Idol Chatter & Voice Views

American Idol experimented with duets during last year’s top four performance show.

Apparently, producers liked the results well enough to try it again.

Personally, I think the duets smack of unfairness.

I mean, last year, someone was going to get paired with Adam Lambert. Two contestants were going to have the misfortune of not getting paired with Adam Lambert.

This year, someone is going to get paired with Crystal Bowersox (Lee DeWyze, apparently). Two contestants are going to have the misfortune of not getting paired with Crystal Bowersox.

Of course, this being Idol, I don’t know why I worry about such things.

Despite an absolutely brilliant version of “Slow Ride” with Adam, Allison Iraheta got eliminated in last year’s top four show.

And, two weeks later, Adam finished second to Kris Allen. Let’s just say Kris’ “Renegade” duet with Danny Gokey wasn’t nearly as memorable as Adam and Allison’s.

Duets are about the only thing not covered in a survey American Idol is currently conducting. To learn about what is covered, go here. Or head straight to americanidol.com to complete the questionnaire. Be
advised, it’s a pretty exhaustive survey.

Anyway, it’s showtime. Which means it’s time for song-by-song grades.

Lee DeWyze: Last week’s hero in the eyes of the judges opens things up tonight with “Kiss from a Rose.” Hey, a better opening than we got from Casey James last week. That said, every once in a while, Lee reaches for one of those high notes and uncorks a screech that could pierce an eardrum. He did it a couple of times on that song. And, to be honest, he seemed to mimic the original. Hmm, as a group, the judges weren’t terribly impressed. I’m still confused by how confused Randy is. What, after 11 weeks of live shows, makes him think Lee is such a rocker? Anyway, I didn’t think Lee was as good as the judges last week. This week, I’d rate him better than the judges did. Grade: B- .

Michael Lynche: Three trips to the bottom three, including last week when the judges loved his performance. I’d say Michael is one of the guys on the bubble tonight. He’ll be singing a Michael Jackson song, “Will You Be There.” Hey, you know what, Big Mike didn’t pick another sleepy ballad. He’s performing a song with some big notes, picking up on the gospel flair, sounding pretty darn good with the background choir. And, as usual, he’s hitting all those notes. All in all, a pretty solid performance from the big guy. Again, the judges aren’t entirely buying it. More to the point, Kara didn’t feel any goosebumps (apparently, she wanted another ballad), and no one was thrilled with the song choice. Hey, Simon, there might be thousands of songs out there to choose from. But the Idol contestants don’t get to pick from thousands. You know better. Grade: B.

Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox: Time for the first duet. Again, I don’t know how fair this is. I mean, most people (myself included) rank Crystal and Lee as the top two contestants on the show. But I love that the two — both of whom specialize in acoustic guitar performances — get to perform together. They’ll be singing “Falling Slowly.” Hmm. Maybe Idol should keep these duets around. Those two sounded great together. That, folks, probably ranks as a season nine highlight. The judges loved it, too. Who knew? I guess we were bound to agree on something tonight. Grade: A.

Casey James: I think Casey just pulled a Jason Castro. Which means he’s singing for his Idol life, picks a laid-back song and turns in a laid-back performance, which sounded pleasing enough, but isn’t going to have much of an impact and isn’t going to be remembered beyond the upcoming performance by Crystal Bowersox. So, did Idol producers put him up to singing “Mrs. Robinson?” I mean, there was no way that conversation wasn’t going to steer back to comments Kara made about Casey earlier this season. Fill out those surveys, folks. Meanwhile, another nerve-wracking week for Casey, who still hasn’t learned to stop smiling when he should be dialing up the emotion in a song. Grade: C .

Crystal Bowersox: Point proved. Crystal changed up “I’m Alright” to fit her style of music, finally brought some energy to tonight’s solo performances and … did anyone else notice? … she ended the song with a big note. The result, solid reviews from the judges. Though I have no idea what Simon is talking about, declaring that Crystal is “back in the game.” Hey, Simon, with this cast, she’s never been out of the front-runner position. Again, that’s not my favorite Crystal performance. Perhaps I was spoiled by listening to too many of her originals before the season started. It was the best solo of the night. Grade: B+ .

Casey James and Michael Lynche: They’ll be singing “Have You Ever Loved a Woman.” Didn’t someone else already perform that song this season? Or perhaps countless songs like it? I’m not sensing magical as this begins. OK, you know what? That was better than I expected. Casey did great on the guitar. When Michael started singing, the song came alive vocally. Thank you, Idol, for making them perform side by side. Any objective viewer should be able to watch that performance and determine who’s the better singer. Meanwhile, the judges have it right. Tonight’s duets were better than the solo performances. Grade: B .

Check back in a few minutes for the recap blog.

Check back tomorrow morning for photos from tonight’s show.