American Idol

Lee Dewyze is up first tonight with Fireflies. This is a different sound for Lee, not quite as brooding. And while I wasn't sure about it at the beginning, I really like it by the chorus. However, I'm not sure it will gain him as many fans as his last two performances. To me, though, this is the type of song and voice I will listen to on the radio.

Randy tells Lee that for him it was a strange song choice, but what he loves about what Lee did, was that despite the few pitch problems, he really kind of made it his own. To him, it's a cool song, but softer for such a big voice, but Lee worked it out. Ellen liked that he made it a little more rock. She agrees about the pitch problems, but she doesn't think it matters right now, as she knows a lot of people like him. She knows a lot of people have admitted to having crushed on him.

Kara thinks Lee looks confident tonight, and that's what they've been waiting for, for him to step up, as there's a star bubbling there. She thinks he made the song a better song with his interpretation. I have to agree with her on that one. I like it better this way, although the original is a favorite of my daughter's. Production value is what made the song really big, and to strip it away and just use the guitar, she thought was a solid job. It wasn't his best moment, but a solid job.

Simon says there's nothing to rave about, and he doesn't think Lee had a moment, but he's seen the progress he's made over three weeks. He's glad he's there and thinks he has a good chance of making final 12, but he thinks he's better than the version of the song he just did. Lee says he's gotten good and bad comments and he's trying to just focus on the bad so that he can improve. He picked that song instead of a rock song, because he wanted to pick something a little different and put his own spin on it.

Alex Lambert takes on Trouble, and he's playing along on the guitar. His fans are increasing it seems weekly, and this isn't going to do anything to change that. People that like him are going to do so even more, and I certainly don't think it'll turn many fans off. He seems to be a frontrunner at this point. For myself, though, I need a lot of soul with this song and just didn't find it.

Randy thinks it was a good song choice for Alex, the whole Ray LaMontagne thing. He wasn't sure if Alex wowed him with it. He wanted it perhaps more slower, as it felt a too fast. Ellen continues her banana theme and says this week he's becoming a mushy banana. He's ripening so fast. Some people are good, then not the next week, but he's consistent, getting better and better and better. She loves his innocence, that we can see how sweet and vulnerable and real and honest he is, and she doesn't want him to lose that. She warns him not to get cocky and become a cocky banana, as no one likes that.

Kara tells Alex the only thing standing in the way of him winning is him right now. He has so much, and when she closes her eyes, she knows exactly who's singing when she hears him. He's still so stiff and not letting go. She wants acoustic guitar and him just singing in the moment. That's what they need, some vulnerability. Simon thinks he has to mentally get himself somewhere else, as he's still trying so hard. They never see him relaxed and having a good time, and he thinks he needs to imagine Randy in a bikini or something. He needs to stop staring down the lens of the camera and just let himself go. He has a really good distinct voice and people like him in a person. He's going to get Randy in a bikini for him net week if he's till here. Kara says Randy will wear a bikini and Simon a binky. Simon still wants to know what that is.

Tim Urban sings Hallelujah, and he's going to have to do really good to beat Jason Castro's version of this, or at least our memory of Jason on this. Tim sounds good on this, surprisingly, but he's missing the soul that he needs in this. You can't just stand up there and sound good. You have to feel it, and the contestants have been told this all season.

Randy calls this one of the greatest songs ever. They've had some good times with the song on the show, and Tim walked in some big shoes with it, but he feels he did a pretty good job with it. Ellen feels she's so hard on Tim every week, and she was worried for him with this song, but she leaves the desk and comes out and gives him a big hug and says it was fantastic.

Kara thought Tim would be going home, but now she thinks he's kind of in it and among the top of the boys right now. She found that an honest interpretation and that he was just feeling it, which is all you can ask with that song. It's all about emotion, with that sorrow in it, and he showed it. Simon kind of feels responsible for him doing well now, as he gave him the confidence boost he needed. This week he thought that was a very smart choice, because you react to it. It's not the best performance of the song he's heard, but by far Tim's best performance in the competition. Ellen wants to take credit away from Simon and take responsibility for herself for Tim doing well now.

Ryan has a little couch chat with Andrew, saying they haven't stopped talking about his version of Straight Up. Andrew says he's going back to that this week. He's singing some Christina Aguilera, as he wants to go back to the roots, and Paula felt good, and this feels the same way. No stress and overthinking it, just doing it. He sings Genie In a Bottle, and we all know that's what his problem is, trying to live up to Straight Up. I have to say there's a Latin vibe to that song that Christina totally takes to a pop level, but he brings it back to his Latin roots. It's not going to match Straight Up, but it's good.

Randy starts off by saying he likes the cardigan, as Andrew's rocking the whole dawg's look. It was an interesting song choice, and he wasn't sure if it would work when he heard it, and it still didn't quite work for him being pitchy all over the place. He made the whole thing sound like three notes with no range to it. Ellen thought it was a great song choice and that this is what he needed to do. At the end i when he surprised them, and the genie came out of the bottle too late. She wishes he would have done something a little different, but still thinks people will love it.

Kara tells Andrew he's in a hard position because he peaked so early and has been chasing it ever since. He was fighting with the rhythm of the guitar and she couldn't hear him and the melody until the end. She likes him, but it just wasn't there. Simon has to say he's with Kara a little bit, as for him it came over like he's trying to work out what to do, and when he came up with the idea of doing Christina, it comes out a little desperate. It didn't feel like he was comfortable. He has a good voice and is a cool guy, but he's still going backwards a bit. Andrew says it's just him, and his fans are still voting, so he loves them so much, as that's why he's here. He has a Danny Gokey vibe to me, and I don't know why.

Casey James tonight sings You'll Think of Me ... unplugged. This is what I needed from him, some honesty and originality. I was never in the Casey fan camp, as I just didn't get it. Tonight I don't know why, but he's bringing some tears and emotion to me listening to him, something that was previously reserved for listening to Jon Peter Lewis, Jason Castro, and Kris Allen. This is my favorite of the night so far.

Randy says he's a fan of the song, but for him it was a safe choice. He doesn't want him to pull away from the vocals, as he feels he has more of a an edge and more of a Stevie Ray Vaughn type of thing. He just wants him to go for more. It wasn't amazing and still safe. Ellen thought it was a great and says he's so much more comfortable singing sitting down. (See? Like Jason Castro.) It feels like his vibe. She thought he sounded great.

Kara is getting back on the Casey train, saying it was better than last week. He's not trying to be a rock star and is honest. He's sitting down and doing what he does best, playing the guitar and singing form his heart. She's missing the spark and wants to see more, but it's definitely a move in the right direction. Simon would say it's his second best, not as good as the first week, but more than last week. It made him sincere. He thinks there's so many songs to choose from, but he sounded great on it. I think Simon nailed it that he's trying to be a rock star, but isn't.

Aaron Kelly takes on I'm Already There, and takes Casey's stool. It's pitchy from the beginning, but he kicks it in at the chorus when he stands up. This kid has a good voice, but he needs more than that. He needs that vulnerability we're looking for in everyone that we just found a little of in Casey. Come to think of it, that's what Andrew is missing too, that vulnerability he had in Hollywood.

Randy tells Aaron he has the makings of a great, and he's really young and it's coming on, but he needs to work on his zone. When he hit his power zone in the middle, he could only think how this kid could sing. It's a job well done, but there's still some work to do. Ellen love shim, but what's weird is he's 16, and she doesn't feel it's like he's posing as he stands there like he's 30 years old. She thinks he sounded better and that this was too much song for him. She know she can do better.

Kara says Aaron comes out onstage every week and gives it his all, but this song is in 3rd person, and is about a guy calling home to talk to his kids. At 16, it's not relevant to his life. How can he connect to it? Aaron says he was trying to tell the story. Simon explains what Kara said was complete and utter rubbish. He says they can't keep pinning the 16 year old thing on him and the song was the right type of thing he should be doing, compared to last week. It wasn't a great vocal, but what it did have was emotion and he could tell he was trying hard. If they keep going down the road of saying you should do this, shouldn't do that, they're going to confuse them too much.

Todrick Hall is taking on Queen. How will he reorganize this one? Or will he finally just sing a damn song? He sings Somebody to Love, and he takes it to a gospel feel and back to its roots. He might finally get it. However, doing so has exposed him, as the song is definitely too big for him. When he really hits it with the song is when he moves around and puts that performance value into it which we know is his strong suit. He has some great hidden moments in this song, though, to build on if he survives this week.

Randy says Todrick is back. What he did just there is prove he can really sing and that's why he's there. All the stuff about him being a dancer, this was one of the best vocals he's heard by a man the past few weeks. Ellen tells Todrick he's a brave young man. It it almost sounded like a gospel song, and she wishes he would have been more committed to that part of it.

Kara notes you can't listen to that and say it wasn't good singing, as it was. Yet at times, she wasn't sure whether to laugh at it or or love it. It was so dramatic and a little like Godspell. She doesn't know whether that's bad or good, but the singing was good. Simon says it was good in parts, and what he's done tonight is tell him who he is. He's a Broadway singer. He sees him more as that than a recording artist. And we're seen so many performances of guys sitting playing a guitar, but this was something different and may have saved him.

Michael "Big Mike" Lynche is styling tonight in a Ryan Seacrest suit, but it's on a much bigger scale. He's singing This Woman's Work and starts off in a falsetto, then returns to a normal register, and it's such a slow song, but is so captivating. That's what this guy has going for him, that magnetic personality that draws you in, and when he pairs it with a good vocal and hits it in his stride, it's impossible not to fall into it. This, to me, is the vocal of the night, and where you have to recognize Todrick's, sure, but this so much blows it away vocally.

Randy asks, "Really?" He has to give it to Big Mike again, though, as it was crazy. For everybody that doesn't know it was dope and unbelievable. He wants to call Maxwell and tell him Big Mike is knocking on the door. That last note, he was like, "What?" Ellen says this is one of her favorite songs, and it was so beautiful, it feels like the show just began. He is the one to beat now.

Kara wipes away tears and says she has never cried after hearing something like that. It's amazing; he was amazing. It's so relevant to him and she can feel it. It's his life right now and his respect for his wife and what they've gone through. As a woman who doesn't have a child, she can relate to it so much. Simon gives her a hug, and doesn't let go. He says it was so needed tonight because when you think back to the beginning, it was more boring, but he comes out with an incredible difficult song to sing, but 100% nailed it. It wasn't just the best performance tonight, but the best they've had on all these live shows so far.