Last night the American Idol season 9 Top 6 contestants performed the songs of Shania Twain, and tonight we find out who’s going home.
It’ll be a close one. If the judges hadn’t used their save on Big Mike a few weeks ago, this would be the last week it could be used. So you’ve got to wonder if tonight they might wish they still had it to use.
But we’ll find out tonight, 9 AM ET!
Almost showtime, but here’s one thing to note: Now that Tim Urban has gone home, Vote For The Worst has set their sights on Siobhan Mangus. VFTW voters can skew the results, but at this point it may not be enough to affect the outcome. Or maybe it will. Who really knows? Dialidol.com predicts this week that Aaron Kelly or Michael Lynche is headed home. And for several weeks voters at MediaCurves.com have voted to send Aaron home. And this week, they’re pretty much in line with what Dial Idol predicts: Aaron, Big Mike and possibly Lee Dewyze are in the bottom.
Personally? I think this may be the end of the road for either Aaron Kelly or Big Mike.
The show opens tonight with Rascal Flatts singing “Unstoppable.” Also performing tonight will be Lady Antebellum, Sons of Silvia, and Shakira.

(Trivia: what former Idol co-wrote the Rascal Flatts single, “Here Comes Goodbye?” Give up? Chris Sligh!)
I’m not a huge country fan but I do like Shania and Rascal Flatts is really growing on me. And I really like this song.
Ryan tells us that later in the show Rascal Flatts and Shakira will be performing together. Well, that’s going to be interesting.
Time for the weekly Ford commercial aka “music video”, with a behind-the-scenes video turning the Idols into vampires for their video shoot. Everybody gets “undead” except Big Mike; he’s the victim driving the car.
Ryan talks about his “small but pivotal” part in the film “Shrek: Forever After” and we see a video of the contestants as they visit the studio and practice doing voice overs before they go to a screening of the movie. Another commercial disguised as a behind-the-scenes video. Oh, and Cameron Diaz and Antonio Banderas are on stage to give another plug.
Yes, my friend, Idol is just one long commercial.
Finally to the results: dim the lights, and here we go. Ryan will be forming three groups of two on stage.
First up is Siobhan Mangus; Ryan recaps Simon’s comment that she sounded like she was giving birth. Ha! Siobhan heads to the far side of the stage.
Aaron Kelly is next; he’s center stage to start another group.
Big Mike Lynche is next. Ryan gives Simon another chance to explain what he meant by the performance being “wet and a little girly.” Simon says to Ryan, Like you.
Lee Dewyze is next, and Ryan sends him to stand with Siobhan.
Casey James is next; Kara says she’s been a big believer in Casey, “and not because you’re good looking.” Casey joins Big Mike.
And Crystal Bowersox is last, and she joins Aaron. Ryan asks Ellen if the fact everyone didn’t love Crystal last night means she’s in trouble, and Ellen says she doesn’t think America is that fickle.
Ryan moves Siobhan to join Big Mike and Casey, and says, “This is your bottom three.”
So there you go: Siobhan, Casey and Big Mike are at the bottom. Personally, I think Big Mike and Siobhan should have gone a while ago, and while up till now I would have put Casey in that group I think last night he proved he deserves another week.
Ryan announces that next week’s mentor will be Harry Connick, Jr. with the songs of Sinatra.
Carrie Underwood introduces the band she’s been performing with “pretty much since I stepped off this stage,” she says, Sons of Silvia. Here’s the deal: Those are the Clark Brothers! The guys who won America’s Next Great Band! They were amazing on that show!! Oh, I am soooo excited!!! They won the whole show – with Denver and the Mile High Orchestra also in the final three. The Clark Brothers actually did this amazing gospel country music, which was a whole lot better than what they’re singing tonight. But they were just incredible musicians. Wow, I’ve been wondering what happened to them!
We’re back, with Lady Antebellum. Again, I know so little about country music, but I think I’ve heard this band before. I like this song. I like when Idol has actual performers on, rather than that rap crap they seem to think we want to watch.
So here we go: Shakira singing with Rascal Flatts, performing her song, “Gypsy.” Band on stage, she’s got two back up dancers doing some gypsy/belly dancing. Gee, Shakira plays the harmonica? That was weird? Ryan asks Shakira what advice she’d give the contestants, and she quotes Roosevelt: “Keep your eyes on the stars and remember to keep your feet on the ground.” Or Casey Kasem.
Back to the results. Ryan asks Mike how it feels to be in the bottom three again, and he says there’s no shame this time because everyone did well. As if the last time it was shameful? Oh well, Big Mike is safe. So it’s going to be Casey or Siobhan. Wow. I really hope it’s Siobhan.
And here we go – the contestant going home is Siobhan Mangus! Wow, a bit of a shocker, but then again, I’m really not surprised. She’s a very good singer, but the screaming was just too much. You gotta wonder, though, if the judges wish they still had the save. You know if they did they’ve have used it on her.
Don’t worry about Siobhan; she’ll be fine. She’s talented and she has a huge following. You’ll be seeing her again, especially now that she isn’t forced to sing covers of pop songs and she can sing the music that she really wants to sing.
She sings her goodbye song, “Freedom,” and heads to the audience to give hugs to her family and Simon, who says he’s going to miss her.
So there you go: was that result a shocker? Do you agree? Any predictions about who’s going to win this season?
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