Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Still no word on whether Crystal Bowersox will or won’t be competing on American Idol tonight, but I imagine we’ll find out in a few minutes.

Ryan Seacrest tweeted about an hour ago that he was still uncertain, that he was in a run-through of the show and was preparing for either scenario.

No word on what it would mean if Crystal can’t perform.

But earlier today, Idol executive producer Ken Warwick compared it to an Olympic athlete, saying something to the effect of: You don’t miss the semifinals and get a free pass into the finals.

Crystal, the dreadlocked 24-year-old from Ellison, Ohio, was hospitalized Tuesday morning and ordered not to perform in last night’s show.

That’s why Idol decided to have the men perform Tuesday instead of the girls — “as long as it was OK with the guys,” Warwick said earlier today.

Playing both the guitar and harmonica, Crystal impressed the judges during the opening round of the semifinals with a performance of Alanis Morissette’s “Hand in My Pocket.”

And after watching the Idol guys give it a second go Tuesday night, I’ll say this: Idol needs every truly talented contestant it has this season.

Crystal is included in that rather exclusive group.

And it looks like Crystal Bowersox will be performing. She proclaims herself just fine, and “a tough cookie” to boot.

This show is already looking up.

The song-by-song blogging begins:

* Crystal Bowersox: The gal who is fresh out of the hospital kicks things off with a Creedence Clearwater song, “As Long as I See the Light.” Gee, aren’t we all glad Crystal was able to perform? What a voice. She sure didn’t sound as though she’s fresh out of the hospital.

Ellen just spoke truth: Idol needs Crystal in this competition. And she’s getting great reviews from the judges. Simon says he thinks Idol has a “really serious artist” on its hands. No joke. I knew that the first time I heard her songs — yeah, her originals — on MySpace. I’m just sorry we won’t hear them on this program. They’re more impressive than any cover she could sing.

No pitch problems + great song choice = Grade: A

* Haeley Vaughn: Great, my least favorite Idol contestant (because I don’t think she can sing well) is singing one of my least favorite songs, Miley Cryus’ “The Climb.” Haeley says she’s not about to stop smiling. Just hit some of the notes, and it will be an improvement over last week.

Look, Haeley seems like a genuinely nice girl. And you can’t help but root for her a little after that intro clip. But she is not a very good singer at this stage. That might change with experience. But that was beyond pitchy. Grade: F.

* Lacey Brown: I see more potential in Lacey than Haeley, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she bounces back with a pretty strong performance tonight. Last week’s “Landslide” was a wreck. Tonight, she’ll be singing “Kiss Me.”

OK, that might have been marginally better than last week. Marginally. Lacey followed Kara’s advice in picking that song. But, wow, could it have been more boring? And the vocals weren’t very good. Simon just stated it pretty simply: There was a massive gap between that performance and the first of the night. Grade: C-

* Katie Stevens: Come on, Katie, turn things around for us. Hey, I like this girl’s attitude in her video clip. She can ask someone for a kiss in six different languages, huh? But quickly adds that it’s not like she goes around requesting kisses. She seems quite spunky, oodles of personality. She’ll be singing “Put Your Records On.”

Not sure she turned this thing around. I like Katie more than last year’s teen beauty queen, Jasmine Murray. But I also liked Megan Joy’s version of that song better than Katie’s. What’s the say?

I agree with the judges: Katie shows potential. But, vocally, that just wasn’t a finals worthy performance. Grade: C+

Didi Benami: She’s going to sing “Lean On Me.” Let’s see if meowing before each performance works. If it does, my suggestion is that Haeley and Lacey start meowing.

That entire song sounded off key. And Didi never got into it. That was a major step in the wrong direction, Didi. Try barking next week. Grade: C-

Michelle Delamor: The Florida gal is changing it up this week, singing Creed’s “With Arms Wide Open.” Come on, Michelle. Please. Give us a wow moment.

Oh, my, when Randy starts complimenting the outfit, you know you’re in trouble. Ellen, kindly, says there were a couple of pitch problems. A couple? Michelle actually gets good comments from Kara and Simon, largely for taking a risk.

Sorry, didn’t like the vocal. But of the ladies, Michelle is among those who show the most potential. Grade: C+.

Lilly Scott: The gal from Colorado will sing “A Change Is Gonna Come,” the 1964 Sam Cooke classic that Adam Lambert performed in last year’s finals. And she’s getting well- deserved rave reviews from the judges.

Heck, she sang on pitch, didn’t seem intimidated by the Idol stage, picked a challenging song, changed it up. Tonight, that’s cause for a standing ovation. Especially after five subpar performances in a row. Very nice, Lilly. Grade: B+

Katelyn Epperly: Well, she followed Kara’s advice. Lots less makeup. (Though she warns it might return.) No little black dress. A more natural look. And she’ll be playing the piano and doing Coldplay’s “The Scientist.”

Hey, another very nice job, Katelyn. A little understated. But on a night of dud performances, that certainly is worthy of another week in this competition. I’m with Kara (did I type that? twice in two nights?). I sorta like this gal. Grade: B.

Paige Miles: I guess it’s only fair. Paige sang first last week; she gets to perform near the end of the show this week. She’ll be singing “Walk Away,” the Kelly Clarkson song. OK, it’s gonna be tough to pull this off.

She’s mimicking the Kelly Clarkson version, which isn’t a good decision. No way Paige is singing it as well as Kelly Clarkson. Just a poor song choice. I will give Paige points for this, she tried a lively performance. But Kara’s dead on, she missed the attitude in the song. Grade: C

Siobhan Magnus: She used to have a mohawk and she does lip tricks prior to performing. Let’s see if lip tricks work better than meowing did for Didi. Siobhan is singing “Think” by Aretha Franklin.

Well, the lip tricks help with screaming, apparently. Not sure Siobhan has the big voice to totally pull off that song. But Randy’s right, that seemed like a fearless performance, like she was prepared to cut loose on stage and let the chips fall where they may. Again, if it wasn’t the best vocal, it was surely good enough to merit another week. Grade: B-

All the grades are in. The recap blog will follow soon.