getting more annoying to me each week. He's reaching that Jason Castro zone where I basically have nothing to say about him anymore since he never really does anything new. Could this be the week America gets bored of him? The judges all want to see more from him, and Kara even says the same thing I do: that it feels like the same thing every week. Darn you, Kara. Aaron tells us he's got a more uptempo song picked out for next week if America votes for him. Why America's voted for him thus far I'm still not sure, so don't ask me what his odds of being back are.

Katie Stevens apparently does a "Single Ladies" dance. For some reason not as many Idols are shown commenting on Katie as there were for Aaron. Hmmmm, is she not as popular with the gang? Her song is "Let it Be." Oh boy, another song we've all heard too many times. It's never been one of my favorite Beatles tunes. This isn't the most exciting performance, but the vocals are solid, and she manages to change up the melody a bit to make it her own. Well, I'll give her credit, it's probably one of her better nights. The judges love it and say it was her best performance yet. That's a defensible position, though I remember being happier with "Wild Horses."

Andrew Garcia is supposedly the goofiest person of the remaining contestants. The only problem is that he shouldn't actually be one of the remaining contestants. Tonight he's taking on "Can't Buy Me Love" with a "cool twist." It's to the platform behind the judges for Ol' Necktat! The "cool twist" seems to be a bit of funkiness. The vocals aren't as good as you'd hope they'd be, and he doesn't seem very connected. There's nothing special to see here, kids. It's merely competent, not something worth noticing. The judges give it lukewarm reviews, and say it was a little corny. Yeah, I can see that.

Apparently Michael Lynche does a high-pitched "Heyyy!" every time he enters a room. Tonight he's doing "Eleanor Rigby" because his family used to perform it when he was a kid. Great. Another Beatles song that's never been one of my favorites. He has the string section onstage with him, and the vocals are...well, about the same quality as we've come to expect from Michael: generic and just OK. It's a little too melodramatic for my liking. Ah, whatever. This hovers somewhere around average for me. The first three judges think it was incredible and relevant to today's music scene, while Simon compares it to a musical. Hey! A perfect opportunity to plug Glee, which airs next week on FOX! Right, Randy? I think I'm siding with Simon on this one.

The other Idols love Crystal Bowersox because she's true to herself. Okey-doke. She tells us she picked "Come Together" because it's a "fun groove." The version she's doing includes a didgeridoo, even! Well that's...clever? Am I just in a bad mood, or is this Crystal's weakest performance yet? I mean, it's still better than most of the stuff we've seen so far tonight, but Crystal's set the bar for herself much higher than this. She told us she has a cold before the performance, and it shows at times. She also seems to forget the lyrics at one point, though she does her best to cover it. The judges agree it wasn't her best, but still seem to think she was out-of-this-world incredible. Come on guys. Tone it down. Crystal even introduces Ernie the didgeridoo player and lets him stand onstage with her while the judges are talking to her. That's actually kind of cool, giving a backup musician props. She also can't seem to stop laughing when Ryan talks to her afterward. Crystal often comes across as really serious and perhaps too cool for the show itself, so it's good to see this side of her.

What to say about Tim Urban? Well, everyone loves his smile and his positivity! Hey, so do we the home viewers! He's playing the electric guitar tonight for "All My Loving," a song I considered for my audition last summer. Just think, this could've been me performing here right now! Sorry, back on track. Tim uses an arrangement I've never heard before, so I have no idea if it's his or something he got from somewhere else. I actually like it. In recent years I've come to realize that most of my favorite music could be lumped into the loosely-defined genre of "power pop." This arrangement is very power-poppish. There are a few shaky notes, which is to be expected, as Tim is the least technically-competent singer remaining, but overall the performance is a lot of fun. Hey, what's that my foot's doing? Oh, it's moving to beat! The performance may lose some points for the less-than-stellar vocals, but I'd be more likely to buy this song than anything else I've heard tonight. The judges like him and think it was one of his better performances. Go Tim! Let's get this guy into the Top 8!

Casey James' fellow competitors come up with soap opera names for him and all note his boisterous laugh. Unlike the others, he's doing a John Lennon solo number, "Jealous Guy." I'd wondered if solo tunes were in play. After all, the theme is Lennon-McCartney, not Beatles. The entire backing is just a cello and Casey's acoustic guitar, and I love the way it all comes together. Casey's vocals, while still goaty, have a real connection to them, and he doesn't seem awkward singing for a change. This is definitely the best of the night. The judges are all very positive, though they don't seem to love it as much as I did. Simon at least agrees it was the best of the night. Thanks Simon! I'd rather be agreeing with you than Kara!

The other Idols know Siobhan Magnus is weird, and they wouldn't have her any other way! Her song is "Across the Universe," yet another Beatles song that's never been a favorite of mine. This here's a slow one, and there's no screechy glory note to mess things up. The majority of it is decently-sung, though there are some parts where her voice seems a little too soft. Once again we're in competent-but-not-great territory. At this point in the episode I'm trying not to fall asleep. I really can't wait for the episodes to get shorter. The judges still love her, though they think the whole thing was a little boring. Simon asks how she made a connection to that song, and Siobhan says her baby sisters are her whole life and it's about how she'll never stop being who she is, hence the "nothing's gonna change my world" line. Eh, whatever. I'm over Siobhan at this point.

Lee DeWyze gets his second pimp spot of the season, and we find out that he worries a lot. I'm the same way. I guess it's an Illinois thing. We also learn he's best friends with Andrew, and Crystal thinks they'll get married and have a bunch of "Danny Gokey babies." Uh, what? That's got to be some sort of inside joke between them all. He's doing a Beatles song that's never been done on this show before (one of only three tonight), "Hey Jude." Well, it sounds like it has potential. In reality, it's kind of weird. His vocals aren't as spot-on as they were last week, and since we're pressed for time he has to cut out a bunch of important stuff. Part of what makes the original so great is the way it keeps building up emotionally, and skipping to the "na na na na" part after one verse just doesn't work. Then, just when you think you've seen it all, a guy in a kilt playing the bagpipes walks down the stairs behind him. This is a total double-u tee eff performance. What just happened here? I'm not even sure how I can properly rate this. I like that it wasn't a trainwreck, and I'm certainly glad it wasn't as boring as a lot of what we've seen tonight. I'm just...confused. The judges like him, but Simon thinks the bagpipe player derailed the performance a bit. Once again Simon, you and I are on the same page.

My performance ranking:

Casey (9/10)
Tim (6.1/10)
Katie (6/10)
Crystal (5.5/10)
Lee (5/10) (I guess all things considered this is what I have to give it)
Michael (4.9/10)
Andrew (4.5/10)
Siobhan (4.4/10)
Aaron (2.5/10)

Predictions:

Bottom 3: Aaron, Tim, Andrew
Going home: Aaron

Here's my thinking: Tim was good but seems to have a permanent spot in that Bottom 3. Andrew's inconsistency and going early might hurt him, or at least I can hope. Aaron went first and has been stagnating for...well, a long time now. He's become so unmemorable that it'll finally be the end of the line for him.

As long as my boy Tim is safe, I'm more or less fine with whatever happens tomorrow. Let's get rid of some boring people!