American Idol: Rolling Stones Week - Top 12

Last night was the 'official' start of the show for me. I love it when they get to the big stage, it just feels more...real? Yes, real. This is the part where the season should take off to better and greater things. I was really excited when I heard last week that they'd be choosing from Stones songs. I was thinking we'd get some really great performances, some good ol' rock and roll. I wasn't impressed. In fact, with exception of a few, I was down right disappointed. And, because of that, I think my thoughts will be shorter this week. (Sorry to my two faithful readers.)


First up...

Mike Lynch - "Miss You"
This was another strong performance, but I wasn't really wowed. My favorite of his perfs is still 'This is a Man's World.' This weeks' perf was pretty solid as far as his voice, but he is was too theatrical for me. Usually, that really works for me (Adam Lambert anyone?) but with Michael it just doesn't carry over right. I don't know. I still think he'll be back next week, for sure.

Didi Benami - "Play With Fire"
I really liked this song choice for Didi. It was a different kind of song than all the others she's chosen before. I liked that it was darker and showed that she has different sides to her personality. She is still one of my favorites.

Casey James - "It's All Over Now"
I didn't like performance. I like when he does the slower songs because I think that showcases his vocals better. Also, I know I gave him points before for his guitar, but I don't really care for the electric guitar. Acoustic is much better. ;)

Ellen's "For women like me" joke was hilarious. I heart her.

Lacey Brown - "Ruby Tuesday"
Again, I love her voice. It's different. However, I wasn't wowed. She's a little too smiley sometimes too. It was an ok performance, bordering on good, but not great.

Andrew Garcia - "Gimme Shelter"
I don't know what happened with him, but he's just not great anymore. He definitely peaked during Hollywood week and now he's plummeting into the ground for me. Only parts of the perf sounded good. Mostly he sounded off key, strained, forced, and just off. He is the one I most want to go home. However, I'm not dumb enough to think that he's the one that's going. Wishful thinking.

Katie Stevens - "Wild Horses"
Ok, so hearing that she was doing this song, obviously made me think of Susan Boyle, which in turn made me think of Adam Lambert. Then I went off in my brain in a dream like state of awesomeness at the hands of AL. =P However, I then forced myself to focus on Katie and I was surprised! She did really well. Not the best by far, but a lot better than she's done in the past two weeks. Her voice was very strong.

Tim Urban - "Under My Thumb"
WTF? That's basically it. I kid. But seriously. I get that he wanted to do something completely different (I applaud) which has shown to be well received in the past. For example, last year when Adam Lambert made "Ring of Fire" sound like something out of the Middle East. That was amazing. Tim's perf last night was anything but. Also, did anyone else notice that he has long nails. They seriously looked like women's nails. However, I still like him and don't want him to go home. I think he might though.

Siobhan Magnus - "Paint It Black"
What can I say here? I love her. I absolutely loved the song choice and she is the most deserving of being compared to Adam Lambert for sheer scream factor. I was thinking through part of it that she might be sick because her voice was a little scratchy on the last note, but she still slayed it.

Lee Dewyze - "Beast Of Burden"
I was surprised at myself on this one. I have been loving Lee's voice from the start, but last night I thought he sounded too familiar and common. He did well, though, but again not jumping out of my seat over it.

Paige Miles - "Honky Tonk Woman"
I read on twitter yesterday that she has laryngitis. So, part way through her performance my husband pops up with, "Even with laryngitis this is better than Tim Urban." He loves to pick on me. But, honestly, I thought this was one of her best performances to date. I could hear that her voice was different, but I thought that gave it something extra and it sounded better. She gave a good perf and utilized the whole stage.

Aaron Kelly - "Angie"
I don't have much to say about him. I feel sort of bad about it, but I just don't like him. I think he did lots better than last week. I still want to say good bye to him, though.

Crystal Bowersox - "You Can't Always Get What You Want"
This was a strong performance. I liked the little variations that she made to the song and I could actually see emotion and personality in the performance. Even though I've loved her from the beginning, that was something I was missing from her a lot of the time.

Ok, so like I said I always want Aaron to go home - I don't think he will. Based on last night's perf I want Andrew to go home - I don't think he will either. And I don't want Tim to go home - but I sort of think he might.

In closing, I just want to say that I loved how the judges were all color coordinated. And also, Kara was irking me really bad last night. She kept saying 'guys' in reference to Randy and Ellen. Now, I know sometimes people say that when talking about a group or whatever and that group may include women, but she has only ever done it when talking about Randy and Simon. So, her saying "I agree with the guys." just seemed wrong to me, and she did it at least twice. I know, I know, not a big deal, but still...I was irked.

So, what are your thoughts? Who was your fav this week and who should get ready for good bye?