Top 5 - Let Us Be Frank

Tonight Harry Connick Jr. mentors the Idols on the songs of Frank Sinatra. After all, what would a season of Idol be without meeting its "standards" quota? Harry C's not content with just giving them some vague advice about performance though, no sir. He's going to be helping them arrange their songs and playing the piano with their performances. You gotta love that type of commitment. After all, Harry Connick Jr.'s a big star! What does he need with this rinky-dink show?

Since there are six segments to tonight's hour-long show, they spend the entire first segment pimping Harry and talking about the greatness of Frank Sinatra, which everyone who's ever heard him pretty much knows already. Then in the second segment they spend time talking to Sinatra's daughters in the audience. Just get to the singing, already!

After we finally get done with all the chit-chat, Aaron Kelly leads us off with "Fly Me to the Moon." Wow. I have to say, I'm more impressed than usual with Aaron tonight. His confidence seems to be growing, and his vocals are spot-on for the most part. This was probably the most I've ever enjoyed one of his performances. The judges like it, though Kara thinks last week was better and Simon thinks Aaron pales in comparison to Sinatra. For crying out loud, Simon. He's a kid. How many kids can compare to Old Blue Eyes?

Next up is Casey James with "Blue Skies." Wow again, but this time not the good kind. This is awful. He told Harry in the intro clip that he's trying to be bluesy no matter what, and this big band arrangement does him no favors. His goatiness is all over the place, his pitch is off, and he doesn't feel connected at all. This may actually be the worst performance of the season (remember, I'm the one guy who thought Paige Miles' "Against All Odds" was merely mediocre, not execrable). The judges all agree it was the worst they've heard from him, and Kara even notices his goat vibrato for the first time. At last! We have confirmation that Kara doesn't pay attention!

Crystal Bowersox chose "Summer Wind" because she has some personal connection she doesn't want to divulge. The first half of this is slow and low, which makes it kind of boring. Later on there's a loud part that gives her the chance to show some range, but it feels like too little too late. Overall, it was OK. I'm not really blown away by it though. The judges are generally positive, but Randy and Simon both think it was a little boring. Have the seeds of her eventual shocking elimination been planted?

This night is taking forever. We still have two performances to go and it feels like I've been watching this for hours. Who's next? Oh, it's Michael Lynche with "The Way You Look Tonight"! One of my favorites. The performance is solid too. I like the bassline, which adds a foot-tapping quality to it. My only gripe is that I'm not a big fan of Michael's voice here. He hits all the notes, but I'm starting to find his tone a little annoying. I feel like a bad person for saying it, since he can't help the way his voice sounds, but it is what it is. Randy loves the performance so much that he shouts about how great it was, and the other judges slather it with praise too. Ah, whatever. Either I'm missing something, or the panel is depserate to inject some excitment into this show. Let's wrap this sucker up so we can watch LOST.

Lee DeWyze hopes to improve upon his last pimp spot performance, the eminently weird "Hey Jude." This time it's "That's Life." The opening is organ-based, which seems a neat twist, and Lee is actually in key this time. There's a tad bit of disconnect in his vocals, but overall I enjoy the performance. Sometimes the song itself can be enough to carry a so-so singer. The judges start talking about Lee as a potential winner, and Simon even calls him the best of the night by far. Huh?? It was good, but not that good. It's just like the "moment" he supposedly had two weeks ago. What was that all about? They're blatantly trying to get him into that finale.

Since LOST starts soon, I flip over to ABC when they start rolling the phone numbers. Someone just got eliminated on Dancing With the Stars, and wouldn't you know it? "That's Life" is the song they're playing for the final dance-out! Weeeeeeeird.

My performance ranking:

Aaron (7/10)
Lee (6.5/10)
Michael (6/10)
Crystal (5/10)
Casey (1/10)

Who'd have thought I'd find Aaron to be the best of the night?

Predictions:

Bottom 2: Casey, Michael
Going home: Michael

If Casey has a strong fanbase, they're going to vote a little harder this week to save him, especially after he was in the Bottom 3 last week. Though Lee wasn't that much better than Michael, the judges praised Lee much harder, effectively stealing Michael's thunder. Since Michael's fairly boring, I think he may get overlooked by the power-dialers and head home. Then again, what do I ever know?

See you tomorrow!