AI Season 9-Top 7 Performance

We only have an hour tonight. I wonder if that will be enough time for Bizarro Ryan to make an appearance.

Lacy and Didi are in the audience. Randy is wearing a sweater made of big blocks of gray and white. Ellen is in white on white on white (shirt, vest, jacket). Kara still has Pauler Hair. She's wearing a white shirt with silvery sparkle fringey things, under a black vest. Simon is in a charcoal cardigan that has lighter gray sleeves, over his usual white tee.

Pretty pretty Alicia Keys plans to help the kids sing their inspirational songs inspirationally.

Casey is up first. He's in a dark blue blazer that, once again, makes his shoulders look narrow. I think someone got to him with a crimper and a curling iron- his wavy hair is pulled back into a softly curled ponytail. He's singing Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow, which is inspirational in the sense that any bad breakup might inspire people to not think about the bad things they've done. I'm not inspired by this performance. It's not bad, but it's not good either. I think Casey has peaked.

Lee's hair is lighter this week. He's wearing a khaki green shirt with epaulettes, rolled sleeves, and a loosened black tie. He's singing The Boxer, which is also less inspirational than I was expecting (though surprising- outside of Clay singing Bridge Over Troubled Water, I don't think any Garfunkle and/or Simon songs have been performaed on this show). I'm old, and in the kids' (and judges') constant quest to Be Current, they often sing songs with which I am not familiar, so I generally am not aware when they chop up songs to fit the show's time format. That's not the case with this song, so I find it disconcerting hear such a radically different arrangement (not to mention being disappointed when Lee leaves out the part about taking comfort with the Working Girls). That said, this is a brilliant performance. Lee finally had his Moment. If I was an I-Tunes person, I would definitely like to hear the full studio version of this song.

There's Captain Sully in the audience, with a rictus grin on his face, probably wondering what the hell he ever did to deserve having to sit in the AI audience.

Tim is singing Better Days by The GooGoo Dolls, which is a song he could perform in Sanskrit and I wouldn't know better. He's wearing a dark gray henley shirt, and his hair is at the absolute apex of Carol Bradyness. Yikes- his voice has no depth, no beauty, and no tone. This wasn't even good karaoke. I'm hoping his looks have carried him as far as they're can.

So, Aaron is inspired by R. Kelly, which is dispiriting. He's wearing a gray windbreaker with the sleeves rolled about to his armpits. Again. I Believe I Can Fly is almost too big for Aaron- he starts wobbly, with the vibrato front and center, but he threw himself into the big notes and mostly pulled it off. I don't love this, but it's probably his best performance.

Evidently Siobhan was inspired by Miss Kitty. But since Siobhan resides primarily in Non Sequitoria, it's not surprising that her clothes make no sense- she's got feathers in her hair, butterflies on her shoulders (literally- big fake butterflies attached to a vine that snakes up from her waist), sequined appliqued flowers, a phoenix print on her gray dress, and shoes with wide ribbon laces cris-crossing up to her knees. All this to sing When You Believe, by either Mariah, or Whitney. Or both. But the moment she starts singing, I forget all about her clothes, and just listen. This is really really beautiful- pure and controlled and lovely. Big where it needs to be Big, soft where it needs to be Soft. Brava, Little Odd One! Stop Talking, Little Odd One!

While I have no interest in owning an I-Pad, I do like this commercial, with the lovely Gene Wilder song from Willy Wonka. Speaking of Gene Wilder, my friend Alan met him recently. Read all about it.

Mike is finally wearing a jacket that fits him. He takes it off, revealing a black, long-sleeved t-shirt with a slit neck, and plans to sing Hero, which I thought was by Seal, but I can't find any backup on that point. Mike gets the Mothership Lighting for the slow beginning, which I like better than the last half of the song. Simon opines that any song from Spiderman must needs be about Spiderman.

Crystal is instrumentless, in a long, black prom dress with a startlingly plunge-ful neckline. She's singing People Get Ready, which song I know not. She opens a capella, and.... and... oh. my. god. This is, flat out, the best, most amazing, beautiful performance I've ever seen on this show. In any season. I have chills. And tears. And the more Crystal cries, the more I cry..... just.... wow...

Worst of the night: Tim, though Casey might be in danger too.

Best of the night: Siobhan and Lee.

Best in the history of this show: Crystal