AI S9: Top 7 [Teflon Tim Goes Home]

TIM finally got cast out off the competition and I couldn’t quite believe that I actually felt bad about it. Well, he’s a sportsman and it’s very admirable of him to come back after going through very tough critiques for his horrible performances. I liked his song choice by the way, Better Days by the Goo Goo Dolls and very dynamic arrangement too. However, he didn’t quite have the pipes for it. Casey James definitely deserved to be on the Bottom 3 this week. He’s becoming really predictable and boring. Sticking to his comfort zone will not do it, I think and choosing another blues song this week could mean the end of the road for him. Aaron Kelly did a karaoke performance of a very big song. He could reach the high notes alright but they sounded strained. It was very uncomfortable to watch.

I was looking forward to this week because they were to take on inspirational songs. I was anticipating great melodic songs but the contestants’ choices didn’t sound very inspirational to the ears. Big Mike took on Hero from the Spider-Man Soundtrack and it just didn’t complement his voice which I think is wired for RnB and Soul. Siobhan sang When You Believe well, but it fell really short. Her vibrato in the opening phrases was hard which was quite distracting. I love the softer notes at the end though.

It’s now easier to point out the front-runners of the season—Lee and Crystal. Lee gave a very contemporary rendition of The Boxer. It’s a good choice I think. I grew up hearing this song from my Tito and hearing it again somehow made it sound bittersweet. It’s not his best performance but it was outstanding at least. Crystal delivered a song with a very Gospel vibe. It’s a solid performance...again. However, I wish she didn’t cry at the end. I don’t know. I’ve seen quite a number of singers shedding tears at the end of their songs and seeing it again with Crystal, well, it appeared tiny bit cliché.

It was Idol Gives Back again. I don’t know if it’s just me but this season’s Gives Back just felt quite forced and rushed. There was this stand-up comedian who was really mediocre and sounded really corny. It felt as if there are a lot of gaps in the show that needed to be filled up. The performances were boring (well except for Carrie Underwood’s Change) and nothing stuck. It’s too bad Annie Lennox got stranded in London. I was really looking forward to her live performance.

Five more weeks to go!