Top 9.... somewhat steppin' it up finally

I am going to start this blog with a sentence I never thought I would ever write.... wait for it.... ok... here goes... I think Katie had the best performance of the night tonight. There, I said it. I know, I know... I was just as shocked as everyone else. But I must give credit where credit is due, and she did excellent tonight! That was by far the best I have ever heard her...including her audition which I do remember was very good. I never would've questioned her position in the top 10 over Lilly if that was the way she'd been singing all along. I sincerely hope she keeps that up because she still has a ways to go to earn her spot. She was the best tonight, but that still doesn't quite make up for her weeks of horribleness. And yes, I did just use horribleness as if it were an actual word.

Moving on to the other 8 performances tonight.... in no particular order....

Tim Urban. Again, dude... I'm just done with you. That was not bad... but it was also not wonderful. He's just SO average and so BORING to me! His smile, although apparently his #1 trait according to the other contestants, is horribly irritating to me. I think it's the way he has to wrap his upper lip around his fang teeth that just gets under my skin. I'm sure he's a sweet kid, and I'm glad he's "having fun up there" (which he makes sure to tell us all EVERY week!) but he really is just not good enough to keep sticking around. The problem is, and I've said it before... as long as there are 13 year old girls with cell phones, Tim will stay in the competition. Let's just hope that they all got in trouble for something this week and were sent to bed with no phone privileges.

Big Mike. Nothing new with Big Mike. He performed well, he sang in tune, he "did his thing" and it was all well and good. He's getting a little too predictable for me, but I guess that same thing could be said of all of them so I won't spend too much time on it with him. He's just a bit too "eh" for me. Nothing about him is all that exciting or different. I do enjoy the fact that he is never out of tune except for a SLIGHT few notes here and there, but there is no "wow" with him. And I still can't get over that cocky vibe I get from him. I don't know. I don't think he's going anywhere for a while though, and I'm okay with that. He's a good singer and that's what it's about anyway.

Siobhan. She is a walking SNL sketch to me. Her clothes, the way she talks, her every action.. everything about her screams parody to me. Even her voice now has gotten to the point where I just don't know if I can take her seriously. If you dvr'd the show tonight and still have it saved, go back and play the first two lines of her song and try and tell me that it does not sound like she is making fun of the way someone would sing that song. I feel like she sounds like what my siblings and I would do when we were trying to sing in our "stupid" voices. Last week she was awful, and this week for me just did not help. I don't like her voice at all and I will be really surprised and quite annoyed if she sticks around until the final two like everyone was predicting in the beginning. I'm done with her.

Crystal Bowersox. Oh, Crystal. You're also getting a little to predictable (aside from the piano thing last week which doesn't really count since you only got out of your box once now), BUT even so... I still really enjoy you. She never sounds forced, she never sounds like she's trying too hard, and she always sounds like she just loves to sing and doesn't care what anyone else has to say or think about it. I could hear her on the radio. Kind of like a mix of Cheryl Crow and a girl version of Dave Matthews or something. I just like her vibe and I'm glad she's continuing to do well. If a girl's gonna win it this year, it's gonna be Crystal.

Casey. Casey is pretty. His hair is pretty, his eyes are pretty, his face is pretty. He's just one pretty dude. I don't hate his voice, but I don't love it. I feel like he is a mix of quite a few previous Idol contestants. If you took Bo Bice, Bucky Covington, and Constantine Morales and rolled them all up into one, much better looking than all three of them, person... you'd get Casey. He's got a little bit of all of them. Bucky's hair... but prettier... Constantine's "sex appeal"...but WAY more believable and NOT creepy... and Bo's rocker vibe... but way less annoying since he doesn't flip his hair and grab the mic stand every 3 seconds. I think Casey will be one of the last guys standing. I wouldn't be surprised if it was him and Crystal at the end. I feel like he's the kind of contestant that girls will love for obvious reasons, but that guys probably also would vote for.

Aaron Kelly. Oh dear, sweet, adorable Aaron. You've gotta go. Plain and simple. You weren't great tonight. Not great at all. Cute as a button, yes... but in a competition to find the best singer, you just aren't cutting it. It's a shame, really, because he does occasionally have a really great moment where his voice will sound wonderful. But those moments are becoming more few and far between as the weeks go on. He also has no real style, and very little personality on the stage. He seems nervous, which is understandable for a 16 year old, but you'd think the nerves would've calmed down a bit by this point. I just really don't think he should stick around much longer. He can stay one more week than Tim Urban, but after that...he needs to pack it up.

Lee Dewyze. I would done two things differently in that performance if I were Lee... a.) I would've sung it an entire step DOWN because some of those high notes were a BIT of a stretch, and b.) I would've kept the bagpiper but NOT had him come down the stairs. That was quite distracting and a little confusing. The sound of the bagpipes in there was cool, but the entrance was a little bizarre. I really liked how he engaged the crowd to sing the "nah nah nah nah's" . I mean, you can't listen to Hey Jude without singing along to that part, so that was nice that he recognized that. He did good. He's got that rocker-ish tone that is really popular right now, so I can see why people would like him. He's, as Simon would say, very "current" at the moment as far as what's on the radio and all of that. I think the race for the guys is between him, Casey, and Big Mike at this point. Which leaves us with one more guy... just slightly behind the rest....

Andrew Garcia. I like Andrew. He seems like a good guy, seems like a fun person to be around, and has a good personality, despite what Simon has concluded. I like his voice too...it's good and easy to listen to and he's got great tone and usually is pretty solid when it comes to pitch. I'm just not sure he's really breaking out as someone that people are gonna fight for. Sure he won us all over in Hollywood week and he IS a good singer, I just feel like he's getting very one dimensional... too much so in the fact that even when he has a great week like he did last week, you just kind of forget about him when it's all said and done. For whatever reason, I just think that Casey, Mike, and Lee have passed him up a little bit as of now. I will literally SCREAM if he goes home before Tim or Aaron though. That is just not something that should ever happen.

Well... overall it was a good night tonight. I still cannot believe that Katie did that good. I will be really surprised if she's in the bottom again because for the first time this WHOLE season, she actually doesn't deserve to be there. The three that should be there, in my opinion, should be Tim, Aaron and Siobhan. BUT, since nothing has been going my way at ALL this season, I'm sure that won't be the case! We shall see. OH...and I heard a little rumor that Adam Lambert is going to be the mentor for next week.... to which I say, HALLELUJAH!! If that's true, this might be the first week that I actually legitimately look forward to the show again! Be prepared for another Adam praising session if he shows up next week! Don't say I didn't warn you....