Miley Cyrus Helps Crystal Bowersox Dominate On “American Idol”

On paper, the idea of teen Disney star Miley Cyrus mentoring the eleven remaining “American Idol” contestants struck a nerve for the bulk of the show’s critics and diehard fans. And while some were quick to point out the fact that Cyrus, regardless of age, represents the pop “idol” that the contestants are technically trying to become, selling Cyrus as equivalent to past mentors like Barry Manilow and Jon Bon Jovi made for a near-impossible battle.

In offering a shallow assessment of how Tuesday’s “American Idol” played out, one would still have a tough time calling Cyrus a successful mentor. On the whole, the show was fairly disastrous, with a number of contestants delivering utterly awful performances. Miley also came across as more of a ‘judge’ than mentor in pre-packaged video clips; save for one or two exceptions, she primarily was there to give the contestants feedback–she did not appear to take an active role in creating vocal arrangements and choreography for the contestants.

That being noted, most of her criticism was dead-on. She called the correct contestants “pitchy” and successfully identified those who needed help with their stage presence. Most importantly, she directly guided Crystal Bowersox to deliver one of the best three performances of the season.

That performance, a take on Janis Joplin’s “Me and Bobby McGee,” absolutely created a ‘moment’ for Crystal. While there was no chance Crystal would be anything less than phenomenal on a Janis Joplin song, there was a risk that the performance could remain too indulgent, low-key and “safe.” Nothing about the song inherently asks Crystal to step out of her comfort zone, and as some fans are already growing tired of her ‘predictable’ act, even a strong rendition of the song could have spurred some disappointment.

But by taking Miley Cyrus’ advice to stay in a higher key and power through some of the more challenging, climactic notes, Crystal positively knocked the performance out of the park. In addition to singing the hell out of the song, she owned the performance, making it feel real and fresh for the audience. Everything about it was simultaneously genuine and exciting, emphasizing–without a shadow of a doubt–the fact that Crystal is not simply a talented, acoustic singer-songwriter but a legitimate American Idol. Crystal had to have scared her competition this week; in addition to doing her usual thing with more sincerity than anyone in the competition, she can also raise the bar and take a classic song to new heights. And Miley deserves a portion of the credit.

Elsewhere, the unusual Siobhan Magnus followed up on last week’s slam dunk with another strong performance. Her “Superstition” was vocally superb and featured one of her signature “power notes” at the end that really created distance–from a talent standpoint–between Siobhan and many others in the competition. At the same time, Siobhan did not as successfully create a mood this week, so there were aspects of the performance that came across as more ‘ordinary’ and even ‘safe’ than last week. Whereas she sold everything there was to sell with “Paint It, Black,” this week’s showing was more about the vocals.

And as Simon pointed out, when you do not take full control of the expectations, you risk alienating people who may not like your voice or sense of style. By no means will this performance change the fact that Siobhan has become a game-changer, but it does show that she is not going to wipe the floor with the rest of the finalists each week.

In one of the night’s more underrated performances, Michael “Big Mike” Lynche stole the show on the male side of things with “When a Man Loves a Woman.” While this was not the performance to distance Mike from season two winner Ruben Studdard (nor was it in the realm of the Crystal and Siobhan showings), it was a polished vocal that emphasized how smooth and believable Michael can be in the R&B/soul space. He also minimized the corny dancing and stage antics, delivering the type of performance that truly belongs on a stage of this caliber. With so many presumed frontrunners having fallen off in recent weeks, it is refreshing to see that Michael is still working hard to complement his excessively-charming personality with legitimately phenomenal on-stage talent.

Fellow male standout Lee Dewyze was not as successful this week, even though so much about the performance should have worked. “The Letter,” his song choice, played right into the raw and raspy quality of his voice. He also started to show more personality and comfort on stage, finally giving an indication that he wants to interact with his audience. But for all that worked, there was still a disconnect that made this forgettable (even though it was, from a vocal standpoint, one of the night’s best). He seemed to be more committed to learning how to move around stage than actually doing so to support his aims for the performance. Similarly, even though the song he chose was credible and apt for his voice, it was not the kind of number with which he would build a true audience relationship. Lee had his best success in choosing contemporary pop rock songs (“Chasing Cars,” “Lips of an Angel”). A number one song in that vein–such as “Smooth” or “Everything You Want”–would have been so much more effective.

Casey James was also hurt by song choice. While he deserves credit for not selecting a song that has been done a thousand times on “Idol,” Huey Lewis & The News’ “Power of Love” just does not belong in this sort of competition. It is an excessively corny, “guilty pleasure” song that does not provide any sort of window into a singer’s ability to connect. Casey sang it rather well and did all he could, but when the final verdict came, he was just not a star up there.

The judges’ reactions, particularly from Ellen DeGeneres and Kara DioGuardi, were thus baffling. While Casey is a good-looking guy who is getting more confident on stage and can definitely sing, there was nothing defining about this performance. Casey still has not taken a clear hold of the competition.

After getting torn apart in the semifinal portion of the competition, Katie Stevens returned with another solid finals performance. Her “Big Girls Don’t Cry” clicked as a truly relevant pop showing, indicating that there might be something, after all, to the charismatic young performer. The vocals were still messy at times, but with her young Katharine McPhee vibe coming back, Stevens managed to impress. The judges also praised her improved style and youthful vibe, recognizing Katie’s potential to be the true “teen” star the show has always looked to create. With her look and personality, as long as Katie can keep making improvements in the vocal department, she might have a shot at a top five finish.

Aaron Kelly, Katie’s male counterpart in the teen realm, was good but a bit less special on “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.” Clearly motivated to impress his crush Miley Cyrus, Aaron delivered a fairly controlled performance with a nice, country tone sprinkled throughout. That being said, there was little personality injected into the performance, so it never quite transitioned from “strong performance” to “starmaking performance.” Aaron should have no problem getting through to next week, but he is definitely going to need to start doing more than just singing pleasantly.

Elsewhere, it was far harder to find any sort of upside in the performances. On-again, off-again standout Didi Benami was off-again this week, delivering an awkward, occasionally painful rendition of “You’re No Good.” Her accent and pronunciation work really well on low-key ballads, but on a big song, things can get odd if she does not move into a smoother vocal texture. That greatly dragged down this performance; her delivery of the chorus came across like someone was trying to mock a Long Island accent–it just was not pretty at all. She also greatly struggled with the pitch, delivering a vocal showing that looked to rattle even the rather-political Miley Cyrus.

The worst part about the performance was that Didi’s stage choreography was so far from that of a star. Simon Cowell was right to point out that she looked like she was in a musical–between the accent, the gimmicky facials and the weird movement around the stage, Didi just did not control the performance. As facial expressions and stage presence are Miley Cyrus’ strongest areas, it was a shame she did not spend more time caoching Didi on that aspect of the game.

Still, there is nothing Didi can do that could render her as awful as three of the night’s other performances. Paige Miles takes the cake as the night’s worst, stumbling through “Against All Odds” with one of the most atrocious vocals of the season. Essentially, think the level of competency Haeley Vaungh showed on “The Climb” but on a much more vocally-challenging song. It was just awful from start to finish, and it really is time for Paige Miles to wave goodbye.

Andrew Garcia was similarly terrible on “I Heard it Through the Grapevine.” In addition to delivering rather poor vocals, his movement was about as sincere and sophisticated as that of Bobby Bennett during the infamous “Copacabana” debacle. While the judges have definitely given the guy a raw deal (praising “Straight Up” excessively only to finally admit the performance was overrated, consistently saying they’re “fans” of his despite never liking his performances), he just does not belong on this stage. He is not a great singer and is an even worse performer.

Tim Urban channeled his inner Jon Peter Lewis this week with an absolutely abysmal take on “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.” The vocals were not entirely awful, although they were underwhelming and way too limited for a Queen song, but the performance was just ridiculous. This was absolutely JPL’s “Jailhouse Rock”–it was a guy relying on his appeal as a ‘gimmick’ to make a statement on stage. Any praise Urban deserved for performances like “Come on Get Higher” and “Hallelujah” should be taken away after this disgraceful showing. He only avoids last place due to the fact that his vocals were not quite as bad as those from Paige and Andrew.

Top 11 Performance Rankings:
*Note: This is an assessment of the performances, not a prediction of vote totals.

Crystal
Siobhan
Michael
Katie
Lee
Casey
Aaron
Didi
Tim
Andrew
Paige