The songs of The Beatles are indeed some of the catchiest and best known in pop music history. And many of their songs have been covered hundreds of times by an eclectic array of artists in the last 50 years. So perhaps it’s not surprising that the songs of The Beatles—sorry, “Lennon and McCartney”—helped elevate the overall performances on Idol last night.

 

Nothing is automatic, of course, as fans of the show may recall when The Beatles catalog was first available two years ago. For every creative interpretation (remember Chikezie Eze’s “She’s a Woman”?) there’s bound to be a train wreck (still trying to suppress Kristy Lee Cook’s “Eight Days a Week”).

 

Thankfully, no one was awful. At worst, we had a few contestants picking obvious songs suited to their bland, creativity-challenged style—it’s going to cost one of them. But there were also plenty of finalists who took the opportunity to prove they’re more than so-so singers, proving themselves worthy of their own Magical Mystery Tour come summer when the Top 10 visit a city near you.

 

Adding to the night’s unpredictability, for the second week in a row, the best performance was not the season’s frontrunner. Casey James at long last demonstrated that he was more than a pretty boy with moderate guitar skill. As the only contestant of the night to pick Lennon-McCartney solo material, he ditched his electric guitar in favor of an acoustic for a quietly soulful rendition of John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy.” Casey didn’t rehash the original, he only slightly borrowed from Collective Soul’s cover, and he ended up successfully making it his own, connecting his most passionate vocal to date with very tasteful guitar playing. The singing wasn’t rock solid, but that’s the blues. This was the real Casey James on display, and one of the few download worthy performances of the season so far.

Now I ask you, are we more impressed with an inconsistent performer finally connecting with a song, or with a consistent performer offering yet another good rendition? Because I fear Casey will probably revert back to his old routine in the next week or two, but Crystal Bowersox is still delivering the goods. I would agree with some of the judges that it was not her best performance, but “Come Together” was a great fit for the artsy mom’s style, allowing her to show a more rocking, bluesy side reminiscent of Ashley Cleveland, Melissa Etheridge, or as Kara suggested, Bonnie Raitt. Moreover, Crystal seemed more relaxed and playful, smiling during the song and laughing at the end. There were a few missed notes, and I wasn’t nearly as enamored with the didgeridoo (look I can spell!), but it all added up to another strong performance that proves this is still the one to beat.

 

And as usual, Michael Lynche delivered another strong performance nearly as good. Let’s just put aside the dude’s vocal prowess for a bit and note how Big Mike’s creative side has blossomed in recent weeks. He’s brought class to modern R&B/soul in ways we haven’t heard for many years, bringing a little bit of pop elegance to the arrangements. Now he’s done the reverse with “Eleanor Rigby,” keeping the string-based arrangement, but adding some R&B to the rhythm and soulful rock edge to the chorus. I didn’t feel it was as dramatic a change as Ellen stated—it was a perfect adaptation that tweaked the original song just enough to make it modern. As Randy noted, parts of the performance seemed over-the-top, but at least Mike took some chances and showed some artistry by bending a song to his musical sensibilities. As for Simon, well, maybe he’ll come around after watching the playback, because while the arrangement was certainly theatrical, it was hardly out-of-date.

 

Siobhan Magnus finally dialed herself down after weeks of over-the-top screaming with a gentle performance of the folk song “Across the Universe”—she even sang her big note at the end softly. In light of her disastrous performance last week, this proved that the girl really does have both a lovely voice and, more importantly, remarkable control when she’s focused. The only problem was, Siobhan dialed things down far too much, to the point … where … it almost … put … my wife … to … sleep. Kara was more accurate in calling it too “restrained and polite,” and I agree with Simon that it’s a performance that might have eliminated Siobhan earlier in the competition when viewers were just getting acquainted with her. For me, this wasn’t a breakthrough performance or a radio hit, but rather the poignant (though forgettable) epilogue/finale to an album. It was done very well, but it doesn’t bring clarity to who Siobhan is as a potential recording artist.

 

In a night full of surprises, Tim Urban’s solid performance of “All My Loving” was probably the most unexpected. This is a guy who’s become as much of a joke among Idol viewers as Sanjaya was a few years back, and the judges clearly regard him as much based on their comments. But every dog has his day, and it turns out the music of the Fab Four is perfectly suited to Tim’s style (if I can use that word). Actually, it was much more than a contestant lucking into the right song. I’m surprised that none of the judges noted how relaxed the guy looked during his performance—he wasn’t stiff or wide-eyed, he (mostly) sang on key, and he actually seemed connected to the lyrics. Unless viewers send him home for his embarrassingly amateur body of work on the show, I do believe young Master Urban is safe for another week. He was actually … dare I say it … good?

Rounding out the safe singers of the night is Lee DeWyze, and I’d have called you nuts last week if you told me Tim would end up with a better performance in the next round. I did love that his fellow contestants have teased him for his lack of confidence—he’s like the Eeyore of the bunch! But there was no lack of confidence during his performance of “Hey Jude.” In fact, confidence was pretty much all Lee had to sustain him during a somewhat rough sounding vocal performance; his likable growl got a little too shouty at times, he missed several notes, and he completely backed off the song’s “na na na’s.” Then there was the spectacle of adding a bagpipe player at the end (in full Scottish attire, no less)—purely over-the-top, but one must admit it made Lee’s performance all the more memorable. This was a case where a singer won the audience over with the pure energy of fun, because it definitely was not as good as the audience and judges seemed to think.

 

With so many performances grading good to great, it makes the Bottom Three pretty obvious. Showing considerably more leg and skin than usual with a tight pink mini-dress, Katie Stevens predictably picked a popular ballad and sang it straight. I would admit she sang “Let It Be” well, and that she connected with it more emotionally than any other this season. But if this is as emotional as she gets during a performance, then I suspect she really is a robot—she still looks bored (or boring, to be more accurate). Aside from the lack of strong resonance in her performances, my problem with Katie is that she’s incapable of making a song her own. We’ll never see a soul-stirring performance from her, much less an inventive arrangement, that will help her stand out this season. And no, Randy, the performance was not hot, nor did she make the song her own. Considering her regular visits to the Bottom Three in recent weeks, coupled with Tim’s success this week, Katie’s in serious trouble of going home, despite an okay performance.

 

But if there’s any justice in the voting, Katie will quickly be sent back to the seats for safety with Andrew Garcia left to sweat it out in the Bottom Two. We all want to love this guy. We all know he’s capable of an enjoyably funky arrangement. But there simply wasn’t enough to “Can’t Buy Me Love” to justify the guy staying. Kara rightly picked up on the one thing that made it interesting—the funky breakdown towards the end—but the song needed much more of that. Instead, Andrew played it safe with dated sounding horns and a routine cover of The Beatles’ classic, all the while looking like an impersonator at a ‘50s diner who couldn’t decide between Buddy Holly and Elvis. And sorry, Andrew, but if you can’t figure out why Simon called the performance corny, you clearly don’t have an ear for this sort of thing. (Hint: It’s not your smile or personality.)

 

I’d sooner give Andrew another week than let Aaron Kelly continue his unremarkable Idol journey. Yes, the kid can (sort of) sing, and yes, he knows his voice is perfectly suited for the Nashville-pop mush that passes for country these days. But at this stage, contestants need to impress, and of all Lennon-McCartney songs he could have used to showcase his talents, he picked one of the three that I knew he’d select as of last week: “Imagine,” “Yesterday,” or as it turned out, “The Long and Winding Road.” His reasoning for picking the song was probably the most inane thing about the performance. Aaron sang it nicely, if not dutifully, and I liked the last note he hit. But as Kara said, “it needed to be great” and he needs to do something different, which Aaron has already promised for next week. Question: Should that be reason enough to put him through when the performance fails to leave an impression?

There you have it. Not a bad night, all things considered. Did you agree that most of the contestants seemed to up their game? Are we in agreement concerning the Bottom Three? And what did you think of the pre-performance videos with the fellow contestants talking up one another—kinda nice to see them keeping it cordial, no?