Casey James' "Jealous Guy" Without Doubt Best American Idol Top 9 Performance

For those who watched the American Idol Top 9 finalists perform the John Lennon/Paul McCartney songbook, the night turned into a run of fairly good renditions of Beatles tunes -- and one notable John Lennon solo selection by Casey James. The tall Texan performed John Lennon's 1971 solo hit "Jealous Guy." James got in the moment with an impressive and intense performance, no doubt making himself a serious contender for the American Idol Season 9 title. Casey James made the song his own, made it just a little bluesy, kept it minimalist, and blew the judges away.

All in all, Tuesday evening's performances were far and away better than the disastrous two weeks of Beatles songs performed in Season 7 (which, as American Idol viewers will recall, was saved from being a complete debacle by the two Davids -- Archuleta and Cook). Not one performance could be considered bad and most were better than fair. Even Tim Urban, the judges' weekly punching bag, escaped ridicule this go-round (and the cynical side of this writer wants to believe they only were nice to avoid the sympathetic backlash that seems to be keeping Urban on the show week after week).

But it was Casey James' "Jealous Guy" that got everyone's attention. Dressed in a white sport coat and with just an acoustic guitar and a mournful cello for accompaniment, Casey James made the lyrics of John Lennon, supposedly written about his relationship with Yoko Ono during the break-up of the Beatles, his personal message. James came across as apologetic, anguish-laden, emotionally distraught over being jealous. Where John Lennon made his hit single a song of introspection and explanation, Casey James made the lyrics almost self-berating. The performance was moving and the American Idol live audience went crazy after the last note sounded.

The American Idol judges enjoyed it as well. Randy Jackson told him he loved that he switched to an acoustic guitar this week (from his usual electric). He loved that James chose the song he did and said the performance was "heartfelt."

Ellen DeGeneres agreed, saying, "That, to me, was your best performance to date." She said it was "so soulful," that it was a "beautiful arrangement." "It was beautiful," she added.

Kara DioGuardi, who has been an unabashedly Casey James fan since the Denver auditions, noted that the song showed his "vulnerability." She added that it was "tasteful" and showed "depth." She also said she wanted James to push himself more in the future.

Simon Cowell, who had good things to say about Casey James Top 10 performance after a couple of weeks of dismissing his songs, said, "Best performance of the night so far." He added that he saw a "different side" of James with the "Jealous Guy" performance and was "very impressed."

American Idol host Ryan Seacrest met James at center stage and asked him what he was thinking about while he sang. The answer? "I was thinking of being a jealous guy."

As simple and straightforward as the song he had just performed.

With a couple more performances of that calibre and Casey James will be giving frontrunner Crystal Bowersox a run for her money to be the next American Idol. To see if Casey James wowed the American Idol voting audience with "Jealous Guy" as much as he did those in Hollywood, the results show to reveal the American Idol Top 8 airs at 9 p.m. EST.

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"Casey James -- Jealous Guy On American Idol Top 9" video via YouTube.com.

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Sources:

AmericanIdol.com
"American Idol," Fox Television
"Jealous Guy: The Story Behind The Idol Cover," MTV.com
YouTube.com