American Idol – Top Nine

Okay, I’ll go ahead and do a review of American Idol. And only because tonight was notable for one reason, and one reason only: For the first time all season, I heard a song that I’d be willing to download.

Last season I was a downloading fool – Adam Lambert, Kris Allen, Alison Iraheta, Matt Giraud, and even Danny Gokey – I was downloading their songs like crazy. But this season there had yet to be a single song worth buying. Until last night.

I won’t lie – I was nervous about last night. Elvis night. It could have easily turned into a karaoke hot mess. But only one performance was in that category (in my humble opinion), and the rest were all great.

Crystal – As always, her performance was amazing. I love the tone in her voice, and she did a great job.

Andrew – I’ve figured out Andrew’s problem. He’s a Mel Torme singer. He’s very slurry with his phrasing, if you know what I mean. As such, when he does a fast song like “Hound Dog,” in that slurry phrasing, it just sounds lazy. He had NO staccato beats whatsoever, and that ruined the song. Thinking back, he’s treated EVERY song like that – and that’s fine on SLOW songs, but on fast songs, you need to bounce off notes here and there.

Tim – Loved it. His best performance yet, and I loved the acoustic guitar riffs he was doing.

Lee – Sure he sounds just like Taylor Hicks sometimes (as Denis observed last night), but he’s good. A solid performer who hasn’t had an off-pitch note in a while (during the semis he kept twingeing notes here and there).

Aaron – Forget the judges. I thought he did a great job and this was the first time I liked him. Sure the song was dated, but it was still his most interesting performance all season.

Siobhan – Didn’t like it. This is the song of the night that was TOTALLY karaoke, in my opinion. “Suspicious Minds” is one of my favorite songs that Elvis ever did, and Siobhan did NOT deliver. This was my least favorite of the night (and yes, that includes Andrew).

Michael – I didn’t recognize the melody AT ALL from the original – but that’s okay. I loved his understated performance and thought he did a great job. He easily showed why he deserved to still be there, and I hope he’s safe.

Katie – I’m not a big Katie fan, and I don’t think she quite pulled off the attitude that the song called for, but she’s a strong vocalist. Do I think she’s safe? No, since she’s been in the bottom three before.

Casey – All Casey wears is blue shirts with stripes. Seriously – has he EVER worn something other than a blue shirt with stripes? Not that I can recall. I thought he did an okay job with the song. He did seem nearly as into it as he was with “Jealous Guy” last week.

Going home: Aaron, Andrew (with Katie rounding out the bottom three).