Idol-Talk: Season 9 Top 9 [& Top 10 Results]

American Idol Season 9: Top 10 Results Show

Airdate: Wednesday, March 31, 2010 [9-10pm]

• The show opens with a not subtle at all promotional tie-in with Clash of the Titans.
• Ruben Studdard performs "Don't Make 'Em Like U No More." Even though this is only my first time hearing this song, I don't think it's my favorite of his.
• Ryan calls Big Mike over to compare him with Ruben.
• Ruben announces that he and Clay Aiken will be going on tour together from July to September.
• Ford Music Video: "Kung Fu Fighting"
• Ryan chats with the contestants.
• Footage: Messages to the contestants from the cast of Clash of the Titans.
• Ryan and Simon clash once again, pardon the pun.
• Katie Stevens - Bottom 3
• Ryan tells us that the following week's theme will be Lennon/McCartney Songbook.
• Ryan quickly talks with Justin Bieber, who is in the audience.
• Usher (with Will.I.Am) perform "OMG"
• During this performance, what was up with the 3 camera angles split-screened on the screen?
• Didi Benami - Bottom 3
• After Ryan tells Big Mike he is safe, he lifts Ryan up in the air. I bet Ryan was scared to death during that moment.
• Tim Urban - Bottom 3
• Katie Stevens is safe.
• We are given a warning about the use of a strobe light during Diddy Dirty Money's performance of "Hello Good Morning." I didn't think a strobe light could be so unbearable on the eyes, but that was ridiculous. No wonder they gave a warning. So I've lost my sight from the strobe lights and my hearing from that terrible song. (sarcasm fully intended).
• Didi Benami is told she has the lowest votes of the week, and sings "Rihannon" for the Judge's Save, which the judges do not use.
• Didi Benami - Eliminated [Correct Prediction: 0/1]
• End Time: 10:03pm. The show ends three minutes after the scheduled end time.

American Idol Season 9: Top 9

Airdate: Tuesday, April 6, 2010 [8-10pm]

Theme: Lennon/McCartney Songbook

After the judges and Ryan make their usual grand entrance, we are shown a video introducing the Lennon/McCartney Songbook, with a special good luck message from Sir Paul McCartney himself. Talking about intro videos, the intro vids to each contestant focused on the contestant's describing and talking about each other. I really enjoyed these videos because we got to see their personalities, interactions, and showing how much they get along (despite what Simon usually believes is the case). By the way, did anyone notice that Ryan totally snubbed Lacey Brown when he was talking with the stars of Bones, who were sitting right next to her? Okay, I realize they had to plug their upcoming 100th episode, but why ignore someone from your own show?

1. Aaron Kelly [The Long And Winding Road]: On a positive note - his voice is the best that I have heard from him in a long while. Unfortunately, the song was so slow that I was bored; it overwhelmed the good parts.
2. Katie Stevens [Let It Be]: In the American Idol universe, to me this is Brooke White's song (who sang it back in season 7), so I was worried about Katie singing it. But overall, she did really well with this song. Her voice is not perfect yet, but she's definitely heading in the right direction. My only negative would be that I saw part of her personality missing.
3. Andrew Garcia [Can't Buy Me Love]: I am going to have to disagree with Kara and Simon. I really enjoyed this performance. He was excellent last week, and kept some of that momentum into this week. There wasn't really anything wrong with his voice, and I didn't think it was corny, as Simon said.
4. Michael Lynche [Eleanor Rigby]: He took a huge risk by picking this song, because David Cook nailed it back in season 7. The first half was just okay, because it was all staccato notes (which did nothing to help him). But the last half was great since he could finally show his voice. And I loved the feel and tone he and the band brought to it as well.
5. Crystal Bowersox [Come Together]: Both Carly Smithson and Kris Allen sang this brilliantly back in their respective seasons. What I loved about this was we got to see a range to her voice (from starting out with soft and quiet and leading up to loud with a falsetto mixed in as well). The style and arrangement she and the band brought to it infused originality that was needed tonight.
6. Tim Urban [All My Loving]: He has been terrible every week during the Top 12. But I have to hand it to him: his voice was actually good for once. He has been on his last legs for a while now, and pulled this out at just the right time (like Sanjaya did as well).
7. Casey James [Jealous Guy]: This was his best performance so far this season. With the arrangement and acoustic guitar the way they were, the focus was on his voice and not the band. His voice was nearly flawless, and I could see him connected to the song, with emotion and vulnerability.
8. Siobhan Magnus [Across the Universe]: After the unfortunate disaster from her last week, what she did here was what she needed to do. The "note" from last time was way out of control, but I loved the control she gave this time. She pulled it back a lot and showed her softer side. She is heading back in the right direction, which is a good thing indeed.
9. Lee Dewyze [Hey Jude]: He catapulted himself into frontrunner status after last week, so he would be sailing through this week no matter how he did. There were good and bad moments. His voice wasn't nearly as great last time. And then the bagpipe player came out, which confused me immensely; it was so random and unnecessary and turned it into a kind of joke. And during that last part, it seemed like even Lee was distracted, which didn't help his voice at all.

Favorite Performances: Crystal Bowersox / Siobhan Magnus / Casey James

My Vote(s): Crystal Bowersox [35 votes] / Siobhan Magnus [10 votes]

Bottom 3 Prediction: Aaron Kelly / Andrew Garcia / Tim Urban

Elimination Prediction: Aaron Kelly

My Season 9 Vote Tracker:

Crystal Bowersox: 145 votes

Lee Dwyze: 45 votes

Siobhan Magnus: 30 votes

Michael Lynche: 15 votes

Total: 235 votes cast so far this season

This week very well may have been the best week of the season. Overall, the talent this week was a major improvement over what we have heard lately. There were only a couple that were not very good. Aaron Kelly provided the worst performance of the night. After the show was over, I realized Aaron was the most forgettable of the night, which is why I chose him right away for the Bottom 3. Even though I enjoyed Andrew Garcia's song, nobody else seemed to, which is why I also chose him for the Bottom 3 (that, and the fact that performing in third place is not a good spot to be in). The final spot is a little trickier. It could be either Katie Stevens or Tim Urban. It could be Tim because his fans might have thought he would be safe since he was pretty good and not voting as much, thus resulting in his elimination (or at least a visit to the bottom group). That very well could happen, but I think that Aaron and Tim will split the votes (they probably have the same fans), resulting in only one of them in danger. That is why I think Katie Stevens might take that final spot. But with the way things have been going lately, who knows what'll happen. And ultimately, I think Aaron will be eliminated, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is Andrew (or even Tim if he is in danger of leaving).

If you want to buy any of the audio or video performances, head on over to TV Watch Online's American Idol on iTunes page. If you don't see this week's links up when viewing that page, they may not be released on iTunes yet. If that is the case, keep checking back.

Tonight, our guest performers are Rihanna, Jason Derulo, and season 7 runner-up David Archuleta. See ya then...