I wasn’t able to watch television Tuesday evening, so the Wife and I watched both the performances and the results show Wednesday evening. One can certainly get through the shows quickly when you skip the commercials, fluff and repetiion.

The theme for the week was songs of Shania Twain.

Lee Dewyze
You’re Still The One

Loved the opening. It was really in a sweet spot of his voice. But why is he doing that John Mayer thing with his mouth, …

In conjunction with Idol Gives Back, the theme was inspiration songs. Unfortunately, I found the performances overall to be mediocre, not inspirational.

Casey James
Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow by Fleetwood Mac

Once again, nothing risky, but a solid performance. The Wife thought he could have given the performance a bit more edge, but that it was good.

I’ve liked a number of Casey’s performances, but we’re getting towards the end. Safe may not cut it. Time to take chances, …

With the judges using their save on Michael Lynche last week, we had nine performances again tonight, and two going home tomorrow. The theme was Elvis Presley, with Adam Lambert mentoring.

I’m on the road this week, so notes might be a bit short.

Crystal Bowersox
Saved

Good song choice, with a nice gospel feel to the arrangement. The Wife loved it, and thought it was one of her favorites from Crystal.

Andrew Garcia
Hound Dog

I’m not sure my …

The theme for the night was entries from the Lennon/McCartney songbook. That certainly left no shortage of songs to choose from.

Aaron Kelly
Long and Winding Road

Pitchy, sleepy performance. The Wife thought it was dull. “His voice doesn’t sound right,” she observed.

Is he hoarse? There has supposedly been a bug going around the AI House.

Overall, it was ok, but a bit boring.

Katie Stevens
Let It Be

Great song, but any time the theme has anything to …

The theme for the week was R&B and the mentor was Usher, so my expectations weren’t very high. Frankly, anything I liked was likely to be called old by Simon.

Tonight’s theme was Number One Hits of the Billboard Hot 100, and for some reason, Siobhan came on stage with a Sanjaya faux-hawk. But I guess if we could understand Siobhan, she wouldn’t be nearly as interesting.

American Idol moved to the big stage with the Top Twelve, and the theme for the week is the Rolling Stones. This looks to be a rough week for many of the contestants.

I actually had something resembling a life last night, so The Wife and I didn’t get around to watching the eight remaining women perform on American Idol until this evening. Given that we cut down to the Final Twelve this week, the pressure was definitely on.

The gals were on stage last night, after this week’s schedule shift due to an illness by Crystal Bowersox. Crystal, who is rumored to have diabetes, looked fine and led off the show.

Tonight the twelve men of the Top 24 performed on American Idol. There are definitely some good voices in the group, and some likable personalities, but I’m not sure there’s anyone with real star quality.

I hoped to be proven wrong this evening.