Not Even Katie Stevens, Crystal Bowersox Impress On “American Idol”

The early “American Idol” performance episodes are rarely slam dunks, but the judges usually find one or two contestants to hype as the future of the competition.

That was not the case for Tuesday’s episode, which kicked off the season nine semifinals with performances from the Top 12 Girls.

From start to finish, not a single female made a true impression. And while some were better than others, when push came to shove, the judges refused to give unanimous, unflinching praise for any of the contestants.

Ahead of Tuesday’s show, standout contestants included the adorable and precocious Katie Stevens, the anti-mainstream Crystal Bowersox and the sincere Didi Benami. Others, including Lilly Scott and Lacey Brown, had some buzzworthy moments, while Janell Wheeler and Haeley Vaughn generated some attention for their likability.

But that appearance of “pimping” in the audition and Hollywood rounds meant nothing when Tuesday came around. Those who only watched the first five minutes probably assumed, for instance, that Katie Stevens–slated to perform last–was going to receive automatic praise from the judges. Her take on “Feeling Good,” however, failed to make an impact, with the judges deeming the performance old-fashioned and “sharp.”

Will Stevens leave? Absolutely not. She still remains quite charming and, despite not killing it Tuesday, still showed glimpses of greatness. But as an early fan favorite, she now might have to “prove herself” to critics who are going to argue that the early hype was unwarranted.

The same might go for Crystal Bowersox. If you had heard that Crystal was going to sing “Hand in my Pocket” with an acoustic intro, would you have guessed the judges would have been underwhelmed? And the criticism was warranted–while she was good, this was very much a “YouTube performance.” It was not emotional, not technically-brilliant and most importantly, not star-making.

Didi Benami offered a rather solid take on “The Way I Am,” but she, too, opened up a criticism regarding originality. It seems that in season nine, it will not be enough to offer a folk/soul/alternative performance as a female–it is about doing something new. And for as charming as Didi has been, she did not accomplish that.

Hardly a standout in normal terms, Lilly Scott at least generated some strong feedback for her take on “Fixing a Hole.” While the praise was not without reservation, Scott at least showed that it is possible to deliver the indie/artsy vibe and not get dismissed as “been there, done that.” Still, this hardly did for Lilly would “Could’ve Been” did for season four winner Carrie Underwood.

Michelle Delamor also did her best with “Fallin’.” Choosing a song frequently criticized by judges, Delamor had the additional hurdle of overcoming a lack of pre-performance show buzz and a historical disinterest among “Idol” voters for her performers of her mold. She was, nonetheless, easily one of the better vocal performers and absolutely brings a presently unrivaled level of poise and polish on stage.

Katelyn Epperly’s “Oh! Darling” was good, but her terrible style choice–as correctly referenced by Kara DioGuardi–made everything hard to appreciate. Katelyn appears to be one of the more consistently solid contestants, but without developing a clear personality and image, she could be doomed for a Top 8-14 finish, as opposed to Top 5 and above.

Siobhan Magnus showed some quirkiness and talent on “Wicked Game,” but, as the judges correctly pointed out, there were times at which the vocals flirted the line between sound and weird. The odd, nasally tone was effective at points and detrimental at others, ultimately turning this into a decent performance that only had an impact because it was within a crowd of eleven other uninspiring performances. The weird song choice and Simon Cowell’s reaction to her odd, deadpan explanation could further hurt her, as while unusual contestants have an easy time getting noticed in the semifinals, they have a tough time surviving when mainstream America starts looking for its ultimate winner.

While the judges were a bit hard on some of the standouts, they also let some questionable numbers fly. Paige Miles’ “All Right Now” was well below par for an “Idol” performance, but the judges oddly had some very nice things to say. It was a similar story for Haeley Vaughn’s “I Wanna Hold Your Hand.” The judges, at various points, admitted the vocals were bad, but their critique never seemed to resemble anything too negative, treating her quite troubled, albeit more original and charming than expected, performance as passable.

And then there some all-out disappointments. The stunning and charismatic Janell Wheeler looks and talks the part, but her “What About Love” did not belong on the “Idol” stage. Between the butchered notes, the poor phrasing and the oddly rushed pacing, just nothing of note went into or came out of this performance.

Though Janell had some strong moments in Hollywood, it was not as if anyone expected her to be the competition’s best singer. Hopes were that lofty for Lacey Brown, however, and she might have even been worse on “Landslide.” It was simply a mess from start to finish–some notes went below the surface of ‘pitchy,’ devolving into simply “bad.”

Ashley Rodriguez was your standard subpar Diva on “Happy,” offering nothing in the way of stage presence or vocal ability. She also had the additional burden of taking on a Leona Lewis song with Simon Cowell in the room.

At this point, it is clear eliminations will be based entirely on preexisting fanbase. While contestants like Ashley, Haeley, Lacey and Janell were at the bottom of the pack, they were not so horrible, in comparison to the others, that their survival would be a travesty. And even those who were on top–Lilly, Katelyn, Michelle and then a pick of Didi or Siobhan–hardly set the world on fire and likely attracted only a handful of new, diehard fans Tuesday night.

While there are some key advantages to the Top 24 format (as opposed to the traditional semifinal model), there is also a big disadvantage–momentum plays a much bigger role for contestants. Because no female stood out Tuesday, if any of the males are great Wednesday, the women will have blown a key opportunity to build fans and will thus move towards the final round at a disadvantage.

Headline Planet’s Wk. 1 Ranking – The Top 12 Females
Note: This list is not a prediction of elimination but an assessment of performance
Lilly Scott
Katelyn Epperly
Michelle Delamor
Didi Benami
Siobhan Magnus
Crystal Bowersox
Katie Stevens
Paige Miles
Janell Wheeler
Haeley Vaughn
Lacey Brown
Ashley Rodriguez