American Idol Winners and Losers for Idol Gives Back Week

This week on American Idol is all about giving back. Unfortunately, we’d like to give back quite a few of the performances we had to endure on Monday night’s show. Crystal Bowersox may have moved the audience – and herself – to tears, but overall the contestants failed to capture the ‘inspirational’ theme of the evening.

Crystal Bowerox on 'American Idol' (FOX)
Crystal Bowerox on 'American Idol' (FOX)

Lee DeWyze, who we normally don’t really care for, actually did a decent job last night with Simon and Garfunkel‘s “The Boxer.” While we still don’t think he’s all that special, we have to put him on the winner side of the American Idol performances this week.

Siobhan Magnus used to occasionally make us feel happy and whimsical when she sang, but now we’re just tired of her never quite reaching the potential she seemed to have at first. Her song choice, “When You Believe,” was too big for her and fell a bit flat. “It’s a shame,” as Simon Cowell said of her performance. She was definitely not one of our favorites of the evening.

Every now and then Casey James rises slightly above mediocrity, but last night wasn’t one of those occasions. His take on Fleetwood Mac‘s “Don’t Stop” was boring and pitchy. Ellen DeGeneres said it “wasn’t great” but we go a bit further and say it was “suckage.”

The guy we love to hate, Tim Urban, was back to his old tricks this week. In other words, he was crap. His version of “Better Days” by the Goo Goo Dolls made us long for it to be any other day but Monday so we wouldn’t have to him butcher a good song.

We detest Aaron Kelly because of his generic cuteness and inability to even marginally appear like he belongs on a stage. Still, his performance of “I Believe I Can Fly” wasn’t the worst thing ever. It wasn’t that great either. We’re predicting either Kelly or Siobhan Magnus getting the boot this week.

Michael Lynche, who admittedly is kind of getting to be a bit of a ‘one-note’ guy, still managed to entertain us nicely with his take on “Hero.” Big Mike has a great voice, but somewhere along the line he seems to have lost some of his spark. We do hope he can find it again long enough to make the final three.

Lastly, Crystal Bowersox – aka Mama Sox – schooled the rest of the competitors into the ground with her instrument-free rendition of “People Get Ready.” She may have ended up crying through the last bit because her dad was in the audience, but we forgive her for the minor breakdown. Even with the weepy ending, Bowersox gave one of the best performances of the season – if not the entire American Idol series.

 

Our American Idol predications for the week? Aaron Kelly, Siobhan Magnus and Tim Urban for the bottom three. While we hope it will finally be Tim Urban’s time to go, we’re thinking it may be Kelly or Magnus who gets voted off this time around. It doesn’t really matter who gets cut at this point anyway. If Bowersox doesn’t already have it in the bag, we just don’t know what the hell is wrong with the American Idol voters out there.

>> Previously:  Crystal Bowersox: People Get Ready for an American Idol Winner

Crystal Bowersox: People Get Ready for an American Idol Winner

After last night’s American Idol performances to kick off Idol Gives Back week, we’re no longer rooting for Crystal Bowersox to win, we’re demanding it. Mama Sox may have lost it and broke down in tears at the end of her rendition of “People Get Ready,” but she also gave one of the best vocal performances we’ve ever seen on the show.

Crystal Bowerox on 'American Idol' (FOX)
Crystal Bowerox on 'American Idol' (FOX)

Crystal Bowersox started off last night sweet and simple on American Idol, belting out an a capella first verse of “People Get Ready” to a room of near absolute silence. Bowersox had no instrument last night except her voice, but she didn’t need one. She soared through the inspirational song like some kind of earthbound angel reaching for the heavens. Then, right as she was going for that big, final blowout, Bowersox wavered and broke down in tears.

Far from ruining the performance, Bowersox’s emotional release on stage was cathartic and moving. Bowersox blamed her tears on having her father in the audience, but it’s obvious she has struggled through American Idol this season emotionally. Yet, she keeps taking to the stage, week after week, giving amazing performances far above the level of most of the other contestants.

For those out there who are – believe it or not – saying Bowersox’s tears were faked to garner sympathy from American Idol voters, we say shame on you. It should be obvious at this point that Crystal Bowersox has no need to win American Idol. Even if she was voted off this instant or really did decide to quit the show, she’d most certainly have more record deals and piles of cash thrown at her feet than she could handle.

If Crystal Bowersox doesn’t end up winning American Idol this season, we firmly believe that either the show is totally rigged – or the American public is tone deaf and wouldn’t know real, honest-to-god talent if it slapped them in the face.

>> Previously:  Did Crystal Bowersox Almost Quit American Idol?