Idol Chatter & Voice Views

So, it sounds like some of the Idols got shaken today, and it had nothing to do with a case of nerves.

In case you didn’t hear, a 4.4 magnitude earthquake hit Los Angeles this morning.

“I felt my first earthquake early this morning!” Casey James Twitter tweeted. “Crazy! They don’t have those in Texas!”

Here, there are some Rolling Stones songs that could fit the occasion. Let’s see, “19th Nervous Breakdown,” “Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’,” “Shattered.” Definitely: “Gimme Shelter.”

Actually, I hear someone will be singing that tonight, if you can trust the spoiler sites.

Meanwhile, a couple of the Idols are apparently under the weather. Didi Benami tweets that she’s not feeling the best. Earlier today, Paige Miles wrote that she had “no voice at all.”

Well, it’s been looking like wild horses couldn’t drag her out of this competition. Maybe a case of laryngitis will provide some emotional rescue from her off-key singing.

I know. That was uncalled for.

Anyway, time for some song-by-song grades.

And I hear we’re in for a treat tomorrow night. David Cook returns to sing “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” on the Idols results show.

If you missed my latest ranking of the Idols, check them out here. Hint: Paige isn’t number one.

Kicking off tonight’s show …

Michael Lynche: He’ll sing “Miss You.” Smart of Idol, kicking things off with Michael. Pretty much guaranteed a solid show opening performance. And he’s delivering, pouring some smooth R&B into the Stones tune. And he certainly looks comfortable on an Idol stage that has intimidated lots of performers over the years. And Big Mike gets rave reviews from everyone but Simon, who called parts of the performance “desperate.” Certainly a performance that will keep him in this competition another week, even if he was singing in the number one hole. Grade: B

Didi Benami: Hey, I saw a new interview where Didi swears she’ll keep the tears under control. Or at least pledged to try. Tonight, she tries “Play With Fire.” A song with attitude. Nice choice. Certainly shouldn’t provoke tears. Hey, she stumbled once … or at least I thought I heard her stumble, but that was her best vocal since “Terrified.” Like what Kara said about the combination of Didi’s sweet voice and the darker lyrics. Dang, Didi might be better than I thought. Grade: B- (and only that low because of the stumbles)

Casey James: Singing “It’s All Over Now.” Knew he wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to turn up the volume. Oh, well, this season has been saddled with too much slow and boring. And, look, Casey has traded his baby blue guitar for a metalic green guitar. Hey, he had lots of fun with that song. This show is shaping up better than I thought — three good performances in a row. Good point, Kara. That performance seemed so much more genuine than his performance a couple of weeks ago. Great reviews from three judges; Simon says it lacked the big stage spark. Telling you, this guy has a really good voice to go with those Eye Candy looks. Grade: B

Lacey Brown: Lucky Lacey — because she should have been eliminated by now — chooses the Stones’ “Ruby Tuesday.” She better turn up the volume on this, because it’s coming off as a very sleepy performance compared to the first three. OK, she picked up the volume and tempo near the end, which she really needed to do, then went off key. That’s not going to compare well to the first three efforts of the night. Simon makes a good point: Lacey needs to cut loose on stage … if she’s back next week. It’s been one low-key performance after the other for the gal from Amarillo. Grade: C-

Andrew Garcia: Hey, if ever there was an Idol contestant in need of a stellar performance to regain his former frontrunner status, it’s Andrew. Gee, his dad cries almost as much as Didi. Singing “Gimme Shelter.” That stellar performance? We aren’t getting it. And those big notes at the end are not going to make up for a performance that paled so poorly compared to the original. Wow, talk about sucking the life out the song. That might be Andrew’s worst performance yet. Grade: D.

Katie Stevens: The teen will be singing “Wild Horses.” Hey, someone had to. Love that video of young Katie singing at a wedding at age 8. Absolutely adorable, huh? OK, this is starting out pretty sleepy, too. The difference between this and Lacey’s performance, Katie dialed it up a notch about 30 seconds in. Not sure I loved that arrangement of the song. More what you’d see at a teen pageant from a former teen pageant performer than the gritty performance you’d see at a Stones show. But that should earn Katie another week. I find myself rooting for young Katie. Grade: C.

Tim Urban: The last-minute semifinal replacement has made it all the way to the finals. He’ll sing “Under My Thumb.” Talk about grinding all the grit out a Stones tune. Very strange. He decided to take the Stones to the beach and turn it into a reggae version. Told you it would be interesting when the 20-year-old who has never touched alcohol tackled the Stones. Unfortunately, the judges weren’t very entertained. Neither was I. Grade: D-

Siobhan Magnus: The show has hit a little bump. Who better to bring us out of the bump than Siobhan, singing “Paint It Black?” Hey, look at the hair. That’s a long way from a mohawk. Great look, Siobhan. Well, she brought us out of the slump. Not sure that was a brilliant vocal. But you can tell she has real sense of what she’s doing on stage. And there’s the Siobhan scream I guess we should come to expect since it went over so well two weeks ago. Whoa. She’s gonna double our pleasure with two screams at the end. The judges, predictably, loved it. Well, consider the four performances it followed. Best performance of the night. But not the best vocal, which is what this is about. Grade: B-

Lee DeWyze: Hey, Lee is my favorite among the guys. He’ll be singing “Beast of Burden.” Wonder if he can match Michael and Casey. I really like the tone of Lee’s voice. Just wish he would have picked a song he could have done more with. That said, he made the most of the song he selected. Simon’s critique is absolutely on the mark: He picked a safe song. And he has the talent to outsing anyone in this competition, Crystal Bowersox included. Grade: B-

Paige Miles: Wonder how the laryngitis is doing? We’re about to find out. Paige will be singing “Honky Tonk Woman.” It’s a song that requires a big voice. Hey, give Paige this, she isn’t holding anything back. In fact, I think she should get sick more often. Dang. That’s the best I’ve heard her sing all season. And most of the song was on key. Despite all I’ve said, Paige certainly earned another week with that performance. Grade: C+

Aaron Kelly: The country singer decided to put his twang on “Angie.” Not a bad choice. Let’s see what he does with it. You know what? I think we just saw Aaron’s best performance of the competition. Nothing very flash about that. But a dead-on vocal. Certainly as good as any vocal we’ve heard so far. There was a raspiness in his voice I hadn’t heard before. Very, very nice. Grade: B+

Crystal Bowersox: Idol saved MamaSox to close the show. Wise choice. She’ll be singing “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” Idol served up a fat fastball giving her the Rolling Stones as a theme. And she hit the sweet spot. Wow. She belted that out with such ease. She looks like she’s been doing this her whole life. Simon says Siobhan outsang her tonight. I totally disagree. Outperformed? Perhaps. Outsang. No way. Grade: A-.

That’s it for the song by song grades. Recap blog coming up in a few minutes.