VIDEO: Crystal Bowersox Continues To Wow - Simon Says, "I Wouldn't Change Anything"
March 24 2010, Published 10:16 a.m. ET
As the judges duly noted, Tuesday night was a huge night on American Idol because it’s the night the eleven remaining contestants would sing for the chance to make it into the coveted Top 10 – a chance to go on tour and make big money.
Not surprisingly, the star of the evening turned out to be Idol’s golden girl -- Crystal Bowersox – the singer, Simon Cowell pegged as this season’s eventual winner.
Bowersox said she's singing Janice Jolpin’s clasic song Bobby McGee. Idol’s guest mentor, 17-year-old Miley Cyrus, said she loves the song and loves Crystal's voice, but points out that she thinks Crystal can "push herself a little more." Crystal said she's kind of nervous about hitting the big notes, but she didn't need to worry, because as usual she nails it! The crowd goes wild. Randy said, "Listen, The show is called American Idol, and that's what being a star is all about. That is the way you do it. You come out here and you slay it. That's what it is about. I am so happy now!" Ellen agreed, "The song came on the radio the other day and I thought 'she should sing this!' There was nothing wrong with that performance. But we are missing a bit of personality though. I would love to see a little more connection. It's probably nerves, but these people love you, take it all in." Kara said, "I saw you smiling, I saw you moving a little more, would you consider putting the guitar down? I felt more tonight. I saw smiling, i saw you moving more. You should consider putting the guitar down. You need to let go completely." Simon raved, "I wouldn't change anything. Up till now we have listened to a karaoke contest. I've heard Pink sing a version of this song, and that was as good as that in my opinion. This is about finding a recording artist. You're doing your own thing, you just took a song and you nailed it."
We had to wait well into the program to hear Bowersox sing, because first up Lee DeWyze who sang The Letter by The Box Tops. Miley said she thinks Lee has an amazing voice but is lacking stage presence. Lee said that sometimes he's more focused on the judges than the performance. Miley suggested Lee gives a few notes that the judges aren't expecting. And Lee delivered! Randy raved, "It's cool you chose this bluesy version of this song. It's cool you chose this, and you know what? You knocked it out the park! Way to start the show!" Ellen agreed, "You know you have a favorite pen? Then all of a sudden it starts running out of ink? Well, my favorite pen is back. That was fantastic!" Kara kept up the positivity, "You raised the bar for yourself. I have never heard you sound better or look more comfortable. You are owning the stage. The progress is tremendous. Believe that you're good." Simon wasn't so keen though, "How many number ones could you have picked? I am surprised you picked that song. That wasn't a recording performance. That was you doing something corny. It sounded good, you were bouncing around on stage a bit, but you missed the point about having a moment. Even though missy here loves it that's a good reason to do the opposite."
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Paige Miles flashed off a hideous ring and the "tallest longest heels I've ever worn". When Paige met Miley she said she's "kind of starstruck" Miley gushed that Paige is a "really beautiful girl" and that "she'll do amazing on the show as long as she watches her pitch". Paige informed America that she'll be singing Against All Odds by Phil Collins. A truly terrible performance ensued. The judges were unanimous in their panning of her poor, pitchy performance. Randy said, "Really, honestly, I don't know if your voice is bad but honestly that was terrible. The pitch is all over the place, nothing came of that at all." Ellen tried to be kinder, "I'm going to be positive, you didn't fall down. You look stunning, you have never looked better. I'm going to pass over the critique to the experts." Kara slammed her though, "Somewhere along the line you stopped listening and competing. It was the worst vocal I have ever heard from you and possibly the season." Simon asked, "Paige how do you think you did? To be honest with you, It was like there were 5 of you singing that song and it got progressively worse as you went along. It was all over the place. I think you will be in serious, serious trouble tonight sweetheart. It's like you stopped competing and stopped believing in yourself, that song just killed you."
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Tim Urban was next up. Miley pointed out that Tim's been slammed because he hasn't got personality, but opined that it's not personality he's lacking, he just needs to mix it up a bit, and push the limits. Tim said he's going to perform Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen. Randy panned the performance,"It's a singing competition, every time you guys hit the stage you should be wowing us.The vocals were so boring. It was like karaoke." Even Ellen agreed, "It felt like it was an audition for High School Musical. I felt like it was corny and pushed too hard. There's a large group of people that will get that performance, and then there's me. I didn't get it." Kara agreed, "The girls will love that. It was Zac Efron and Hairspray. You didn't change up the melodies. You acted like you already made it and you haven't." Simon slammed, "The sliding around distracted from the song, so I kid of understand why you did that. The problem was that it was completely pointless and silly. You're not actually again taking part in this. You are just there singing and dancing. You've got zero chance of winning right now, unless you take some singing lessons and start becoming someone relevant."
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Aaron Kelly shared that he's been having some trouble with his voice and that he's suffering not just from laryngitis, but tonsillitis too! He said he may have "just a little crush on Miley!' And that on his first audition he sang The Climb. Miley said she saw the audition and loved it. She told Aaron that he has "an amazing voice" and that "he's really, really good." Aaron performed a mediocre rendition of Aerosmith's I Don't Want To Miss A Thing