Idol Thoughts - Top 10

I haven't said much about the latest contestants who have been voted off, because there hasn't been much to say...although both of them were probably more talented than some of the ones left, they were both inconsistent and neither had a chance at winning, so whatevs.

I will, however, once again stand by what I've said for a while now: I would be shocked if a female ever wins this show again. That belief is solely based on the voting habits of adults vs. the voting habits of teenage girls. Even this year, when all we heard was that it was a "girl's year", and everybody (including me) was saying that there are at least 6-7 of the top 12 ladies who are better than any of the guys....here we are in the Top 10, and there are six guys and four females left. Two of the guys (Aaron and Tim) are still here based completely on the fact that they have the teenybopper and old lady vote...there can be no other plausible explanation.

The only female that I believe has a shot is Crystal...but she is also in that place where we have seen others (Daughtry, Melinda, etc) go home from before. So we will see...

On with the show!

1) Siobhan Magnus - "Through the Fire": Taking on Chaka Khan is always a big risk...that's one of the biggest voices in history, to channel my inner Dawg (we all have one). But when I heard that Siobhan was doing this song, my thought was that if any of these contestants could handle it vocally, it would be my girl Siobhan.

Boy, was I wrong.

This...was...awful. Started out really nasally, and then she pushed way too hard, lost the pitch, and never really found it again. And even her trademark scream, when surrounded by so much awfulness, just comes off as desperate rather than triumphant.

That just made my heart hurt.

2) Casey James - "Hold On, I'm Comin'": He's right...this is right in his wheelhouse. This guy, to me, keeps getting better. He's always been great on the guitar, but I haven't been a big fan of his voice. But when he's able to do big, rollicking numbers like this one, his voice sounds much better. This would have been either a great opener or show-ender...wonder why they put him in the dreaded 2-hole?

If I were him, I would NOT do what Kara told him to do and switch back to acoustic...that's just going to expose the vocal shortcomings that he has really done a nice job of compensating for.

3) Michael Lynche - "Ready for Love" : Well, he still has a great voice...that's been established. And the guitar cut down on a lot of the cheesiness. I still just don't like the vibe I get from him while he's singing...I think he crosses the line from confidence to arrogance. And I don't really know why that irritates me, but it does.

When he's not singing he comes off as a lot more likable, so it's not that I think he's a bad guy...I guess I just don't really connect with him.

This was a typical performance from him, though...great vocal, if a little overdone with the runs and tricks.

4) DiDi Benami - "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted": Looks great, as usual. I just don't like this style for her...the old fashioned, torch song thing. Her vocal style causes her to be just "around" the pitch a little bit, and it's more noticeable on stuff like this. I mean, she sounded OK, except when she tried to go for the really big note at the end it just sounded out of place for her. It's just that, for some reason, I don't think she wants to be the thing she's really good at. That stinks, because when she's good, she's great.

What's not great is her whining to the judges about not being an R&B singer. Honey, please...that particular argument hasn't held water on this show for at least the last two seasons. If you are not an R&B singer, then pick an R&B song from the list and sing it in what your style is. Unfortunately for her, she has no idea what that is anymore.

And, Ryan, good grief...she DOESN'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT. He was obviously trying to get her to go to the "Dead Friend" place, and kudos to her for refusing to go down that road with him.

5) Tim Urban - "Sweet Love": Usher tells him to try and project that love at us...apparently in Tim's world, love equals abject terror, just like every other "emotion" he tries to display while singing.

This is so boring. Must....not....fast.....forward.....

Too late. Sorry, LOST is waiting for me at the end of this...I have no time for somebody that I will undoubtedly be seeing more than enough of on my television once he becomes the star of another Disney Channel show that my daughters will zone out in front of.

6) Andrew Garcia - "Forever": Dude, Andrew....what is going on with that hair? He has a serious bouffant going on now.

Well, he finally got back to doing what he does well...and it still wasn't all that great. For him, it was probably his best performance (including the good bust vastly overrated "Straight Up" in Hollywood), but it was a little boring, and certainly not challenging vocally.

Much like I said about Katie a couple of weeks ago...this is exactly what he should be doing, he's probably doing it to the best of his ability...and it's just not good enough.

7) Katie Stevens - "Chain of Fools": This was fine. She has a very good voice, and she sounded pretty good on this...I just always feel like I'm watching a High School talent show when I watch her. And she is not believable as the "temptress with attitude" that she was trying to pull off tonight.

She really has a beautiful smile, but we never see that when she's singing...she is very robotic and, as Simon put it, "cold". She will probably learn to overcome that as she gets more experience, but she's not there yet.

8) Lee Dewyze - "Treat Her Like a Lady": Loved this. Loved the arrangement, and this was probably his best vocal performance so far...it seems like he is really benefiting from the vocal coaches that he is getting to learn from, as he is just getting better and better pitch-wise.

Lee is becoming sort of like Kris Allen was for me at this point last season...I always said Kris may not be the best of the bunch, but his album is probably the one I'm most likely to buy. I'm starting to feel the same way about Lee, which is a HUGE turnaround since my first impression of him was that his face was in serious need of punching.

9) Crystal Bowersox - "Midnight Train to Georgia": She's just too good for this show, honestly. This was yet another great performance by the most "ready" performer I think they have ever had on this show. The beginning piano part was a little disconnected, as she was concentrating a little hard on getting the piano part right, but once she stood up she really connected with the song emotionally and just put on a great show, as always.

10) Aaron Kelly - "Ain't No Sunshine": No. Unh-UNH. This is one of my favorite songs of all time, but it is a song that requires some emotional grit and gravity, and you can't get that from a toddler.

Final Thoughts:
Decent show, but for me personally the whole show was performed under a cloud of Siobhan's shocking suckiness...it just threw me off the rest of the show, because I was too busy worrying about her.

I did like the backstage stuff they did last night, but it didn't help me to see Siobhan basically collapse in the corner once she got back to the green room.

The only consolation for me is that if she DOES end up with the least votes (which I think is about a 50-50 chance), I am almost positive that the judges will go ahead and use their save. The only thing that would keep them from doing that is the desire to save it for Crystal, but I don't think anybody thinks she will be in the bottom before the Top 5, and at that point they can't use it anymore anyway.

Top 3:
1) Lee
2) Crystal
3) Casey

Bottom 3 (Tonight ONLY):
10) Aaron
11) Tim
12) (::sob::) Siobhan

Who SHOULD go home: Tim (based on the season to date)
Who WILL go home: Probably Katie...if Siobhan is at the bottom, then I hope it's NOBODY.