'American Idol' Top 7 Not Very Inspirational

Inspirational Night on "American Idol" with the Top 7 contestants wasn't really all that inspirational, but Alicia Keys did a nice job mentoring and there were some pretty good performances.

First off, the judges seemed a little harsh, especially where Tim Urban and Siobhan Magnus were concerned. Urban sang "Better Days" by the Goo Goo Dolls and did a very good job with it. He seems to be getting better all the time and is finally starting to make us feel like he actually belongs for something other than his smile. It was a good choice for him and he did well.

Magnus sang "When You Believe" by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. Usually, trying to perform a song by one of those artists is the kiss of death, but for some reason, no contestant has learned this yet. Every year, somebody pulls out one of those songs and usually they fail miserably. However, Magnus actually handled this pretty well. There was no scream anywhere in the song which was refreshing. It was a knockout performance, but she has struggled the last few weeks and this was her best in quite some time.

Most of the judges, except for Simon Cowell, were overly generous toward Aaron Kelly, who sang R. Kelly's "I Think I Can Fly." He didn't do a bad job, but it wasn't great either. However, Randy Jackson, Ellen DeGeneres and Kara DioGuardi heaped praise upon him, while Cowell said he would have turned the radio off within 10 seconds of hearing it. That was the more accurate assessment, as the song started out brutally slow before finally "taking off." By then, I didn't really care if it did or not.

Michael Lynche was okay singing "Hero," I neither loved it nor hated it. Casey James pretty well deserved the criticism he received for singing Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop Thinkin' About Tomorrow." While I don't think it was lazy, as Simon said, I don't think it was inspirational at all and he does have to start to worry about his act getting old. If I saw him in a bar, he'd be great, but I'm probably not going to buy an album. On the other hand, the judges tell contestants all the time, be yourself, be the artist you want to be, and then turn around and tell James, "We know that's who you are, but try something different."

At any rate, none of these performances were particularly inspirational. Urban and Magnus were the closest. However, Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox performed way over everybody else's heads, and Bowersox was the better of the two.

DeWyze sang Simon and Garfunkel's "The Boxer." It was a very good vocal and arrangement. DeWyze continues to shine as he gets over his stage fright and seems headed to the final two.

His opponent likely will Bowersox, who was said to have been set to leave last week until host Ryan Seacrest talked her out of it. Bowersox sang "People Get Ready" and broke into tears at the end of the song. She said it was because her father was in the audience. All season Bowersox has been above the other contestants, even causing Cowell to say at one point she seemed to think the competition was in her pocket. She denied that, but it is clear at this point she is the best of the bunch. However, anything can happen with the votes.

While I have said in the past Bowersox may need to be concerned about voter's thinking she's too good to need votes, she may now have another worry. People may hold it against her that she wanted to leave due to the pressure of the show and had to be talked into staying. It may become difficult to vote for someone who can't handle the pressure of being on a show designed to create a music superstar.

Doesn't it seem like there would be even more pressure if she wins?

Hard to say who will go home this week, but my guess is either Magnus, who has struggled lately except for this week, or Lynche, who was actually voted off a couple of weeks ago.