Michael Lynche, Andrew Garcia Are High and Low on “American Idol”

Based on the volume of coverage they received in the pre-taped portion of the competition, Michael Lynche and Andrew Garcia were undoubtedly the frontrunners going into the “American Idol” semifinals.

Following Wednesday’s male performance show–the final performance show of the semifinals–only one remains at the top of the pack.

Michael Lynche, that successful contestant, absolutely blew the competition away with “This Woman’s Work.” Lynche has consistently been a strong singer, but prior to Wednesday night, he had never truly proven he deserved his immense fanbase and momentum. His performances had previously come across as a bit “loungey” and indulgent, but that all changed Wednesday. Lynche showed phenomenal vocal control and legitimate stage personality. This was not the big, funny guy working his class clown shtick–this was a legitimate star working the room like no one, male or female, has been able to do in this competition. Between the vocal prowess and the excitement, Lynche solidified himself as the real deal.

Garcia, on the other hand, was an absolute trainwreck on “Genie in a Bottle.” To Andrew’s credit, the horrible performance was not entirely his fault. The judges had spent the past two weeks berating him for not capturing the magic of his ironic Hollywood-round take on Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up,” so it seemed logical enough to transform another female pop song into a soulful, acoustic number. But it simply did not work this time, largely due to what Simon Cowell correctly identified as desperation. Whereas the Paula Abdul song represented a funny, surprising way for Garcia to show off his voice and performance style, there was nothing genuine about this performance. There was no connection to the lyrics and absolutely no sense that Andrew legitimately felt this performance would prove effective in showcasing his honest self. This was simply an insincere attempt at recreating the Hollywood magic, and it was thus doomed to failure regardless of how well he sang. The fact that the vocals were subpar made the nightmare even worse.

Elsewhere, semifinals standout Lee Dewyze took a few steps backwards with “Fireflies.” There was nothing wrong with the performance, and as some of the judges indicated, his rocker-take on the song actually improved upon the original and removed some of Owl City’s annoyance. But while the vocals were strong and the arrangement was interesting enough, the whole performance just came across as unnecessary. Lee’s take on “Chasing Cars” was not perfect vocally, but the changes he made to the song came across as honest and allowed him to tell a more emotional story. On “Lips of an Angel,” Lee was successful because he proved he has the voice, skills and self-awareness to stand out in the crowded post-grunge space. This week, however, it felt like Lee was simply trying to coast. Nothing about “Fireflies” expands upon the Lee Dewyze story, so while his confidence and vocal prowess still made it one of the night’s best, the whole thing was a bit disillusioning.

Todrick Hall cannot catch a break. Taking the judges’ recent criticism to heart, Hall refrained from making drastic arrangement changes and generally stayed with the original this week. The problem? He chose Queen’s bombastic “Somebody to Love.” The vocals were fantastic, although perhaps somewhat underwhelming–it was shocking to witness Todrick refrain from making a spirited attempt at the song’s classic “note.” The performance, however, was as dramatic and theatrical as one could possibly imagine if they learned Todrick Hall would be singing a Queen song. And that gave the judges fuel to knock the singer down a few pegs. The whole showing, nonetheless, was quite good, and it again proved that for all the heat the guy has been receiving, he is a legitimate talent.

As a side note, it was interesting to see “Idol” again dismiss the relevance of a “Glee”-like performance. Randy Jackson likened Todrick’s performance to the show as if it was an insult, ignoring the fact that for all the show’s quirks and theatrics, its two soundtrack albums were among the most successful records in recent memory. So, the show wholly proves that theatrical performers can record commercially-viable pop music.

Tim Urban continued his journey to escape the shadow of his horrendous opening week version of “Apologize” with a very pleasing rendition of “Hallelujah.” The arrangement was limited and underwhelming compared to the more notable cover versions of the song, but Tim nonetheless sang everything well and with true emotion. At this point, it seems crystal clear that Tim is incapable of a show-stopping, “moment” type performance, but he nonetheless remains a likable guy with a decent voice and a solid ability to connect to the lyrics.

Like Tim, Casey James and Alex Lambert were both solid in their relatively risk-free renditions of “You’ll Think of Me” and “Trouble,” respectively. Unlike the Urban underdog, however, neither did anything to make the performance pop. Casey’s rendition was dreary–he did little interesting vocally and never sold the performance in a way that would make the audience care. Alex was a bit more interesting, but he nonetheless failed when it came to showing any sign of ‘owning’ the song. Alex Lambert has one of the most unique and interesting voices in the entire competition this year, but little nuance came across this week, as he instead seemed to be chasing after the song. Whereas Alex Lambert’s performance last week made viewers feel and believe every lyric, this week’s showing just came across as an above-average karaoke performer trying to work the room.

Aaron Kelly wisely went back to pop-country with “I’m Already There,” but the performance ultimately panned out as nothing more than mediocre. Aaron is definitely becoming more confident and poised, but as far as the vocals were concerned, he struggled to exercise any control, as if he knew he was in way over his head. As the youngest male in the competition, Aaron brings a combination of honesty, vulnerability and likability that makes audiences want to ignore the vocals and just celebrate the fact that he is an entertaining kid with a great voice. But in actually criticizing the performance, one simply cannot deny that the singing did not make for a great “American Idol” performance. It was simply a mediocre one, as Aaron neither nailed all the notes nor conveyed any of the emotion behind the lyrics.

Top 8 Male Rankings
This is an assessment of performance quality; it is not a prediction of vote totals.
1) Michael Lynche
2) Todrick Hall
3) Lee Dewyze
4) Tim Urban
5) Casey James
6) Alex Lambert
7) Aaron Kelly
8) Andrew Garcia