Idol Chatter & Voice Views

So, we already know three of the songs the contestants will be singing on American Idol Tuesday night.

As has become customary when the Idol field is whittled to three, each finalist will sing twice tonight, one song of their choice, one selected by
the judges.

And, as has become custom, the finalists learned which song the judges had selected for them during Friday’s hometown visits.

Drum roll, please …

* Crystal Bowersox will perform Paul McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed,” at the bidding of Elen DeGeneres.

* Lee DeWyze will perform Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” at the bidding of Simon Cowell.

* And Casey James will sing John Mayer’s “Daughters,” selected by Kara DioGuardi and Randy Jackson.

I was hoping for someone a little more bluesy and folksy for Crystal, but the song choice that really disappoints me is Simon’s.

To echo words we frequently hear from him: “Out of thousands of songs, you picked that?”

I mean, gee, it’s been how long since we’ve heard “Hallelujah” on Idol?

That’s right, Tim Urban performed it earlier this year, in the last week of the semifinals. And it was one of Jason Castro’s signature performance in
season seven. And it’s been covered by just about everyone.

Oh, well, the Idols also get a song of their own choosing. Hopefully those will be better.

On to the rankings, with last week’s ranking in parenthesis.

1. Crystal Bowersox (1): She’s been here ever since the season started and here she stays. Even when the judges were giving her a hard time a couple of weeks ago, her performances still ranked among the best. Last week after she performed, Simon declared she’s “back in the game.” Get a grip, Simon. She’s been the clear front-runner all season and never went anywhere. If she seemed to slip, it was only because the expectations have been higher for her than anyone else in this year’s
cast.

Love the way she played originals when she went home to Toledo last week. And it hardly seems fair that Lee DeWyze has an album full of originals out while Crystal doesn’t. So head to YouTube and check out: “Hellbent,” “Holy Toledo,” “Sandman,” “Speak Now” and, most of all, “Farmer’s Daughter.” I think you’ll be impressed.

2. Lee DeWyze (2): To think, he and Crystal were standing side by side at the Chicago auditions. And, if there’s any justice in the Idol world, they’ll be competing side by side next week in the finals. Have you listened to Lee’s 2009 album, “Slumberland.” If not, check it out. Sounds better than a whole lot of post-Idol albums from past contestants with songs like “Princess,” “Annabelle” and “Stay” as the highlights, all written by Lee.

Of everything I’ve read about Lee’s trip home in the past week, here’s my favorite story, from an article in the Chicago Tribune. A year and a half
ago, Lee helped judge a karaoke competition called “Ice Cream Idol” for an ice cream shop in his hometown of Mount Prospect, Ill. Contestants ranged from ages 5 to 55. One of his fellow judges was a female impersonator. “He was no Simon Cowell,” the shop owner told the newspaper. “He was probably more like Ellen, very generous with everybody.” You can read the rest of the story here.

3) Casey James (4): In my
mind, there’s a gap as long as the Bravos River between the top two and the lad from Cool Creek, Texas. But let’s not forget that before hitting all
the sour notes on Sinatra Week and before sounding so unworthy standing alongside Michael Lynche last week, Casey had his Idol moments. Specifically, he was one of the best on Lennon-McCartney Week singing “Jealous Guy” and on R&B/Soul Night with “Hold On, I’m Coming.” Of course, that was back in weeks three and four of the finals. Which might as well be a decade ago in Idol time.

When he traveled home, the Dallas Morning News asked Casey about that strange audition last summer, when Kara asked him to take off his shirt and let his hair down, then rewarded him with a golden ticket to Hollywood. “It’s kind of the same way I look at everything in life,” he told the newspaper. “It led me to where I’m at. Had I not done that, I might not be here. Yeah, it was embarrassing and ridiculous, but I’ve done things to get to places, like played gigs for no money at all. It’s sacrifices like that; you don’t put yourself above a situation.” Go here for the rest of that story.

In fact, if you missed any of the news from the Idols’ visits to their hometowns, you can go here for a photo gallery, here for video clips and here for links to hometown coverage of their visits.

Check back tonight at 8 p.m. for live song-by-song blogging. Just two more weeks, and we’ll have a new American Idol.