"American Idol" Episode 37 of Season 9: The Results

Television

"American Idol" Episode 37 of Season 9: The Results

The Top Four Has Been Born

By our guest blogger, Catherine Fuentes

For the first time all season, the "American Idol" results show was a treat to watch. Usually, it’s chock full of the contestants hawking everything from cars, video games, movies to soda, and sure that existed last night, but there was plenty of entertainment. Sending Aaron Kelly home wasn’t terribly disappointing, either.

Lady Gaga performed, and I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t get the whole Lady Gaga phenomenon, but it’s hard to watch her performances and not respect her innovation. She does something new each time I see her, and honestly, for a show with slipping ratings, Lady Gaga is a huge draw.

The video montages of the contestants working with Harry Connick Jr. were genuinely funny, and I firmly believe that he has been the best and most hands-on mentor in "Idol" history. His performance was beautiful, his comedy was on point, and his banter with Ellen was adorable. Harry Connick Jr. should absolutely be an "Idol" fixture should this show return next season--hell, maybe he should take Simon’s job. Or maybe he should take Ryan Seacrest’s – Seacrest has more than enough jobs, and Harry is funny, while Ryan gets more rude by the week.

The contestants, clad in black tuxedos, sang at various intervals of the night, upping their lip sync performance quota to two medleys. It was no surprise that Lee DeWyze was the first contestant brought to safety – he was the best of the night, and I’m convinced he is the dark horse to win it all.

The rest of the breakdown came as a bit of a shock to me. Crystal and Casey were in one group, Aaron and Big Mike in the other. I was certain Crystal and Casey would be in the bottom. Casey gave a weak performance, and he was in the Bottom Two the past couple of weeks for far better performances, and Crystal dropped the ball and sassed the judges. As a Casey fan, I didn’t like that arrangement, since to me, that meant Casey would go home. But I was sort of hoping for Crystal to find her way into the bottom – not because she deserves to go home, but because she needs some fear. She’s the most talented person up there and she’s slipping, while Lee is gaining momentum. She needs to return to old Crystal before Lee leaves her in the dust and wins.

Big Mike and Aaron being in the bottom shocked many, as the Internet was buzzing that this was Casey’s week. But there are people in the world like me who voted for Casey as much as Tim Urban’s fans voted for him, so Casey sees another week. I don’t need to wear mourning black now. Life is good.

I was okay with either outcome, but ultimately predicted correctly that it would be Aaron. While both gave run-of-the-mill performances throughout their tenure, Big Mike was just too good on Tuesday to leave on that note, and well, Aaron struggled. I don’t want to downplay Aaron’s talent – the kid certainly has a beautiful voice – but at this stage in the competition, everyone’s talented, yet someone needs to go each week.

From here, it’s really anyone’s game and predictions may as well be futile. No one would have guessed that Crystal, Casey, Big Mike and Lee would be in the Top Four. In January, people predicted this season to be dominated by the females and just one remains. In January, Casey James only made it through to Hollywood week because the females pleaded for him. But in May, these are the Top Four, and later in May one will be the winner.

Lee and Crystal are clearly the front-runners, although, a misstep can be a game ender for any of them. I don’t think anyone is safe enough to take a huge gamble next week.