Bewitched, Bothered, and Be-Idoled

Sorry there's been no Idol blog today. Apparently there ARE people (or person) out there who read it! (Thanks, Debbi!) I'm swamped at work today getting ready for our annual end-of-the-year Drama/Speech ceremony, so just a couple quick thoughts.

Despite the fact that I was really excited about the presence of Harry Connick, Jr., and a Sinatra theme, I found last night really disappointing. Maybe it was the theme, maybe it was the fact that the singers had no real say in their arrangements (although I think Harry did a lovely job arranging the songs for them), or maybe it was just that I've grown kind of weary of these five. It's interesting to see the judges piling up on Crystal. Simon even pulled a "If you make it through to next week . . . ." Really, Simon? You think her performance puts her in danger when Casey and Aaron were both vocal train wrecks? I am a little annoyed that Crystal's choices to take a more low key route rather than coming out every night and screaming at us suddenly put her at risk. I don't know about anyone else, but I like the fact that she doesn't feel the need to go big every single week.

In terms of rankings, I would rank like this:
1. Lee Dewyze ("That's Life") You know, I'm beginning to think Lee could pull a Kris Allen here and take Crystal out. He gets better every week.

2. Crystal Bowersox ("Summer Wind") See above. I still love her, still can't wait for the album. (I found some of her presumably original stuff online -- awesome stuff!)

3. Michael Lynche ("The Way You Look Tonight") Dude was totally in his wheelhouse last night, but I still find him grating so downgrade for that ... and the hat.

4. Aaron Kelly ("Fly Me to the Moon") Probably Aaron was the worst of the night, but read Casey's comments to see why I'm putting him last. I really think it'll be Aaron or Casey that hits the road. In all honesty, it probably SHOULD be Aaron. Who thought the kid would outlast Siobhan? Hell, who thought he would outlast Lacey Brown? (PS -- Do you think he picked this song because he liked the animated movie from a couple years ago?)

5. Casey James ("Blue Skies") A friend of mine watched Idol for the first time last night and turned on just in time to see Casey's performance. His comment: "This guy is awful. You can tell he thinks he's really something, but to me, he sounds like a sheep with all that vibrato." He then turned the show off because he was so turned off by what he'd seen. (PS -- Do you think Casey picked this song because he's a big fan of Enterprise Car Rental?)

Okay, off to the banquet!!