Top 12 Performances

All things considered, Rolling Stones night was a great deal better than I'd feared it would be. This is still far from the strongest Top 12 ever, but the good ones all showed up last night, and some of the not-so-good ones gave their best performances so far. In order of my preference:

Didi Benami
"Play with Fire"
I'll admit, I was worried to hear she was singing something so low-key, but this performance gave me goosebumps. I wouldn't have expected that Didi could convey darkness or intensity with any kind of honesty, but I think she did. I could chop those swaying hands right off, but otherwise, I loved this.

Crystal Bowersox (+2, sang last)
"You Can't Always Get What You Want"
Hey, Tim Urban, THAT is how you sell a Stones song as a party jam. All the usual praises of Crystal apply: confident, assured, gorgeously sung. And I do think the judges were trying to combat voter complacency with their critiques, which also makes me happy, because I need Crystal to stick around for a long time.

Siobahn Magnus
You know, I guess I can't argue if you say that Siobahn is undisciplined and that nuclear wail was nothing more than a showy scream. But on the other hand: don't care. I could not love Siobahn more if she danced with the devil and appeared to Goody Stevens and Goody Miles and tormented them with needles. I like that she's not running from her own weirdness, and I like that Simon has finally caught on to that. Not sure how far it'll carry her with the voters, but she's got me.

Katie Stevens
"Wild Horses"
I haven't had any use for Katie this season, but I really felt like she pulled together her best performance this week, arguably when she needed it the most. Clear, confident vocals and a largely un-smiley delivery managed to override that Sweet Sixteen dress and let her crawl her way to the top of the heap of contestants who shouldn't have made it out of last week.

Casey James
"It's All Over Now"
Certainly good enough to ensure he'll be around next week, and pretty much exactly in his wheelhouse. But the one-handed guitar-playing is two giant steps too far in the "I don't give a shit" direction; and this week, I finally realized who he reminds me of sometimes, and that person is Brett Butler. So...

Lee Dewyze
"Beast of Burden"
Of note, the best cover version of this I've heard was performed by Joan Osborne and Tony Rich on some VH1 concert or another. Lee's snoozy, repetitive version was not nearly up to that standard. His mumbly affectation tripped him up on at least a couple occasions. Vocally, it's the best Lee's been all season, but the same-iness of the performance kept it pretty pedestrian, overall. This is a "safe" song, per Simon, but only if you don't put enough attitude into it. Lee didn't.

Lacey Brown
"Ruby Tuesday"
It's a wonderful song -- one of my favorites from the Stones -- but I was of the firm belief that nobody should choose it. The melody's too choppy, it doesn't build -- not a good fit for this show. Lacey suffered from the same pacing issues as Mike did, but the parts where she really let herself go, rare as they were, were lovely. Bottom-tier, for sure, but not the worst thing.

Michael Lynche (+1, sang first)
"Miss You"
The arrangement had a bit of a "neither here nor there" feel to it, and unlike the last two weeks, Big Mike failed to entirely hide his vocal limitations. This one sounded worse after hearing the full night's worth of good performances.

Aaron Kelly
"Angie"
Snooze! Vocally, this was a big improvement from last week's abomination, and that should be enough to keep him around. On a more important note: Ellen called out their similar haircuts! You guys, I TOLD you Aaron had Lesbian Face!

Andrew Garcia
"Gimmie Shelter"
God DAMN it! Such a good song, Scorsese-bred overexposure notwithstanding, and it had to be wasted on circling-the-drain Andrew, whose rapid unraveling on this show continues to be shocking. On, like, a Sundance Head level. The over-enunciation, the forced intensity, the scraping of his limits on the big notes he built the performance around -- all of it embarrassingly amateur.

Paige Miles
"Honky Tonk Women"
You've all heard me whine about my pet peeve of people who switch gender designations in songs so it conforms to heteronormative standards (i.e. God forbid if people think I'm a big lez, so I'll be singing "Me and Mr. Jones"). But Paige's brutal hacking of the chorus to this song was perhaps the most egregious example of that I've ever seen. Just sing about goddamn Honky Tonk Women, Paige. I promise Ellen won't try to marry you. Besides all that, while the verses were pretty good, Paige's vocal fell apart in the chorus, as her oversinging really started to show.

Tim Urban
"Under My Thumb"
So, yeah, you can't really sell this song as as Jason Mraz-y party jam. And certainly TIM can't sell this as a Mraz-y party jam. Uncomfortable and not good all around. Also, Tim gets the "'A' for effort" treatment from the judges, but Todrick couldn't? That seems less than fair.

Going Home: I worry about Didi, because she sang second. Otherwise, I'd say Tim, Lacey, Andrew, and (hopefully) Paige are all vulnerable.
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