american idol: top 16, guys night

I had low-ish hopes for Wednesday night, but the guys really brought it! Wow.


I really like the original "Fireflies". Too bad I don't really care for Lee. What's with everyone loving him so much? Anyway, he went flat on quite a few phrase-ending notes, but his interpretation was actually rather good. I could hear someone with more talent and rock vibe pulling off an arrangement like that really well. David Cook, maybe. Lee didn't really plead his case with me, but he will probably be safe. Also: Ellen, I love you, but you can't just dismiss every pitch problem every time. You have said that pitch problems weren't an issue far too often for our own good.


Interesting song choice for Alex. Kinda fun that the oft-repeated words "trouble" and "worry" show off his unique word endings. I really enjoyed the song, but he didn't really leave too much of a stamp on it. If he'd tweaked it just a *little* bit more, it could have been out of the park. He's probably my favorite guy, and not because he's Melinda Doolittle's favorite guy. His tone is great, he's not arrogant, and he's growing. Kara's right, though, he needs to let go a little bit. And I cannot believe that Ellen said "no one likes a cocky banana". YIKES. Also, I don't know if I'll be watching if Simon gets Randy in a bikini. Double yikes.


At first, I said, and I quote, "ohcrap, don't know if Tim Urban can pull off Hallelujah." In the end it wasn't bad! It was a bit faster than I've ever heard it, and it never had a floating note that I love on that song (see: kd lang), but he actually pulled it off. It wasn't pitchy, amazingly. It doesn't compare to the classic versions (Cohen, Buckley, Lang), nor does it quite measure up to Jason Castro's season 7 performance, but Kara might be right: he was about to go home, but he probably saved himself. Or at least, he would have if everyone didn't bring it this week.


Ryan said Andrew was doing a Christina song. I told my wife "As long as he doesn't do 'Genie in a Bottle' or 'What a Girl Wants'..." and here he did "Genie". It really did call back to his "Straight Up" performance, and it worked pretty well. It was definitely pitchy when he tried to reach down to the bottom notes, and it didn't get too interesting until the end. I'm with Ellen: the genie came out a bit too late. He should keep himself in the competition with this one, though. As long as he didn't alienate everyone too much the past two weeks.


Casey pulled off a solid performance. I'm still not jumping on that bandwagon, though. The song didn't leave him enough room to show off, so it was pretty safe even with the changes he made to the melody, but he sounded good and it fit him well.


Aaron completely blew the beginning of his song. Ugh. The hip swaying was embarrassing. He hit most of the big notes, but his runs were pretty contrived most of the time. The song was so boring for him to do, for me. He might not have completely offed himself, but he needs to go soon. I'm not won over.


Todrick just missed his high note. The run near the start was pretty, though. Overall the styling was good (if melodramatic) and I think he finally hit a good song after weeks of missing the mark, but his voice wasn't quite big enough for the song. He couldn't rock out the big notes like Freddie Mercury in the original, or like Elliot Yamin in season 5, but it was okay. Simon was kinda right: Todrick is American Idol the Broadway show. This was Todrick's week to go home, but he MIGHT have clawed himself out of those clutches. Maybe. He is Mandisa (season 5)'s favorite. :P


Mike didn't really take off for me. He did an older song last week, and I feel like he should have gone with a slightly different vibe this week. The middle/end was better than the beginning for sure, and the big note was big, and the ending was odd, and it must have done way more live than over the TV. I get the whole emotional connection thing, it was a great song for him to do, in particular, but...yeah. I'm sure he's safe (especially after the judges' raving), but it was still kinda weird for me.


So who the crap is going home?! I'm gonna have to say Aaron is in trouble, and either Tim or Todrick. Um...hrm. I guess I'll go with Tim? This is a tough week to predict. We might be surprised.