American Idol Contestants All Kicked it Up a Notch Last Night

Last night's performance show of the final six contestants showed that everyone must have gotten a wake up from seeing a steady favorite Casey James almost leave. Casey took last week's scare very seriously and gave a sincere performance of Shania Twain's song "Don't." It was clearly his best performance yet as he wasn't just showing us that he is a good musician and band vocalist. He elevated himself to showing that he is better than that.

My original thoughts that the two finalists would be Crystal Bowersox and Casey James has wavered over the last couple of weeks. I still think Crystal is a safe bet to be the final winner even though she was the only contestant who didn't push it to her limits last night. She performed lighthearted "No One Needs to Know," as it was a message to her current boyfriend who was in the audience, but at this late stage in the show, it is very risky and easy to lose your momentum, as the other performers can out perform you and just be in the upper most of the callers minds. Crystal Bowersox has the confidence and natural gift that she has come to full realization that she well knows who she is, so she will continue to be the front runner.

Michael Lynce is a phenomenal singer and is vocally out performing everyone. The issue with Michael is that he is not as unique compared to the other frontrunners.

Siobhan Magnus is actually the one contestant with the looks and vocals, but who appears to have the least knowledge of where she belongs in music genres. Her vocals are too choral and broadway sounding. She will do well in whatever direction she takes, but her uniqueness and what is appealing to viewers is her appearance and style, not her performances.

Aaron Kelly has indeed improved and learned a great deal, but still lacks the confidence to continue much longer in the remaining shows. He has a following who like his looks and appeal, but he is still too young. His clips when working with a mentor of the week are always better than his show performances as he seems to freeze on stage. He may find his confidence in another year or so, but that may be too late to hold on to the A.I. fame.

Lee Dewyze is the dark horse. He can end up leaving or getting close to winning. He definitely has his own unique sound and it is indeed current, but he may just not have the personality to pass the others. With Lee, it may not be about how good he is, but who he has to compete with. In any case, he will find and have a great career in music, even if he left the show now.

I predict that Siobhan Magnus will be the next to leave this weeks show.

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1637968/20100428/twain_shania.jhtml