I’ve been watching American Idol off and on for  four years. I don’t know why? It goes against almost everything I believe in musically, I guess it’s my guilty pleasure. Well some seasons I watch all the way through and others I can’t take. But whenever I watch AI, I blog about it here.

Tonight the Idol contestants took on the songs of The Rolling Stones. Before the competition began I had a feeling it was going to be a total car wreck. I just don’t think that most of them are capable of doing a Stones song with any degree of believability. With the possible exception of Lee Dewyze, and two or three others, I doubt any of them really know much about the Stones music outside of the major hits. I am just hoping none of them do a bad Mick Jagger impression..and honestly any impression of Jagger would be a bad impression.

Michael Lynche – “Miss You” – A soulful twist on the song, good vocals although he was flat at times, mostly  near the end of a phrase. Good, but kind of strange, stage presence. The first spot is hard he was good but not amazing. His falsetto was perfect. I’m glad there was no Mick Jagger impersonation in his performance, but his dancing is still kind of whack. I think it’s his size that throws it off for me.

Didi Benami – “Play with Fire”- I like her vocals , smooth and sultry, reminds me of Adele and others…not totally original. Great song choice and I like the rendition..my bet, Randy will call her pitchy.. A little nervousness in her voice at times but really good.. I think she went a little outside of her range and pushed it a little too much at the end.

Casey James- “It’s All Over Now”- This theme was made for Casey, good performance, nice slide guitar, bluesy vocals were a good choice. It kind of disguises the fact that he is not the strongest singer.  I have to say he is easy on the eyes! Great camera presence, not so great stage presence.. Like Simon, I want to see him work the stage more..but right now he seems like one of the most professional of the group.

Lacey Brown – “Ruby Tuesday”- I don’t remember this girl at all. I have to say I think she was not too memorable tonight either. The vocals were solid but did not dazzle me. In fact the whole song dragged along, it made me feel like I needed a nap.  Nothing too much to write home about.. Ellen eluded to sitting down stage thing, it was weird and awkward in the middle of the song..maybe the song made Lacey sleepy too.

Andrew Garcia- “Gimme Shelter” – Oh no! Andrew sans guitar. I’m nervous. I thought for sure he would do an original acoustic arrangement. But instead he went for a pure vocal/stage performace. He looked awkward on stage . The vocals were not great . He went too far from his strength. I like him but I did not like his performance tonight.

Katie Stevens- “Wild Horses”- Good performance, I guess?  I have not heard herbefore. But she has a richness in her voice that is beyond her years. I’m not sure how far she will go but a nice traditional delivery and she picked a good song.

Tim Urban – “Under My Thumb” – Not the strongest vocalist Tim went with a little reggae tinged feel to the Under My Thumb, this is a good way to disguise less than impressive vocals..but it didn’t work and he got pummeled for doing an original arrangement. On the plus side He is very telegenic, a good thing on Idol. I’m sure he pissed off any Stones fans that watch Idol. (if there are any ) but the good news for Tim is his fan base probably doesn’t know the original song anyway.

Siobhan Magnus “Paint it Black”- One of my favorite Stones Songs.. I smiled at this choice. She has a little Adam Lambert in her delivery.. The vocals were good but the drama was outstanding! .. She commanded the stage better than anyone so far.. Siobhan is quirky and talented, an interesting performer and one to watch for sure. I like her, she could be the standout this year.. I am spoiled from last year and I like a performance with my vocals on Idol. Siobhan delivered for sure.

Lee Dewyze – “Beast of Burden” – I am predisposed to like singers like Lee D. The raspy Workingmans’ vocals..and the  understated arrangement were perfect.. I liked his performance but I understand Simon’s point about
going for it a bit more with the performance.

Paige Miles – “Honkey Tonk Woman” – The girl has mad vocals. I like her delivery but this was a predictable song choice. Still I’m glad it wasn’t “Satisfaction”..I heard she had laryngitis and if that is true she pulled out solid performance.

Aaron Kelley- “Angie”- Nice performance. If I had to compare him to the other kid, Archuleta, I like him more, but it’s hard for me to get into that youthful voice.

Crystal Bowersox- “You can’t always get what you want.”- Okay basically it’s game over for me.. Hands down Crystal was the best. Such a natural. So great vocally. Souful, and powerful in all the right places. I loved her performance and her presence. She is the best tonight and maybe all together.

By the way, I was wrong it wasn’t a train wreck.