American Idol McCartney/Lennon Night

You might feel like you were in a wonderland of music on American Idol tonight as it felt different. Sounded different. Looked different. Compliments of the contestants.

Every contestant gave a great performance tonight on American Idol. Some really different and creative arrangements complete with cool costumes. The contestants were very emotionally attached to their individual songs and they all stepped it up. Lots of tears from some very tired performers.

The show started with Aaron singing Long Winding Road. Each of the contestants gave their impression of each other before each performance. Basically Aaron is the little brother of the group of 9. Aaron's performance was sleepy as Ellen put it. All agreed it was vocally good but lacked entertainment value.

Next was Katie the little sister of the group sang Let It Be like a seasoned veteran. She was amazing and all judges agreed. Very moving performance and she was connected to this song passionately. Randy said "It was your best performance ever!"

Andrew changed the tempo with Can't Buy Me Love a very old song from the book. He sang it with acoustic guitar with the band in the background. Almost kind of Buddy Hollyish. Good job but not his best in my estimation. He also made the mistake of setting up on the runway behind the judges. Easy to forget they are there I suppose. Kara said "Nothing new really. People like that song but not necessarily the singer."

Mike sang Elenore Rigby and the cool thing was he brought the string section on stage, with him in the middle. A very smart performance by someone out of their genre. Ellen jumped on it saying "There are so many sides to you. You are incredible." Not the best vocally but a good arrangement with smart entertainment value.

Next came the nights best performance in my estimation as Crystal sang Come Together with Ernie a contract musician playing the didery do. Mama Sox as she is known by the rest of the cast did her usual great arrangement with suburb timing and vocals. A very soulful rendition with current commercial appeal. Simon gave the ultimate compliment saying "This I could hear as a hit on the radio."

Tim with his happy go lucky I smile all the time attitude sang All My Loving. This was the perfect song for him while playing the electric guitar. The panel pretty much apologized for their anal, mean spirited remarks in the past and was very gracious for Tims persistence. Simon said" I like that you take criticism like a man. You handled yourself well."

Casey was next with a new sound that he claims is his bread and butter back home. He sang the lonely ballad with a touching arrangement of The Jealous Guy. I really enjoyed his performance and felt he really hit a home run but again behind Crystal. Kara gave a good compliment by saying "You showed vulnerability. Very tasteful. You showed us your depth." Very authentic with him, his acoustic guitar and a lone cello player.

Siobhan was stunning in a gorgeous dress with her hair done up and bedecked in jewels sang a soft melody of Across the Universe and came to tears with Simon because she felt she didn't want to change with all the glitz of Hollywood. Simon only had this to say "Much stronger this week. You are unpredictable which is what I love about you" A beautiful song sang by a beautiful women.

Lee wraps it up with Hey Jude. Good song for Lee but not his best performance. Not much to do with this song except connect with audience which is exactly what he did very successfully. Then towards the end a guy playing the bag pipe came in which I thought was brilliant as everyone was so amazed by this guy that they thought Lee entertained well. Another smart move tonight by a contestant.

All in all I enjoyed the show but could feel the contestants pain with all the Hollywood crap. They were highly emotional and worn out but on top of their game vocally, which saved the show.

Who goes home this week? Probably Aaron. Mainly because he lacks entertainment value but has great potential because he so young.