"American Idol" Contestants Miss the Mark on Billboard #1 Night

With all the possible Billboard #1 songs to choose from, it is becoming clear the majority of the "American Idol" season 9 contestants have no idea about choosing the right song.

The best of the night once again was Crystal Bowersox who sang "Me and Bobby McGee." However, this may no longer be a compliment to her as much as a condemnation of the rest. She has been performing in the Toledo area for a few years so she is used to performing and knows what she does well. However, with all the talk the judges have for the other contestants and whether they are "current" and radio-ready, they have not really used those phrases when praising Bowersox.

Many of the rest of the contestants made absolutely terrible song choices. Lee Dewyze kicked off by singing "The Letter," Paige Miles destroyed "Against All Odds," Tim Urban was a cheese ball on "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," Mike Lynche did "When a Man Loves a Woman," Andrew Garcia sang "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," Casey James performed "Power of Love," Didi Benami sang "You're No Good" and even Siobhan Magnus chose not so well by doing "Superstition."

Granted, all of these songs at some time were #1 and some are considered classics. However, just because a song makes it to #1 doesn't make it a great song. If that were so, VH1 would not have a couple of episodes of "Greatest One Hit Wonders" to show. Some of those songs likely made it to number one in their day, too.

The problem was the wrong choice for each artist. The performances were bland, except for a couple. The biggest surprise of the night was Katie Stevens, who sang Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry." She was praised by the judges for listening to them and taking on a younger look and song. She wasn't perfect, but it was her best performance so far.

Another good choice was Aaron Kelly singing Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss A Thing." He was suffering from tonsillitis and laryngitis so the vocals suffered some, but he was still pretty good and it was a good fit for him.

Right now it looks like it might be Bowersox's competition to lose. She knows who she is and what she sings well. Many of the others are struggling with their confidence or finding ways to express themselves. Her closest competitors at this stage are Magnus, Kelly, Lynche, James and Dewyze, probably in that order.

The bottom three from this week will be Urban, Garcia and Miles, with Miles being the one to go home. She simply seemed to have given up during her version of Phil Collins' song.

Also, it may seem Miley Cyrus may not have been the best mentor. She only really advised Andrew Garcia that he should not use the guitar because he was hiding behind it, which was correct. It didn't help him much, but it was good advice. The rest of the time she simply told the contestants they were amazing and she loved them all. That did not help.