Tonight, the "Idol" contestants were given the task of taking on the rather extensive Lennon/McCartney songbook. Given the sheer number of tunes to select from and the vast differences in types of songs, it would seem each contestant should have been able to find a song that would suit both their voice and personality. Many of the contestants, thankfully, did so, giving one of the best shows so far this year. As the competition heats up, it's interesting to see the bar set to a new level each week , although, each week it also becomes all the more clear who doesn't belong.
Aaron Kelly fell somewhere in between those two extremes tonight. His performance of The Long and Winding Road wasn't good, but it wasn't terribly bad, either. The arrangement he chose was a bit boring for a competition like this, where the objective is to come out and wow the audiences each and every week. However, he did sound quite good, despite suffering some vocal troubles earlier in the week. Kara made an excellent point in saying that the audiences needs to see something new from Kelly; each weekly performance seems to be a replica of the last. Kelly promised that, if he's around next week, he has some big changes in mind. Kelly is quite talented, so I hope he stays around to show us what he has in store.
Katie Stevens wowed the judges with her performance of Let It Be. It's tough to take a Beatles' song and perform it in a way that stays true to the original, while still updating it to make it current. Stevens had the perfect balance tonight, not trying to overdo it and generating the right feel for the song. Each of the judges agreed that her performance was miles better than what she had done in recent weeks, although I'm not sure how Simon interpreted her version as having country leanings. This was quite the showing from a contestant who has been in the bottom three the past two weeks and Ellen proclaimed there is "no way" she will be in the bottom three this week.
Keeping with his singer/songwriter style, Andrew Garcia performed a revamped, bluesy version of Can't Buy Me Love. The songs was rather dull until Garcia mixed it up and headed into the breakdown of the song, dropping the guitar, backup vocals, etc. and allowing it to be just him, the percussion, and the bass. This was a performance that could and should have been great, but just never reached the full potential that Garcia showed he had in Hollywood and reaffirmed last week. He should again be safe for this week, as Simon's main criticism (Garcia's lack of personality) was shown to be quite inaccurate in his set up video and his performance will likely have many gushing.
Many risks were taken tonight, but none as big as the display from Michael Lynche, singing Eleanor Rigby. The song is a classic and I was expecting the same love song-y feel we get from Lynche each week. Tonight, however, Lynche flipped his persona, adding a heavy percussive feel to the song and propelling it into a more modern era. Randy, Ellen, and Kara each agreed the vocals were spot-on, but Simon felt it was much too "musical-esque." As Randy pointed out, it's those musical-esque qualities that are popular right now (see: GLEE), so he believed Lynche's performance was just where it should have been. Personally, I felt it was one of the best performances we've seen from Lynche so far.
Crystal Bowersox went for more of an upbeat, fun song than we are typically used to from her and, overall, it worked. She performed Come Together, joined by a didgeridoo in the accompaniment, and showed much of her vocal range. Bowersox was clearly suffering from some bug, as her voice was shot for the interviews. But, she pulled through and was able to tough out the last upper notes that really brought the song together. Kara felt it was a much different side of Bowersox that we hadn't yet seen and Simon agreed that it was an excellent, quirky, and contemporary take on the song. Bowersox seems liekly to remain atop the other "Idol" contestants.
Tim Urban was surprisingly good tonight, going with the hit All My Lovin'. The arrangement he chose was rather genius, working in a modern sense and allowing the music to do what it needed to do so as to not destroy a classic. Urban took the judges criticism, changing up the melody (in a way that benefitted the song, I might add) and taking himself more seriously as an artist. Randy said Tim is in his own category and that it was a "good Tim performance," a rather tough blow on an otherwise successful night, but Simon said he thought Urban did "really well tonight" and Ellen called the arrangement beautiful and soulful. With his already prominent fan base, Urban looks like he may stick around another week.
