Top 10 - Soul to Suck

Our teaser features a look backstage. Huh. It's kind of dull back there. Anyways, it's R&B/Soul Night, with guest mentor Usher! He may be style over substance, but at least he knows how to entertain! Ryan asks the crowd to shout out the name of the contestant they love most, and I could swear it mostly sounds like "Tim!" I certainly hope that wasn't my imagination!

First up is Siobhan Magnus, who's been a fan of Usher since she was six. Wow. I hadn't thought about it, but Usher's been around a long time. And he's only 31! Her song is Chaka Khan's "Through the Fire." I like groove of the song, the vocals I'm not as crazy about. The high notes go into off-key nasal Syesha Mercado territory several times. I'm not feeling it. She does her shrieky glory notes as usual, and by now I think it's permissible to be bored with Siobhan's act. The judges still love her whole package, and give her a pass for having an off week. Simon says she sounded like she was running out of breath and adds that he's tired of her screaming. Thank you, Simon! By the way, anyone else think she's starting to look like Adam Lambert in addition to sounding like him?

Up next is Casey James with Sam & Dave's "Hold On, I'm Coming." Cool song choice. One of my favorites. Let's see if he can live up to the promise of that song choice on the stage. Well, he's still goaty, and he still doesn't display much range, but so help me, I really like this performance. Being able to do a longer version that includes both verses and a guitar solo allows the performance to feel more complete than a snipped-up version would. Not the best vocal, but I liked it overall. The male judges think it was great, the female judges like it but think it was a little safe. Kara thinks he has more range he's not showing. What she's basing that on, I have no clue.

Michael Lynche chooses India.Arie's "Ready For Love," a slow song where he accompanies himself with a guitar while sitting on the platform behind the judges. His vocals sound stronger than usual, and this slow thing cool, I guess. My only complaint is that it's a little boring. It might hold my interest once through, but I doubt it has much rewatchability. The judges like it more than I did, and seem to think it was a "moment." Oh well. Maybe I'm just feeling a little curmudgeonly tonight.

My progressively shakier pick to win, Didi Benami is up with Jimmy Ruffin's "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted." Oh boy. What an odd song choice. I think she may be knocked off the top of my power rankings this week unless she really delivers here. Usher wants her to show more emotion while singing the song, not after she's done. Good advice. She really tapped into a different dimension last week. How does she do? Well, it's better than Kai Kalama's version, that's for sure. Does anyone else even remember him? She makes the song her own, and doesn't recycle the Motown arrangement. While competent, there seems to be something missing that'd blow me away. The judges all agree it didn't work, saying she's not showing who she is as an artist. Simon says she's not contemporary. I say it was just forgettable. There's some weird drama afterward with Ryan, where he tries to coax personal information out of her. Apparently she auditioned because of a specific person and doesn't want to talk about it. Ryan seems to be noticeably more more obnoxious than usual tonight. If I had less of a life than I already do I'd list other examples.

The Underdog, Tim Urban chooses Anita Baker's "Sweet Love." Oh boy, another slow song. When did soul music become so soporific? I think I've pinpointed one problem with Tim. He doesn't look natural when singing. His movements seem too forced. My TV reception gets choppy in the middle, and I miss a few seconds. Stupid antenna! Of the vast majority that I hear though, it's not terrible. I'd even call it one of his better performances. He's staying in tune, though his voice isn't particularly powerful. Randy, in a rare moment of perspicacity, points out a big problem with Tim: he has no vibrato. Bingo! Without vibrato his voice sounds textureless. That's why Tim's strong points are acoustic folk and reggae versions of Rolling Stones songs. The judges overall aren't happy with it. Simon says he doesn't think it makes any difference what they say, that Tim will be smiling and back next week. Don't jinx him, Cowell!

Ol' Necktat Andrew Garcia chooses Chris Brown's "Forever" (AKA that dumb YouTube wedding procession song). How appropriate. He has a voice made for autotune. He changes it up and does an acoustic guitar version with a more organic backing. As much as it pains me to say it, this is actually really good. Andrew manages to stay on key and show some connection for a change. I guess we're stuck looking as this guy for another week. The judges love it, of course, and Kara says if he can have another good performance next week he's back in the competition. Boy, I hope this was just a dead cat bounce.

Adorable little Katie Stevens decides to take on the Queen of Soul herself, Aretha Franklin, with "Chain of Fools." Uh-oh. This will not be good. Katie struts defiantly around stage like the teenager attempting to play a part that she is, and her pitch leaves something to be desired several times. She just doesn't have the authenticity to pull this off. It probably wasn't the best song choice. The judges all think the vocals were great. Well sure, she showed that she has a good voice, but they weren't any better than they normally are. Her ability to hit those big notes was never in question. Simon thinks it was robotic, which I'd agree with. Katie seems like a nice girl. I just wish she weren't so dang generic.

Lee DeWyze makes one of the coolest song choices of the night with Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose's "Treat Her Like a Lady." His version is a reworking that makes it into a rocker and doesn't limit the guitar to a loopy riff. The vocals are a tad hesitant at first during the slow opening, but when the music picks up he "slays it" (to borrow a line from Randy) vocally. Good to see he's finally learned the secret of staying on pitch and being totally connected, making him the best of the night so far. Thanks for knocking Necktat off the top, Lee! The judges shower him with praise, as well they should. Illinois, baby!

Crystal Bowersox isn't playing guitar this week. Nope, she's playing the piano! For the first time in years, apparently. Her song? Gladys Knight & The Pips' "Midnight Train to Georgia." So that's the big surprise she had (and something about her shoes, apparently)! While it opens with just Crystal and the piano, she has the three backup singers next to her to sing The Pips' parts, which strikes me as a little odd. After the music picks up she abandons the piano and we see for the first time how she looks performing without playing an instrument. What else to say? As usual, Crystal nails it vocally and gives a good overall performance. She's a total pro at this. I wouldn't say it was one of her best, but it's enjoyable, and she's clearly the class of the women tonight. The judges all like it, though I might agree with Simon's suggestion that the backup singers should've been dropped.

Finally, the pimp spot goes to Aaron Kelly, singing Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine." Come on, just a year after Kris Allen did the ultimate Idol version? Honestly, this may be Aaron's weakest performance. His voice is too quiet, and his pitch ain't all that good neither. Of course, as usual, he sounds cracky on the sustained notes. Throw in the fact that we've all heard this song a million times and you get a performance that I can't bring myself to care about. That was not pimp spot-worthy. The judges' comments are mostly lukewarm, since Tim's their whipping boy for now and they all love Aaron personally. Whatever. I'm running out of things to say about Aaron since he's so boring.

My performance ranking:

Lee (9/10)
Andrew (7.5/10)
Casey (7/10)
Crystal (6.9/10)
Michael (5.5/10)
Didi (5/10)
Tim (4.6/10)
Siobhan (4.5/10)
Katie (2.1/10)
Aaron (2/10)

Predictions:

Bottom 3: Tim, Didi, Siobhan
Going home: Tim

I know Simon said he'd be back next week, and I certainly hope he is, as he's the only real underdog left, but it seems like it's just Tim's time to go. With any luck, Andrew's fans who've kept him in this thing longer than he deserved will take it easy, assuming he's safe and Ol' Necktat will end up going home instead. See you tomorrow!