American Idol Top 8 Men Do it One Last Time in the Semi-Finals Before the Top 12 Are Chosen

Even though Crystal Bowersox ruled Ladies night on Tuesday, it was Wednesday night with the Top 8 Men when things got more interesting on American Idol. Thankfully there were not the sleep-inducing songs one after another like it was with the ladies. The men were a bit more entertaining, and that is saying a lot for this crop of contestants. At least the men chose songs that weren't as dark, gloomy or depressing. I'm so glad this is the last week of the semi-finals, because from the Top 12 on to the finale will be the different themes each week. Now let's get to the business at hand and find out who were the worst and the best Wednesday night.

Before I begin let me state there were two performances that were OK but not anything special.

The Worst (no getting around it):

Todrick Hall (Somebody to Love - Queen): Yes, I know the judges were in love with his performance, but I completely disagree with them. I'm very familiar with this classic song by Queen sung by Freddie Mercury. In my opinion it requires powerful vocals since it is, appropriately enough, a power ballad. Todrick was too over the top with dramatics. Not only that, he was all over the place with it vocally and on the stage. What I found ironic as the judges criticized him for changing up a song too much and not singing well in the previous weeks he did the same with this one. However, I agreed when Simon stated Todrick Hall would be better suited in theatre versus being a recording artist.

Andrew Garcia (Genie in a Bottle - Christina Aguilera): How many more times is Andrew going to take a song by a female vocalist and change it up acoustically? Enough with it already, because it isn't working anymore I'm afraid. I agree with Kara's critique when she stated he peaked with the Paula Abdul song. If I had a dollar every time the judges brought that up we'd be rich. At any rate, I felt Andrew was verging on desperation with his last attempt. Why not sing a song from a male artist like all the other male contestants? His version of the Christina Aguilera song was not very good. There were times he kept going off-key. It was painful to watch and even listen to. At the end is when the song was starting to sound good, but then it was too little too late.

Aaron Kelly (I'm Already There - Lonestar): This was a bit painful to watch and listen to, because Aaron kept swaying his body throughout the middle of the song that was bothersome. To me that was a sign of nervous body language. I could understand him doing that in the first week, but this is the third week. Apparently the nerves are still getting the best of Aaron Kelly. Vocally he was out of tune, especially at the beginning. He had a few good moments, but this was by far the worst performance in the Top 8.

Simply the Best:

Casey James (You'll Think of Me - Keith Urban): A perfect song choice and believable performance from Casey that was sincere. He did an impressive rendition of this country song that is the music genre he should stick to. Last week's performance of trying to be a rock star wasn't so good. Casey and country music go perfectly hand in hand. I agreed completely with the judge's assessment on Casey James' direction into country music too.

Tim Urban (Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley): Anyone who sings this great song composed by Leonard Cohen has my vote. Yes, it has been performed live recently, most notably at the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies by k.d. lang, as well as performed by Season 7's Jason Castro. I'm always interested in hearing other versions of this beautiful ballad because no two are ever alike. Tim's version was impressive, and you could hear the vast improvement he's made from week to week. He gave a very heartfelt and earnest performance that I enjoyed very much.

Michael Lynche (This Woman's Work - Maxwell): Finally the competition starts to heat up at long last with a fiery performance that had soul, passion, and conviction. All these weeks everyone, except the exceptional few, was so amateur by comparison. Now we have a full-fledge battle between the ladies and the men without it being lopsided. I agreed with everything the judges had to say, except for the fakery tears by none other than the attention-grabbing judge, Kara DioGuardi. At least when Paula Abdul was moved by tears it was sincere and real. Whatever the motive was behind Kara she was definitely impressed, and so was I. What made it even more interesting for me is Michael Lynche is from the Tampa Bay area. This put a great big smile on my face to see someone locally become a real contender now on American Idol.

The Results Show will decide the Top 12 Finalists. Hopefully we may learn of what themes they will be featuring in the coming weeks. The Season 8 alum duo of Scott MacIntyre and Matt Giraud will perform dueling pianos on Billy Joel's Tell Her About It. I love the Finals, because that is when American Idol really gets cooking.

SOURCES:

http://www.americanidol.com/

http://www.votefortheworst.com/blog/646541/final-16-boys-sing-i-dont-know-whether-to-laugh

http://www.votefortheworst.com/blog/646425/top-16-guys-recap-can-i-remember-the-performances

http://www.mlive.com/tv/index.ssf/2010/03/matt_giraud_returns_to_america.html