by Gina Scarpa

 

It's down to the final six singers and life in the land of American Idol will be a little less bright and sunny, with last week's departure of Tim Urban. Say what you want about him, but he definitely grew throughout the competition and wins hands down for best attitude of any contestant. Most people seem to have a serious chip on their shoulder, but maybe that's because the judges have been handing them their you-know-whats all season long.

Last week, Idol Gives Back helped raise over $45 million to help children around the world. Way to go, Idol fans!

 

Tonight's theme is the music of Shania Twain and the country superstar will serve as mentor. She also sat in as a guest judge during an early audition round in Chicago this season. It's going to be interesting to see how these singers tackle her songbook and not have it come across as karaoke or dated but we'll see. Here's how things went down.

 

Lee Dewyze - "You're Still The One"
Of course, as soon as I say that it's going to be tough for these songs not to sound dated or karaoke, Lee takes the stage with a rendition of "You're Still The One" that sounds like it could be his own. They key could've been lowered by a step, because I don't think it was sung overly well, but I'm still a fan of what he did here. The judges are huge fans and keep pushing him on fans to send him to the finale. Can't say I blame them. He's certainly one of, if not the most, marketable people they have.

 

Michael Lynche - "It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing"
What bugs me about Big Mike is how great he thinks he is so I have a hard time enjoying his performances anymore. Yeah, he's a good singer but this competition, like So You Think You Can Dance, is about personality as well as talent. Now, I don't mind a little swagger, from somebody like Usher who earned the right to strut around. Mike's well known because of a reality show for a hot sec and he can go away as quickly as he came (just ask 95% of Idol contestants). It was sung very well and he did connect to the song, as Kara pointed out, and most definitely deserves to move on.

 

Casey James - "Don't"
Casey was criticized last week for not really showing anything new to the judges and America so he tried to remedy that with this week's performance. Basically only playing rhythm guitar, he focused more on his vocals than anything else and it paid off. I could imagine hearing this on the radio tomorrow. He sounded great! The judges had nothing but praise for him and many feel it's his best to date.

 

Crystal Bowersox - "No One Needs To Know"
One of the things I really like about Crystal is that I feel like I have a great idea as to what it would feel like to be at one of her concerts. She has a great ability to make every song she takes on sound like her own. Tonight, Crystal gave us a softer, sweeter, happier, more playful side of herself and it was really nice to see. The judges say it's not their favorite, which is a little bit irrelevant. It didn't show off everything she can do but who cares? You don't need to break out the bells and whistles every time.

 

Aaron Kelly - "You Got A Way"
Is it me or did Aaron sing that better in the rehearsal footage they showed with Shania? He started out sounding either vocally tired or nervous, but managed to step it up a bit towards the end. The judges like that Aaron showed both maturity but also an age appropriate choice. When he said that he sang the song for his mother, you could feel teenage girls and women everywhere going, "Awwww!" Don't be surprised if he's not the one to go home tomorrow night.

 

Siobhan Magnus - "Any Man Of Mine"

For me, this was my least favorite performance by Siobhan of the season.  Just because you hit a crazy high note or hold the last note for 15 seconds doesn't mean it was great overal.  The last ten seconds were great.  So what?  I definitely don't think Siobhan should be singing country but then again, I'm still not sure what Siobhan could be singing.  She always says we can't put her in a box or a specific category or genre, but she kind of needs to pick something, doesn't she?

 

Tune in to American Idol's live results show, tomorrow night at 9/8c on Fox.

 

(Image courtesy of Fox)

 

Follow Gina at twitter.com/ginascarpa

 

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