Last night American Idol season 9’s Top 10 performed, and surprise, surprise, surprise, they didn’t stink!
In fact, some of the contestants were really on top of their game.
Tonight we’ll find out who’s going home. My guess for bottom 3? Tim Urban, Didi Benami and Siobhan Magnus.
Find out how wrong I really am tonight at 9 PM!
And as if this show isn’t commercial enough, now we’re tying Idol in with the movie, “Clash of the Titans”. Great. And it’s not even a funny or interesting tie in. It’s just another ploy for to make a buck. Barf.

The Top 10 are seated, and performing right off the bat is Ruben Studdard, season 2 winner. I love Ruben Studdard; he’s so sweet. I had a chance to talk to him back in December when he debuted his Christmas song. He’s singing his new single, ” Don’t Make ‘Em Like You No More.” Back then Ruben talked about his faith, saying, “The older I get the closer I grow to God, and my relationship gets stronger because I understand a lot differently than I did when I was a child, of course.”
Ryan comments that Ruben’s lost weight – but he still towers over Ryan – and Ruben explains that he’s a vegan and he works out every day. Ryan calls Big Mike over and introduces them like they’re bookends. And we see that Big Mike has a rat tail glued onto his bald head.
And we leave with the news that Ruben and Clay Aiken are going on tour in July.
So we’re back, and ready to find out who’s in the bottom three. But first, the weekly Ford commercial. “Kung Fu Fighting?” Could these get any cheesier? That’s a classic song. Seriously. Buy a Honda.
Ryan talks to the contestants, Crystal about the piano, Andrew about his personality; Mrs. Garcia is back and Ryan suggests she invite the judges over for dinner so they can get to know him better. Here’s another commercial: the contestants went to a screening of “Clash of the Titans” so we get to see that.
Finally, let’s get some results.
Lee Dewyze is up first. Recap of the judges’ comments, and Simon says he sees Lee as a potential finalist now. Lee is safe.
Casey James is next. Ryan asks him how he’s going to challenge himself; “That’s a great question,” Casey says, and he doesn’t have a good answer. He’s safe.
Skip Siobhan Magnus and Katie Stevens, and we go to Aaron Kelly, who admits that at 16 he’s never really been at love. Ryan asks Simon who a young guy like Aaron can “feel” an emotion in a song, and Simon tells him it’s not the Oprah Winfrey Show. Randy explains that you love your parents, you love things, it’s th esame thing, just a little twisted. All that and he’s safe.
Siobhan and Katie are next. Recaps of both performances. Siobhan has a very tentative smile and Katie is looking grim. Siobhan talks about her performance and Ryan asks Katie about the conflicting advice the judges keep giving her. She says she’ll take it all in and do what’s best for who she’s becoming. After all of that, Katie is in the bottom three, Siobhan is safe, and she’s emotional as she sits down.
Ryan goes to the judges’ table to talk to Ryan and Simon is clearly getting ticked off with him. I’m annoyed by Ryan a little, too.
Break time, and after that Usher performs. First, Justin Bieber is in the audience. Who the heck is this kid? He’s like 10 years old? And Usher was his mentor? Is the kid an R&B singer? I’m so out of touch.
Usher sings, trashy dancers, sexy lyrics. Yeesh. When did this soft-porn crap become suitable for prime time? Every week it’s the same thing. And it’s not even good. My dog sings better. And trust me, he’s annoying enough.
What’s so ironic is that Idol keeps showcasing artists like Lady Gaga and Kei$ha and Usher, and yet the artists that are winning the show or going on to make it big are completely different – Kris Allen, David Cook, Chris Daughtry, Carrie Underwood. And this season, the winner is likely going to be someone like Crystal or Lee or Mike, who are not going to be singing commercial pop crap.
OK, done venting. We’re back with more results.
Bottom row results start with Didi Benami. She’s in the bottom three.
Big Mike Lynche is up next. I think we need to waste some time tonigh because Ryan is doing a lot more chatting with the judges tonight. Ellen says that inside the big muscular guy is a subtle, sensitive guy she calls “little Mike”. Ryan says, “This is a surprise, can you come over here,” and when Mike does Ryan says, “You’re safe.” So Mike picks Ryan right up off the ground and almost flips him.
Crystal Bowersox is next, she’s safe. She says she could pick him up, too and Ryan says, “You could because I weigh 95 pounds.”
Tim Urban and Andrew Garcia stand up, and Tim is smiling, as usual. Ryan shares the comments the judges make about him smiling, and Kara says she doesn’t know what to think about him. He explains that every time he’s on stage he’s just so excited to be singing in front of millions of people he’s not going to be depressed. Andrew is safe.
So the bottom three are Tim, Katie and Didi. No suprises, really. I did think that maybe Paige’s fans would vote for Katie and maybe put Siobhan into the bottom three, but either way I thought either Didi and Tim would be going home. Ryan sends Katie back to her seat, leaving Tim and Didi. Just what I expected. So my guess is that Didi’s going home. But we’ll find out after Diddy-Dirty Money performs.
Idol disclaimer: “Strobe lighting will be used in the next performance.” So if you have to close your eyes to avoid a seizure, here’s what you’re missing: Diddy in a white suit, two girls in white suits, some robotic moving, some trashy chick in a black outfit writhing with Diddy, some more dancers bouncing around. General trash and repetitive crap. Cue the strobes for some dancing. This is music? Really? It sounds to me like a record that’s stuck in one groove. Oh wait, did I just show my age by saying “record”?
And the crowd goes wild. Can someone explain to me why? Did I blink and miss something?
So here we go. The person going home is Didi Benami. Tim is standing there completely prepared to hear his name. He’s not smiling now.
So Didi sings for her life, and the judges will decide if she’ll get a second check. She’s singing “Rhionnan”. I loved when she sang this song a couple of weeks ago. I wish she could have pulled herself together earlier and she stuck with the guitar, even though she admits she’s still a beginner. The judges’ save needs to be unanimous, but there’s no save. Simon does say that her goodbye song was 100 times better than last night.
Video montage of Didi and Didi crying. This has all been very emotional for her; I can’t fault her for that. Her reasons for auditioning have a lot to do with her friend who passed away, and I think this was an experience for her that she needed to do to help heal. But what do I know.
So there you go. And then there were 9. See you next week!
RELATED POSTS
Ruben Studdard premieres his new Christmas song, Christmas In Your Arms
American Idol season 9 auditions and recaps – complete list of posts