American Idol

Continuing our theme of finding out things we don't know about the Idols, Crystal Bowersox says America doesn't know that she has a twin brother, Carl. They are very different people, and she loves him, but he's kind of a square. She carries a little purse with her when she performs that holds trinkets from different experiences in her life. She thought it was funny that Simon mentioned being able to hear her performance in any subway, as that's where she used to perform in Chicago. This week she's singing As Long As I Can See the Light, and is putting a gospel type of spin on it, wanting to prove to Simon that he would stop and listen to her, even though she doesn't think he'd take the subway. This, Simon, is something you don't hear in every subway.

Randy tells Crystal that he knows it's a reality show, but truth is reality. She is the truth, and watching her package back, he loves that she's not trying to be anyone else. He knows she'll still always be that girl. He loves that girl, as that girl is hot. Ellen saw that is pure, raw, natural talent. There's nothing forced, nothing pushed, and she's so glad Crystal is here today, as she was scared for her. She calls her amazing. Kara tells Crystal she completely recovered from last week. She wanted to sing contemporary, but this is more who she is, Americana Rock, and she comes out effortless, centered and focused like the greats are. It's coming from her heart. Tonight, she thinks she hit a new level, and it's hard to do in these early days.

Simon knows how sick Crystal was over the last 24 hours, as it wasn't just catching a cold. She was really ill. He didn't know if she'd be back. What's great, though, is she didn't play the sympathy thing and chose a great song. He completely undestimated her last week, as to come back this week with an incredible vocal, it's like the moment they realized the same thing with Kelly Clarkson, that they had a serious artist here. And he feels the same now. Crystal was worried she wouldn't be here and now just feels grateful.

Ryan chats with Haeley Vaughn who admits to being nervous. She's singing Miley Cyrus this week and thinks it's fun singing younger songs like herself. Additionally, on a personal level she's not very confident, so she connects with it. What people might not know about her is that she likes to make things like headbands and hair accessories. She thought she was a little rough last week, but isn't sure how not to be bubbly and smiley to appease Simon. She's singing The Climb tonight and will try not to smile so much. She has pitch problems here and there

Randy tells Haeley he knows she always wants him to keep it real with her, and it didn't work for him. It was excruciating. She can sing, but it was so pitchy and so not right for her. She had no connection to the song. Ellen wants Haeley to know she should never stop smiling, as she has a great smile. However, she feels the same, that she doesn't connect to the song, and it should have a great message. She was excited to hear it on her, too.

Kara thinks she has the Alex Lambert factor with people rooting for her. Some contestants can learn from her, as she's open, real, and smiling, as well as a good performer. But she needs about a year of really strengthening her instrument. She has talent, but it's inconsistent, and is a muscle that needs to be worked out. Simon agrees and doesn't want to make it worse than it was, as he says it was a complete and utter mess. In theory it should have worked, but there's an irony in her singing a song about climbing when she actually fell off.

Lacey Brown says the shift in performance schedule was good for her as it gave them more time, but she felt bad for the boys. What most people probably don't know about her yet is that she likes to go antique shopping for old furniture and refurbish it. She doesn't keep them around, as she's usually selling them or giving them away. She tells herself when she's onstage every time that she was made for this. It's something her mom always told her. Nerves got ahold of her last week, and she already wanted to do the song that Kara suggested, Kiss Me, so is doing it this week. She starts off rough once again. it's definitely a much better fit of a song for her, and once the song picks up, so does she. Big Mike is totally rocking it out with her in the audience.

Randy tells Kara it was an interseting choice, and says it would have worked, but through most of the song, he was waiting for the words to flash across the screen like he was at a club doing karaoke. Lacey didn't bring anything to it or do anything special with it. Ellen agrees she didn't do anything differnet, but thought it was adorable. She sounded like it was the right song. She likes her personality and she likes her.

Kara felt last week like they were losing what is special with her, which is her tone. And this song, especially at the beginning, brought that back. But, she has to say she has to step it up from here. She did do some things, but we're back and can hear her tone, and it's a happy song, because she's a happy girl. Simon agrees it was marginally better, but gets the feeling she is taking part in the comeptition, rather than showcasing her talent. But in comparison to Crystal's performance, one is showing America who she is, and the other is coming out bouncing around the stage.

Ryan talks with Katie Stevens who says her high school friends think it's awesome she's on the show, and her friends even have a viewing party. Last week she picked a song the judges thought was a little old-fashioned, but that's why she picked the Michael Buble version. She understood, though, that she should do something more current and youthful.

What we don't know about Katie is that she can say "Give Me a Kiss" in six deifferent languages. She's embarrassed for herself, but it's not like she goes around asking people for kisses. Before she goes onstage, she does what the girl in Boston auditiond did, jump around in the mirror. This week she's singing Put Your Records On and it's definitely something better for her.

Randy thinks there were some bright moments, such as right after the bridge when Katie went into her upper register. It's when she reminded him of the girl they liked in her audition. She can tackle things more difficult, and the beginning of the song was pitchy and uninterseting, but she needs to believe she can tackle some bigger songs. Ellen thinks she has a great voice, but it still feels like she wants to see her younger. She doesn't want to hear something she'd hear in the dentist office.

Kara agrees and says she is so frustrated, because she sees so much in Katie. At the end she started opening up and going off with the melody, and she should be doing that from the beginning. Some songs are great on the radio, but aren't great to perform. Simon agrees that it's frustrating, saying she did take their notes to sing more young material. But if she came into his record label and asked what she should do, he'd tell her to get experience, then ask what kind of artist she is going to be. That's what she's failing to do, let them know what type of artist she is. Kara suggests she sing something about what she's going through in her life next week.

Ryan mentions to Didi Benami that it looked last night like she was watching the body language of the judges as the guys performed. She tells him she was just comparing song choices, and it makes her nervous to hear the judges' comments. She then apologizes for going on and on, as she tells Ryan she could talk forever. I find that honesty refreshing.

What people don't know about her is that in middle school she was a mascot for two years. She was in reality wishing she was a cheerleader, but eventually she made the squad as a cheerleader, as she thinks they felt bad for her. One thing she does before performing is pray, and she also does meowing, as it's a really good vocal warmup. She looked up indulgent after Simon called her that, as she wasn't sure how to put it in context. This week she's doing something totally differnet, doing Lean On Me, wanting to connect with people and bring up her StarMeter. It's interesting, as she puts a little country twang on it and changes up the melody slightly. Regardless, she brings that honesty of hers in aagain, and it makes it, and her, likable.

Randy doesn't know what's happening tonight, as he wouldn't have chosen such a deep-rooted soul song like that for Didi, as it shows more of her imperfections instead of heightening what she can do. Ellen loves her voice and says she's here because she has a good voice, smile, and presence. She just wishes it would have been a differnet Bill Withers song. She tried to do stuff with it, though.

Kara tells Didi it wasn't good, and she said as a singer/sngwriter she wanted to do something different this week, and she's not sure what she meant by that. What she's missing is consistency, and as a singer/songwriter, she should sit down with a guitar and give an honest imprssion of the song, instead of this performance that seemed karaoke. Simon tells Didi that at least she continued the cat theme throughought, as it was screechy throughout and was a bad choice of song. Someone meows in the audience to break it up a little. He thinks this generic performance was a wasted opportunity. Ryan consoles Didi, as it looks like she is ready to absolutely break down.

Michelle Delamor has couch chat with Ryan about the judges' critiques, and she mentions that everything they say is important, but she needs to find the balance between taking that all in and staying true to who she is. They had asked her to take some risks last week, so she's singing With Arms Wide Open.

What some people don't know is that she works with kids as a children's choir director, but frankly, we already knew that. The kids mean the world to her. She can connect with the realness of them. Before every show she prays and meditates, visualizing what she wants to happen. She felt last week went well, but knows she played it safe. Tonight, in an oddly ballooned white skirt and black gloves, it's definitely not playing it safe. It's not my favorite of the night, but she showed she still has a voice. Still, it's not anything to jump up and down about. And to go back to her intro, she wasnt' willing to be honest and tell us something we really didn't know about her. Until she opens up, the performances won't be real either.

Randy asks why Michelle is making a face before he starts. She admits to feeling good about her performance. The most positive thing for the Dawg is that the outfit is hot. As far as the song, she just didn't do enough with it. It was a great opportunity to make it something different and fell flat to him. Ellen agrees she looks fabulous, and feels she did do enough fo the song and even forgot for a few minutes it was a rock song, so that was good. There were a few pitch probelms, and it almost worked, but not quite.

Kara says this is her favorite performance of hers ... ever. It may not have been technically perfect, but she took a risk for once and was believable. She listened, has a good attitude, and is trying. Simon is kind of with Kara on this, saying the first half was much stronger than the first half, but to be fair there is a lot of contradictory advice, and she took the point, didn't sing a safe song, and atttmpted to make her own version and got it about 80% right. As far as the outfit, he asks Vera Wang in the audience if it was good, but they don't show her on camera, only Michelle's friends. Michelle has tears of joy and Ryan attacks Randy a little for being the only one that didn't like it.

Lilly Scott tells Ryan after Simon's comment about stage presence last week, she worked with the vocal coaches on it, especially connecting with the camera and opening her eyes. One thing people don't know about her is that she plays a bunch of different instruments, 6 and 12 string guitars, pinao, harmonica, etc. Before she goes onstage she uses a breath spray which works out pretty well for her. Her favorite comment last week was Randy saying she was an indie artist. Tonight she's singing A Change Is Gonna Come with her 12 string, and she'll have to do a lot of different with this song. Interestingly, she does. Again, she's like a better Megan Joy.

Randy tells Lilly what he loves about this season is she's the most unqiue contestant they've ever had. Bjork, Dylan, Lucicinda Williams, are all unique. That's what he loves about her. The thing they'll always say is that she's unique and does her thing. It's one of the toughest songs to sing, and she works it out. It's Randy's favorite perfrmance of the night. Ellen says people say they've got "it," and she doesn't know what "it" is, but she has "it." Ellen forgot they were in a singing competition and was just a fan in a seat watching an amazing performance. It's by far the best performance of the night.

Kara tells LIlly she just had her first moment in the competiton. Sh was riveted and couldn't wait to see what she wcould do next. She is a mismatch for the competition, but thank God she tried out, because she's really going to change the game. Simon really makes the point they were telling the other contestants on how you become relevant and how to use the show to showcase your talent. He thought it was good, but wasn't crazy about it like the others and felt she oversang it a bit. He compares her to Crystal since they're similar artists, and he found Crystal stronger.

Katelyn Epperly has couch chat with Ryan, and he talks about how emotional it must be for the ladies. She agrees it's been intense as they get hammered for originality, all wondering if they're original enough. She hopes the judges like her choice this week of The Scientist, because it's a really intimate song. She hopes she can really show how muh it means to her and wants to move people.

Something people may not know about Katelyn is that she was studyig to be a recording engineer before she tried out for the show. She'd like to open up her own studio at some point. Before she performs she likes to goof off a bit and doesn't tend to think about it too much. As far as Kara not liking her look last week, she was not thinking Kara was a bitch, but if she thinks she's not going to wear makeup every week, she has another thing coming. It's her first time playing an instrument here, but it's a risk that pays off since the beginning. She sounds great, and the piano only compliments it. For Kara, her makeup is there, but understated and much more natural-looking.

Randy really liked it, and it was really slow, although an amazing song. He liked Katelyn playing the piano and found it great until the end where it fell off pitch a little bit. It wasn't over the top, but he lked it. Ellen says she liked that she was playing guitar, then corrects herself and says she was playing the piano, not guitar. That's an indication, though, that she began to fall asleep a little, as it was too slow. If she's at home babysitting, she's heping her out, as the baby's asleep, but people can't vote if they're asleep.

Kara understands what they're saying, but she kind of loves her. She has an incredible instrument and can do alot of things with it,. That's her biggest problem, as she does so many different things, but she's really good, and when she gets to a sweet spot, it's like, wow, that's awesome. Simon asks if she has heard the Natasha Bedingfield version of the song, abd while she hasn't, he found this peformance identical. He thought this was a smart choice of song, but what she has to work on is not becoming corny, as it's a cool song. Yet, it's a million times better than last week, and she may have put herself back in the race.

What we don't know about Paige Miles is that she likes to color. She uses regular crayons and markers, and she outlines with the markers so she doesn't color outside the lines. That is a preshow ritual for her as she realxes that way. She thinks the others are taking a liking to it, as they're starting to ask her where her coloring book is. Her performance last week was the best time she's ever had in her life. She could only say thank you when Simon said she had the best voice of the girls. She's singing Walk Away, and it's a risk, doing something from the original Idol. You're not going to top her, as she's royalty in these parts. Paige doesn't top what Kelly has done with the song, but does do the song justice until she misses the glory note by a mile and has to slide into it. It's not going to be anyting that people remember.

Randy points out Kara wrote the song. He liked it, although it wasn't over the top for him. It has so many words, that he didn't get a chance to hear Paige with it. She has a big voice, and for Kelly it kind of worked for her, but he's not sure if it worked for her, as he wants to hear her big voice. Ellen disagrees, saying she loved it and thought it was fantastic. She loved everything she did with it and she thinks it's risky to change the song, but it worked. Paige had great energy and had fun.

Kara can see Paige having a hit with the song, as she thinks she is in that soul, pop, rock thing. They want her to have fun and smile but if she knew the guy she wrote the song about and her relationship and how upset she was, she wouldn't have been smiling when she was singing it. It needs to be a bit angry. Simon agrees with Randy, saying two weks in a row Paige failed to pick the right song for her, and she's becoming lost in the songs. She has such a strong voice, but is making bad decisons. Next week, if she's still here, she needs to come in and nail it.

Siobhan Magnus is going to focus on just singing her heart out and not focusing on all the technicalities. Something people might not know about her is that a year and a half ago she had a mohawk. She always said she had to have one before she was 30, and she talks about trying to do it herself with a beard trimmer. She does lip exercises before the show holding her nose so it doesn't tickle. She has to agree with Simon that she is a funny little thing and unpredictable. She's singing Think, after the judges said they missed her singing big songs. Ther's that big old voice we met in Hollywood on Group Night. Although, she does have some pitchy moments in the song. It's worth it though to hear that big ole voice. Some people try that song and never should. She should.

Randy tells Sioban what's funny is she picks the dopest, coolest, greatest singer of all time and comes out so bold and so fearless, and it was dope! He thought she's going crazy with this with her mouth open. He loved it. Ellen loved it too, and says most people would say don't take on such a big song, but they also said don't mix sleeves with a blanket, and look at the Snuggie, it's huge. "Oh man, that was good!"

Kara can't get over that note and isn't sure wheter it's a correlation between the glassblowing and being able to hit the notes. She doesn't know how Siobhan does that. Siobhan says she figured out how to belt that high singing Kelly Clarkson in the shower, and she has to thank her. Simon asks how many years ago that was, and she answer it was 2-1/2 to 3 years ago. He says again she's such a strange person, and he means that as a compliment. She admits she gets that a lot. He loved that film, as it made her more interesting than coloring hippos. There were parts of the song that were terrible, but then she hit that note that was incredible. She was least worried about that big note, as it's her favorite part and is the most fun.