The Top 8 Guys Perform - 3/10/10

[The4thJudge]

Week three of the live shows saw the guys finally out-performing the girls. Now I'm not saying it was a particularly stellar night, but it was a vast improvement of over Tuesday night's snoozefest.

To tell you the truth, it was like being in an alternate universe, one where Alex Lambert, Tim Urban, and Todrick Hall could make it into the Top 12 and early favorite Andrew Garcia could be sent home.

Lee Dewyze – Lee, one of my favorites, chooses “Fireflies” by Owl City. He's pitchy again, but I still just love his voice. I'm not crazy about the song choice. Overall, not a wow performance which I was hoping to see by this point, but I think he has a good chance at the Top 12.

When Ryan said that Alex Lambert was going to perform Ray Lamontagne's “Trouble,” my mouth dropped open. I have serious love for Ray, and I loved Taylor's version in Season 5. I couldn't see how this kid was going to pull it off. Well, he kind of did. It was pretty much note for note Ray's version, but he pulled it off. The song was perfect for his voice and he did an admirable job. He still looks like a deer in the headlights up there and the mullet's gotta go, but I have to give him credit for the performance.

Tim Urban chose Tim Buckley's version of the Leonard Cohen song "Hallelujah." First off, I have to say I love this song. But, and Cohen himself is feeling this too, it is so overdone. We've heard it a number of times on Idol, with the best performance, in my opinion, being by Jason Castro in Season 7. I have been picking Tim to go home every week. Obviously he has a fanbase and that's why he's been able to stay. I think he gave himself a ticket to the Top 12 last night with his performance. Was it great? No. But it was pretty good. That, combined with the aforementioned fanbase should do it for him.

Once again I was hopeful for Andrew Garcia, and once again I was disappointed. Andrew chose Christina Aguilera's “Genie In A Bottle." Odd song choice indeed, but maybe not for the man who has primarily chosen songs by female artists. In the past three weeks I have not seen him use his voice to it's full potential and that's disappointing.

Casey James took the easy road with Keith Urban's “You’ll Think of Me.” His voice sounded great but there was no wow. I agree with Simon in that it was his most sincere performance, but that's all I can really say about it.

Aaron Kelly's “I’m Already There” by Lonestar was just not good. He was definitely better on the chorus but it was just painful.

Todrick Hall – “Somebody to Love” by Queen is a classic. And nobody, and I mean nobody, can sing it like Freddie. Todrick Hall gave it a good run. Ellen commented on how he gave it a gospel feel. Funny, I always thought it had a gospel feel. Anyway, the performance was very theatrical, the vocal great in spots and rough in others. Overall, I think he might have saved his ass!

THE performance of the night was from Michael Lynche. Performing “Women’s Work” by Maxwelll, Big Mike showed off an amazing voice, wonderful performance skills, class and style. I have loved this man since Hollywood week, and each week he just ups his game. THAT is the sign of an American Idol. He/she gains strength every week, getting better and better, surprising the audience. Taylor did it, David Cook did it, Big Mike is doing it. Whether he can sustain it once into the Top 12 is the question, but I'm certainly ready to get on that ride!

Picking who goes home this week is tough. With this group of guys we definitely have a battle between performance and fanbase going on. Aaron is a definite for me, but you know all the little girls love him. Based on his lack of performance the past three weeks Andrew should go home but probably won't. Todrick could be under the bus instead.