Idol Chatter & Voice Views

With Alicia Keys as a mentor and inspirational songs as the theme, the final seven season nine contestants try to set the mood for tomorrow night’s Idol Gives Back episode.

If the spoiler list I just saw is correct, Casey James will kick off the show with a Fleetwood Mac tune, and Crystal Bowersox again gets the honor of closing things out. (Hey, who else among this cast can Idol depend on to deliver, week in and week out?)

But the three contestants I’ll be focused on tonight are Tim Urban, Aaron Kelly and Siobhan Magnus.

Can Tim continue his Zero to Hero routine? Two solid performances have raised his stock among Idol watchers, but he’s also still the golden boy of Vote for the Worst.

Can Aaron Kelly rise above mediocrity? He’d better. He’s at the bottom of my current rankings of the remaining Idols.

And can Siobhan Magnus — aka, the Magnificent Screamer — shake off a two-week funk? At the rate gals are being voted off this show, another subpar performance could put her at risk.

Meanwhile, Idol has seven performances to squeeze into a one-hour time slot, so the pace of tonight’s show should be downright inspirational in itself.

Casey James: Our season nine rocker kicks things off with “Don’t Stop,” the Fleetwood Mac classic, the Bill Clinton campaign theme song. And Casey’s smiling that cheesy smile again all the way through his performance. Hmm, I recall much more intensity from Lindsey Buckingham when he dove into this tune. And Casey’s trying to rough up the vocal a little. He sounds fine, but this is not going to come anywhere close to matching that “Jealous Man” performance from a couple of weeks ago. Predictably, he gets chastised by the judges for a so-so performance, a lazy song choice and for what Simon calls a performance that was “not particularly inspiring.” Grade: B-.

Lee DeWyze: Wow, there’s a totally different mood to this performance, right? Lee’s version of “The Boxer” lacked the pureness of the Simon and Garfunkel original, but that was a great vocal nevertheless. And a very believable performance from a guy who had trouble controlling his nerves on stage just a few short weeks ago. I’d call that Lee’s best performance yet during the finals. And he’s getting great reviews from the judges, including from Simon, who called it “absolutely brilliant.” Grade: A- .

Tim Urban: Idol did Tim no favor by having him follow Lee to the stage. The contrast in vocal abilities is pretty stark. And I’m not sure Tim did Tim any favors by deciding to sing “Better Days” by the Goo Goo Dolls. What we just saw was a decent performance, but probably a step back from the two Mr. Zero-to-Hero turns in the last two weeks. The judges apparently think so, too. But look at Tim. He’s still smiling through all the criticism. Why not? Did anyone expect him to be around this long? Grade: C+.

Aaron Kelly: Oh, no. The teen from Sonestown is going to sing a big song, “I Believe I Can Fly.” Not sure he has the big voice required to pull it off. And he’s sure starting out a little rough. You know what, by the end of the song, Aaron was hitting some impressive notes. But I’m just not a big fan of “I Believe I Can Fly.” At least not with a touch of country twang Aaron puts on nearly everything. The judges say they appreciate the effort. Well, except for Simon. Another so-so effort from Aaron. Grade: C+.

Siobhan Magnus: You just never know what the Magnificent Screamer is going to be wearing when she gets on stage. Today, an outfit adorned with butterflies. And she’s taking on a challenging song, “When You Believe,” by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. Wise? Ouch. Rough, pitch-filled opening for Siobhan. But she pulled through with some amazing notes at the end. Sorta the opposite of last week, when I loved the opening to “Suspicious Minds,” but hated the ending. Lukewarm comments from the judges won’t help the impression that Siobhan is struggling to match her performances from earlier in the finals. Not the memorable peformance she was likely hoping for. Grade: B-.

Michael Lynche: Figured we could count on Michael to snap this show out of a three-song funk. And I’m glad Michael decided to sing something more up-tempo this week instead another of those sleepy ballads he seems to gravitate toward. His rendition of “Hero” might not have been his best performance since the finals began, but it was another solid vocal. I still can’t figure out how this guy needed a judges’ save to survive a couple of weeks ago. He’s clearly been one of the season’s most consistent singers. Grade: B.

Crystal Bowersox: Now that’s the way you close a show. From the a cappella opening to the tear-filled closing, MamaSox just delivered an inspirational rendition of “People Get Ready.” Best vocal of the night. One of Crystal’s best of the finals. And she went without an instrument for the first time. Rumors were, she nearly quit the competition at one point. Hang in here, Crystal. You make season nine worth watching. Grade: A.

Check back in a bit for the recap blog.

Check back tomorrow morning for a photo gallery from tonight’s show.

And follow along tomorrow evening for live blogging during Idol Gives Back.