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The remaining quintet of Idol contestants, under the mentoring of Harry Connick Jr., performed the songs of Frank Sinatra last night. After the jump, see who got under my skin:
Aaron Kelly, “Fly Me to the Moon.” Admittedly I’ve never been a fan of Aaron’s brand of Archuleta-lite. (And it doesn’t get lite-er than that.) But this was just painful; the vocals were wobbly, Aaron’s pop-ballad stylings clashed with the arrangement and he made what should be a smooth, cocky number into a plaintive whine. And messed up the lyrics to boot. What judges and fans see in him—beyond a nice kid who fills a niche—is beyond me.
Casey James, “Blue Skies.” As Connick pointed out, Casey’s performance was pretty much entirely at odds with the lyrics—this was much more about singing the blues than seeing nothing but blue skies. Worse, it was just a bad vocal, stiff and with some definite pitch problems. But at least it played to his style without (unlike Aaron’s) fighting the arrangement.
Crystal Bowersox, “Summer Wind.” That wasn’t so hard, was it? Idol tends to talk about its old-school theme nights as if singing standards is a challenge equivalent to advanced calculus. But Crystal just delivered a subtle vocal that sounded like her and not an imitation.The judges critique the song as sleepy, though, and I’m concerned that she needs another performance that plays to her big, belting-voiced strengths, and soon.
Michael Lynche, “The Way You Look Tonight.” Good song choice for Michael, solidly in his songs-for-young-lovers stronghold. I don’t think he pulled it off quite as well as described by the judges—who seem to be grading on a curve this season—but the only major problem with his performance was that it was not especially surprising.
Lee DeWyze, “That’s Life.” If there’s one contestant left who could plausibly sell this been-through-the-wringer lyric, it’s Lee. The song fits his raspy vocal well enough, and he picks up some good reviews—but I can’t help, again, getting the grading-on-a-curve feeling; I don’t think, on one of the stronger past seasons, that Lee’s performance would even especially stand out.