The American Idol Girls Are the Stars

The theme for the April 6^thAmerican Idol show was the British Invasion. Performers selected songs from singer/songwriters Paul McCartney and John Lennon specifically, instead of just songs from the Beatles. Paul McCartney sent the American Idol contestants a video message since he was on tour. The encouraging message told them to get out there, go for it, enjoy yourselves and good luck.

Ryan Seacrest asked Simon Cowell if the contestants should change the songs. Simon's response: "Sometimes yes and sometimes no. Certain songs shouldn't be changed but others can." With this kind of definitive guidance, what could go wrong?

April 6, 2010 American Idol Best Performances

Katie Stevens sang "Let it be," and her performance shocked me. I have not been a Katie Stevens fan but she changed my mind. This young performer changed the song but kept the tempo and style. The change was with her vocals and highlighted her range and style.

I absolutely love Lee DeWyze's raspy voice and he gave a great performance with "Hey Jude." He even had a bagpiper enter down the American Idol staircase. Simon wasn't impressed with the bagpipes but the rest of the audience seemed to love it.

Crystal Bowersox did it again with "Come Together." Her performances never cease to amaze me. The only downfall of being so naturally good is that American Idol voters will just come to expect it and start not voting for her.

April 6, 2010 American Idol Worst Performances

Aaron Kelly sang a slow and boring version of "The Long and Winding Road." Aaron sang the song like he was forcing emotion to coincide with the words. His vocals were weak and had some pitch problems with the higher notes. Other contestants have nicknamed Aaron Kelly "Yoda," but the force may not be able to save him this week.

I think that Andrew Garcia's version of "Can't Buy Me Love" was atrocious. He added a jazzy style to the song and he changed it too much. His vocals were just okay and they didn't make up for the song. The judges were split. Randy and Ellen liked it, and Kara and Simon weren't impressed.

Tim Urban sang "All My Loving" and even though the judges seemed to like it and thought it was a tremendous improvement from the previous weeks, the American Idol fans at my house didn't feel the song.

The rest of the American Idol performances landed somewhere in between. I predict the bottom three singers will be Aaron Kelly, Tim Urban, and Andrew Garcia although the way the judges beat up Siobhan Magnus' performance by calling it sleepy and restrained, we may see her in the bottom three also.

With only three female singers left on American Idol it appears that Simon's prediction of the 'Year of the Girls' may have been incorrect. However, the three girls left are all very strong singers and performers. The boys are the ones who should be worried about going home this week.