Idol Chatter & Voice Views

There sure were some strange song choices during Elvis Presley week on American Idol.

Crystal Bowersox sings “Saved.” Speaking of saved, Michael Lynche shows his sensitive side again with “In the Ghetto.”

Katie Stevens belts out “Baby, What You Want Me To Do.” Casey James lays down guitar licks to “Lawdy, Miss Claudy.”

I don’t know about you, but if someone asked me to name the 25 most popular Elvis Presley songs, those would be nowhere near the top of my list.

“Heartbreak Hotel.” “Jailhouse Rock.” “Viva, Las Vegas.” “All Shook Up.” “Don’t Be Cruel.” Now those are Elvis classics.

Of course, it made little difference for MamaSox, who owns anything she sings. And Katie Stevens turned in one of her best peformances of the finals.

But Michael Lynche and Casey James weren’t nearly as impressive as I thought they might be, given the theme and the right song choice.

Still, Tuesday was a pretty decent performance night for Idol. No one graded less than a C- on my song-by-song grades, and only two performers landed below a B-, which is a rather rare feat.

If you missed any of Tuesday’s coverage, here’s the link to the song-by-song blog, here’s the link to the performance night recap and here’s the link to the photo gallery.

There’s likely lots of tension among the Idols tonight because it’s double elimination time, and the safety net known as the judges’ save has disappeared.

There are also a couple of musical treats coming our way. (And, no, I’m not counting the Idol group number.)

Adam Lambert will perform his latest single, “Whataya Want From Me.” And one of my all-time favorite Idol contestants, Brooke White, returns to the Idol stage. She’ll be doing a duet of “If I Can Dream” with Justin Gaston.

If you’re not familiar with Justin, he was a contestant on Nashville Star in 2008, appeared in Taylor Swift’s video for “Love Story” and is a cast member of the web-based show “If I Can Dream,” which follows youngsters trying to make it in the entertainment business.

The current cast includes at least one familiar face for Idol fans, Alex Lambert, from this season’s semifinals.

Yep, there are some more Elvis classics the Idols skipped over last night. “Teddy Bear” would have been a perfect song for Aaron Kelly. A whole lot better fit than “Hound Dog.”

Now, for some results …

Ryan is asking Casey James, Aaron Kelly and Andrew Garcia to visit center stage.

And, at last, Andrew Garcia is leaving American Idol. But Aaron and Casey are safe. So one of my two predictions was wrong. Bet Katie Stevens and Michael Lynche just got a lot more nervous.

And Andrew is giving us another taste of the slightly off-key singing that spelled his doom on Idol this season.

Performers for Idol Gives Back will include Carrie Underwood, Elton John and the Black-Eyed Peas, Ryan just announced.

So great to see Brooke White back on the Idol stage. Love her voice. If you haven’t heard her “High Hopes and Heartbreak” album, do yourself a favor and check it out.

It made my list of best Idol albums of 2009, and two of the songs from it were among my picks for top 10 Idol songs from last year. (Go here for Idol 2009 in review.)

And if I heard right, that song is available as a free download on iTunes. Shame it wasn’t a Brooke solo. I’m not a big fan of Justin. I saw him on Nashville Star (largely because Jewel was a judge.) Let’s just say he finished 10th.

Time for more results. All the other contestants have been summoned center stage with Ryan.

Crystal Bowersox is safe.

Siobhan Magnus is safe.

Lee DeWyze is safe.

Inspirational songs will be next week’s theme. Again, a broad enough range that every one of these contestants should be able to find something that fits his or her voice.

Now it’s Adam Lambert time on American Idol. He’ll be singing “Whataya Want From Me.” I predict great vocals and none of those AMA style antics. Lesson learned, right Adam?

By the way, how would you grade Adam’s performance as a mentor. Let me know below. I gave him a B+.

Just like most of his performances last year, he gets an A, maybe even an A+, for vocals.

And now it’s time to find out who else gets eliminated tonight.

Tim Urban is safe. No surprise there.

And Katie Stevens is heading home. Idol lost another female in a competition that’s particularly cruel to female performers.