AI S9: Top 10 [Bye, Didi]

I FEEL SORRY FOR DIDI. One bad performance and she’s sent home. She shouldn’t have departed from her element. The folk genre actually has been working for her, complementing the singer-songwriter vibe she exudes. I actually thought she would be spared by the judges after hearing her sudden death performance but they didn’t for some reasons. It was good in my opinion, but apparently not good enough to sway all the judges.

I can’t believe ‘Teflon’ Tim is still in the competition. Even though he’s been consistently boring and annoying, he still manages to smile his way from a round to the next. Very sneaky as Ellen had put it. His last performance was probably the most excruciating thing that happened on Idol stage. But let’s be patient people. It’s only a matter of time now as reflected by consistent low votes he’s having. [Insert evil laugh]

The contestants took on Soul/RnB this week. Casey gave an excellent performance but I agree with Kara and Ellen that the songs he chooses restrict his voice to soar. Katie showed that she had powerful pipes when she took on Chain of Fools, but the song’s quite old fashioned for me. Aaron Kelly gave an OK performance—a cupcake as opposed to a main course according to Simon. I was thrilled to know that Crystal would be playing the piano; however, it became a distraction for her. She looked uncomfortable with it. Her eyes were on the keys, and then the first notes were off. But as she went on, her voice came through with its usual brilliance. But I really think she should stick with her guitar. Siobhan sang Through the Fire which was an indulgent choice in my opinion. It was very predictable with all the shrieking (which were mostly sharp), and the off-notes were all over the place. I really thought she would be part of the Bottom 3 this week. But I really feel sorry for her when the judges started bombarding her with critiques. Her eyes were glassy and it felt like she would cry a stream of tears on the spot. But I really admired her when she commented about the VTR after her performance and said “I am not defeated!” Go Siobhan! I like her personality.

There were three breakthrough performances this week. Big Mike blew me away with his stripped-unplugged performance of a beautiful song. It just felt so honest and believable. It’s definitely the best I heard from him I think. Lee Dewyze is the David Cook of Season 9. If he could be remain consistent and with that incredible voice, he might just win the whole thing. On his last performance, he really connected with the song and it showed on how he moved and how his voice struck the notes. It was an excellent job! But my favorite performance of the week was Andrew Garcia’s acoustic rendition of Chris Brown’s ‘Forever’. It was the perfect song choice—very contemporary and easy to relate to. His husky voice was spot on. Plus, I love the arrangement with the strings and the beatbox—very reminiscent of Boyce Avenue’s covers (I don’t like their originals though. Hehe!)

Let me just say, Usher is so cool! I think he’s the coolest Idol mentor ever. Hehe! Ciao!