Early in the day, the Top 10 guys found out they would be performing on Tuesday instead of the girls since Crystal Bowersox was in the hospital. The guys were game and performed live one day earlier than planned.
Big Michael Lynche was up first. He revealed that he was a theater kid and a football jock in high school, so he was kind of like Finn from GLEE. We saw footage of Mike doing bicep curls with Aaron Kelly as his weight, and he lifts him with the amount of effort required to lift a TV remote. Mike's version of "This Is A Man's Man's Man's World" by James Brown caused Randy Jackson to give him a standing ovation. The judges saw great improvement and question what, or how much, he ate. Mike was inspired this week because if he moves to the next round, his wife and baby will move out here to be with him.
To be on Idol, John Park stepped down as the leader of his college a capella group "Purple Haze." John shared that he was originally born in the U.S., moved to Korea, and then moved back to America, so English was actually John's second language. He sang "Gravity" by John Mayer, and although the judges liked this song choice better, they didn't believe it was an honest performance. Would Purple Haze get their leader back?
Casey James hasn't had a TV since he was 7, which means he had never seen Idol until now. He teased that he won't reveal his pre-show ritual unless he makes Top 10. This week, Casey traded in his acoustic guitar and bluesy feel for his blue electric guitar and rocker persona for Gavin DeGraw's "I Don't Want To Be." He put on a mini rock concert and the judges loved his guitar shredding, but as his #1 cougar fan (Kara) said, they missed the honesty of his vocals from before.
Alex Lambert has terrible stage fright, but this week he's battling it by being in his comfort zone with a guitar. He also makes up his own language when writing songs. Ooh I hope there's an Original Song week where he can sing this song. Alex performed John Legend's "Everybody Knows," and the judges saw a vast improvement in Alex from last week. Ellen said it's like unripe the banana was put in a paper bag, which is actually a compliment. Just as his mullet is becoming more defined, so is Alex.
Todrick Hall worked his way up in the Nutcracker ballet and defied barriers. His pre-show ritual is to do push-ups in order to make his pecs look bigger, but since he wore a blazer tonight, I was unable to check 'em out. For the second week in a row, Todrick totally revamped a song, and this time it was Tina Turner's "What's Love Got To Do With It." The judges didn't think it was the right song or arrangement and they said he needs to dance more. Next time he should try out Tina's moves with "Proud Mary."
At first I didn't understand Jermaine Sellers' look tonight -- the abnormal tuft of hair on his head, the tight sweater over a polka dot shirt with a pink plaid tie. But after he revealed that he can "rocks a onesie," I realized what kind of fashion risk taker he is. Would he "rocks" his performance? He sang Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," but it just didn't work out for the judges, who believe he is watering down the songs. Next thing you know, Jermaine and Simon are going to church together and Ellen was giving song requests.
Andrew Garcia has been a breakdancer since middle school. He compares breakdancing techniques to singing, but I feel that breakdancing is a lot more dangerous. If this whole Idol thing doesn't work out for him, maybe he could try So You Think You Can Dance. Andrew stepped away from the guitar and performed "You Give Me Something" by James Morrison. The judges still like Andrew, but they miss his originality from his "Straight Up" days. I suggest he takes on "Opposites Attract" next week and he can breakdance with MC Skat Kat.
Aaron Kelly loves photography and that the camera doesn't lie. The camera didn't lie when we saw a post-show clip of Simon telling Aaron "Good job," and Aaron couldn't hide his excitement. He said "That was awesome," and ended up forgetting the question he was answering. Too cute! He sang an oldie, "My Girl" by the Temptations. Randy thought it was 200% better than last week, but Simon thought he was going backwards. It also seems that Kara and Simon really expect each others' opinions, even though they are often conflicting opinions, judging by the way they're nearly leaning on each other.
In addition to coming across very Partridge Family to me, Tim Urban mentions that he has a tight knit family of four brothers and five sisters. He is singing "Come On Get Happy"...oh wait, "Come On Get Higher" by Matt Nathanson. Tim had his guitar this week and seemed more at ease. Randy, Ellen, and Kara weren't won over by the performance, but Tim had Simon on his side. Cowell noticed improvement and appreciated that Tim really listened to their criticism. Then Ryan told America that Tim "let out a bunch of air." Hopefully it was just a sigh.
Lee Dewyze made some bad decisions in high school and had to go to an alternative school where he met some teachers that helped him out. He said he was always a good guy, and just made some bad decisions. Would Lee be making any bad decisions tonight? He sang "Lips Of An Angel" by Hinder without his guitar. The judges said there were less pitchy moments this week than last. Simon also said he's "head and shoulders above everyone else" and he just needs self belief. You can see that's difficult for Lee, whose eyes are tearing after hearing such remarks.
The guys worked it out in such short notice, and the girls will be back tomorrow with hopefully all ten performing.