Jamie Foxx to Mentor American Idol for "Songs from the Movies" Theme on May 11, 2010

Jamie Foxx is American Idol's mentor for the May 11^th, 2010 show. The theme is "Songs from the Movies." The competition heats up because after this show fans will be down to the final three. The four remaining American Idol contestants are Michael Lynche, Casey James, Crystal Bowersox, and Lee DeWyze.

How Jamie Foxx can help the American Idol Contestants

Jamie Foxx is a singer, actor and stand-up comedian. He should easily put the contestants at ease when they work with him. He won an Academy Award for the film Ray and a two Grammy awards. His first Grammy was in 2006 for being the Favorite Male R&B Artist. With Jamie Foxx's extensive career combining film and song this week's "Songs from the Movies" theme fits him perfectly. He will be a wise mentor, and I hope the contestants listen.

Jamie Foxx is perfect to coordinating the contestant's performances with their stage presence and vocals. I worry that the "Songs from the Movies" may turn out to be too theatrical, so I hope the contestants do their entire performance for Foxx to critique.

Can Jamie Foxx give the American Idol contestants some soul? Casey James is the only contestant left that could benefit from a little more soul and maybe a little humor. If Michael, Crystal, and Lee all pick 'true to themselves' songs then they will be in good shape.

Jamie Foxx can help Lee DeWyze by loosening him up even more. Lee has made some great progress, but each week a little more goes a long way.

Jamie Foxx will be a good mentor for the final four American Idol contestants as long as he's brutally honest with them. At this point, honesty without a sugar coating is what these singers need.

What the American Idol Contestants Need to Do

Crystal Bowersox: With her last two performances getting less than stellar reviews, Crystal needs to find a song that returns her to her bluesy, gospel sounding self. I loved the fact that she was able to transform into the themes, but apparently the judges didn't love it.

Michael Lynche: Michael needs to go with a medium paced R&B song. I would love to see him in front of his guitar again to bring out the soul in his music. Forget about using the whole stage, just get up there and sing.

Casey James: Unfortunately, I think Casey will have a difficult time this week. "Songs from the Movies" is a very wide theme, and if he doesn't pick the right song, then he's done. Casey probably doesn't want to admit this, but he is a perfect country singer with a touch of rock.

Lee DeWyze: If Lee picks another rock song, he will do great with this week's theme. He's starting to get a smirk and his performances are becoming more enjoyable as he smiles and gets into the songs.

All four American Idol contestants need to pick more current movie songs. If any one of them decide to go into the eighties or earlier then they may have a difficult time making the songs modern. Jamie Foxx will be able to help them with both their performances and singing.

Sources:
http://americanidolnet.com/
http://www.jamiefoxx.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Foxx