Guys Take the Stage Early on American Idol Season 9

Ryan Seacrest opened American Idol tonight by explaining that Crystal Bowersox had been taken to the hospital with an illness this morning. On advice from her doctor Bowersox could not perform tonight. American Idol producers decided to throw the guys under the proverbial bus and send them out a night early. Not that it would have made a difference. It's obvious at this point that AI Season 9 is lacking star power.

The guys came out sounding far better than last week in general. Let's face it though, there was nowhere to go but up from those terrible performances. All of the Season 9 Idol guys seemed to have shaken their stage fright. Poor song choice continues to plague the men, even the more seasoned singers have yet to hit a big song.

Michael "Big Mike" Lynche started the night off well with his version of James Brown's "This Is a Man's World". Last week Big Mike went BK on us with a smiley, happy, syrupy song. This week Michael Lynche showed us that he is serious about this competition. His wife and new baby are coming to support him and he said it's becoming clear that he needs to do this to support them. Big Mike looked comfortable on stage again this week, but more like he owned it. Bonus, I finally got to hear the words to a James Brown song.

The judges remarks for Michael Lynche:
Randy Jackson:"...I feel like right now the season is getting started... " standing ovation.

Ellen Degeneres:"...I like every song choice you've done so far... that was the way to start out the night...."

Kara DioGuardi:"...I did not get it until tonight.. you owned it tonight..."

Simon Cowell:"... what a difference, it was like going from a pussy cat to a lion in one week... it didn't sound dated.. this by far is the best performance you've given in the competition so far..."

Lee Dewyze closed the live Idol show tonight. Here's the thing about Lee Dewyze: I was writing notes on the episode and did a head count to see how many more singers were on, there was just one more. Try as I might, I could not remember who was missing. I had to go back to my list to see. Lee Dewyze stood out vocally again tonight. Dare I say it... he is the Kelly Clarkson of AI Season 9. I never remembered her until there were four left. Without his guitar tonight Dewyze looked decidedly more nervous than last week. He did the awful 'hitch up your britches' move just as he came to the microphone to really get into the song. The judges say he's got 'the look', I don't see that at all. He has a grunge look of any on the road teen. What Lee Dewyze brings to American Idol is the strong and real rock vocal that can rival Bo Bice if he lets it.

The judges comments for Lee Dewyze:
Randy:"...I like that you try to take chances... I liked it..."

Ellen:"... a couple little pitch problems....but it came out as a great performance..."

Kara:".. I thought it was a great improvement from last week... I can hear you on the radio right now.... it's very commercial..."

Simon:"... raise your shoulders...vocally you are head and shoulders above everyone else on your side {the boys}... self belief... I'm waiting for you to connect... you may be the one to beat..."

The middle of guys' night on AI Season 9 kind of fell apart. Largely due to poor song choice. John Park, Jermaine Sellers and Todrick Hall all had the worst of it. John Park still sounds like a stand in on "Glee". Jermaine Sellers and Todrick Hall are busy competing for how many runs can be crammed into a one minute song. Tim Urban was not as horrible as last week, that's about all. Aaron Kelly was cute and very safe in his silly song choice. Even Andrew Garcia, once thought a front runner for AI Season 9, has had another week of poor/boring song choice.

The surprise for me tonight came after the final AI contestant sang (Lee Dewyze) and they played back the clips of the rest of the singers. I got up to stretch and walked into the other room when I heard this voice. It made me almost run back into the living room to hear more. It was truly the best of the night....Alex Lambert. I was shocked myself. I saw Alex Lambert's performance tonight. I was so busy hoping he would do well and find his stage legs that I must have forgot to listen. His stage fright shows in every muscle of his being and is so distracting at this point. It's really too bad for Lambert and I hope the next few weeks will get him the confidence he is going to need. This kid is going to sell a lot of records. If you get a chance to listen to Alex Lambert without having to see his awkward stage presence, you may be just as surprised.

The judges comments for Alex Lambert:
Randy:"...this is such an improvement for me over last week for you... I really enjoyed that..."

Ellen:"...it's like someone took the unwrapped banana and put it in a plastic bag... I don't know how you did that in one week...such a great voice, under that mullet you have a Sam Cooke voice"

Kara:"...there isn't a person out there that isn't rooting for you... you have such an incredible voice, people would die to have that voice..."

Simon:"...that was a million times better than last week... the only time you should be nervous is if you are useless, and you're not.. I wish I was choosing your songs for you right now... from here on in I don't want to hear about these nerves... cause you're a good singer"

Fair or not, it's obvious who the judges are rooting for and who they are trying to prop up. In this case I think it is warranted that they stroke Alex Lambert's ego, since he has none. He could really be a star after this season of American Idol if they build him up.

Since the guys took the stage tonight, the ladies go live on American Idol Season 9 tomorrow night. Hopefully we will get to see all of them and Crystal Bowersox is feeling much better.

For full details on tonight's AI performances and judges comments go here. Tell me who you think had the best performance tonight.