I guess Siobhan Magnus rode the Shania Twain one stop too short. Though she delivered one of her best performances last week, her fans didn’t rally behind her, and ultimately, she was given the axe. Had the judges still had their save, I suspect they would have used it. However, Siobhan’s elimination is not all that surprising: after all, the girl was a killer vocalist, but she lacked definition. This was especially surprising, considering the fact that at the beginning of the competition she was rocking out to Chris Issak, and towards the end she was covering Whitney Houston. I wish Siobhan all the best because I think she has a voice that cannot be ignored.
Keeping that in mind, we have five contestants left fighting for the title. If you had told me ten weeks ago that I would be voting for one girl or four boys, I would have laughed in your face. However, this show works in funny ways, and the season that seemed like a women’s game is now 80 percent male. It doesn’t surprise me therefore, that the theme this week is the music of Frank Sinatra. Should be a great show!
Let’s take a look at how the five finalists rank.
With Siobhan out of the running, Crystal Bowersox is unrivaled in terms of female competition. However, what’s important to note is that on Crystal’s “worst” night she still was out of the bottom three and still miles ahead of the pack. Though the competition is smaller than ever, Crystal is even farther ahead of the pack.
However, if there was a valid competitor for the other spot in the finale, it would be Lee DeWyze, a contestant who would be lucky to make second place, because on any other season he may not. Lee continues to make it through on interesting arrangements and average vocals. His momentum has grown exponentially though, so I have no worries for Lee. Then again, I had no worries for Siobhan.
I would put another big gap in my article if I could, and then I would rank Michael Lynche here. On a low night for Mike, he only saw 4th place in terms of votes; not so bad. Still, Mike has lost almost everything that was truly special about him, and his star quality is fading fast. This kind of theme should keep Mike around for another week.
After that, we have Aaron Kelly, a middling vocalist whose charm has propelled him this far in the competition. Sure, it helped him that he was given the ultimate theme songbook last week (for him anyways), but there still needs to be a core group of voters who have kept Aaron out of the bottom three all but one week. A theme week full of sappy ballads and shmooze should keep Aaron around one ore week.
Because of all these aforementioned reasons, I rank Casey James last this week. Casey turned out one of his best performances this past week, yet fans still didn’t show it enough love. Indeed, it was an interesting voting week, but Casey’s fans may be tired of this one-two step of beautiful ballad followed by epic cheesiness. This is a contestant that had a chance five weeks ago; now he’s fallen too far.
Obviously much can change once the performances are done, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Aaron, Mike, or Casey go home. Still, my money is on Casey. Let’s watch and see what happens!
For more ramblings by Matt Chisling, as well as insightful gossip, wittiness, and American Idol commentary, follow him on Twitter at Twitter.com/MattChisling
His fans are not tired of him. lol. Ratings are down and the causal viewer is not voting. Yeah he might go home but in any other season where the casual viewer was watching and voting he would be at the top.I am really tired of people taking badly about him. He is right up there with crystal when it comes to talent.
I think Casey’s in trouble too based on how things are going, but I don’t think he should be. I find him much more interesting and solid in who he is as an artist than either Mike OR Aaron. It should be interesting to see how things go tonight, because I truly think an off-night could be enough to send Mike, Aaron or Casey packing.
I personally thought Siobhan’s performance of “Any Man of Mine” was her worst performance to date, in which she lost herself in a fake country twang and couldn’t rescue the performance with her signature (good) scream. She was 100x better in “House of the Rising Sun” or “Paint it Black”. She has an amazing voice, yet no idea of who she is as an artist.
I wasn’t at all surprised by Siobhan being voted off…she lost a load of people as her direction wandered aimlessly across the Idol stage.
But I have to disagree about Casey James. If there is an Idol God, it will be Crystal and Casey standing at the end. Crystal’s got the goods, and so does Casey…but because of the insessant pimping of Lee by the judges the sheeple have voted for him even though his vocals are ALWAYS sub par, flat, and totally uninspiring. Casey is a much better vocalist and guitar player than Lee. Arron and Mike…ged outta here! They have both made it too, too far. If it comes down to Crystal/Casey I’ll just sit back and be happy for wich ever wins.