by Gina Scarpa

 

Tonight, on American Idol, the final three perform twice. First, they choose a song and then, they perform a song that the judges choose for them. This is by far the most important night for Casey, Crystal, and Lee as they battle it out for the final two spots to try to win this thing. I think it's obvious where we're headed in terms of the finale but that being said, here's how tonight's performances went down.

 

Casey James - "Okay, It's Alright With Me" by Eric Hutchinson
Casey makes a good choice for his first song of the night but just because he makes a good choice doesn't mean it was a good performance. If you don't know Eric Hutchinson, he's worth downloading on ITunes and listening to. I think the original is a more interesting listen than what Casey did and he's never making it to the finale with a so-so performance.

 

Crystal Bowersox - "Come To My Window" by Melissa Etheridge
The weird thing about this performance is, at it starts, I feel like I've heard it before and then realized I was thinking her first performance on the Idol stage, "Hand In My Pocket". Both songs were written over 15 years ago and that's exactly what it feels like - a performance out of the 90s. That's not to say that she didn't sound good but again I say: how is she relevant on the radio today?

 

Lee Dewyze - "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Now, unlike Crystal, Lee was able to take an older song and make it sound new. Lee makes the most sense to win this competition, if he'll go the way of Chris Daughtry and not the way of David Cook. The judges declare Lee the winner of round 1 tonight and deservedly so.

 

Casey James - "Daughters" by John Mayer
I love that the judges chose this for him. Something weird is going on with Casey tonight, though, it seems. He almost looks like emotionally, he's checked out of the competition. There's really nothing in his eyes, despite the fact that he played and sang well and the girls can't help but scream for him. It's almost like he accepted that he's headed home tomorrow night but you never know, Casey! There could be an upset. Don't you even want it?

 

Crystal Bowersox - "Maybe I'm Amazed" by Paul McCartney
Well, Crystal showed right here why she's been one of the frontrunners all season long. Her vocals were amazing and, as Kara said, she showed things that she's never shown before. In a way, it was surprising and definitely something different from Crystal, which I think was needed. I think it's clear we're headed towards a Crystal/Lee showdown.

 

Lee Dewyze - "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen
I can't believe I'm about to say this but I actually like Tim Urban's rendition better. I didn't need the fog, the gospel choir, the overproduced orchestration. I just wanted Lee to sing. There was no need to overdo it. That being said, people are going to love it and I can't imagine we won't be seeing him in the finals.

 

 

Find out who makes the final two on American Idol's live results show, tomorrow night at 9/8c on Fox.

 

(Image courtesy of Fox)

 

 

Follow Gina at twitter.com/ginascarpa

 

For more American Idol links, visit SirLinksALot.net