American Idol Recap: An Emotional Crystal Bowersox Inspires Judges To Shower Her With Praise

American Idol season 9's top 7 with guest mentor Alicia Keys - FOX

American Idol is bringing back their star-studded give-a-thon known as Idol Gives Back this week, and in keeping with the theme of love and unity, the remaining seven contestants were given a host of “inspirational” songs to choose from. To help get the best out of the kids, uber benevolent R&B superstar Alicia Keys was employed as this week’s guest mentor.

And although the intent was to aspire to inspire, the result was mostly dire. Performance after performance ended up being lifeless sap-fests. That was, of course, until the very end when stand-out Crystal Bowersox hit the stage for an emotional rendition of “People Get Ready.”

Here’s a rundown of how our top 7 did:

Casey James – Don’t Stop: Casey couldn’t have picked a more well-known song to sing when he chose Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop.” The problem is I actually did want him to stop…stop singing. Like, quickly. There was nothing special about the performance and his vibrato, which is usually present but not as annoying, was really grating. Randy called it “good” but felt he was doing the same old thing every week. Simon agreed, calling his song choice “lazy.”

Lee DeWyze – The Boxer: Lee went all sorts of sensitive — and pitchy — for Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Boxer.” On acoustic guitar, Lee tried his best to convey the message in the song and not overdo it. It was nicely understated, but it didn’t all come together for me. I’m so alone. The judges ate it up. Kara says it was Lee’s “moment” of the season. Simon called it “sincere, emotional, inspirational…absolutely brilliant.”

Tim Urban – Better Days: Tim has been on the up and up for the last couple of weeks. You might say his improvement has been inspirational. So, this was the perfect week for him to do well and cement his status as the dark horse who could take it all. Uh…didn’t happen. His performance was definitely not his worst, but it was a bit limp, very dull, and unoriginal. Ellen compared Tim to the “soup of the day.” “Sometimes I like the soup, and sometimes I don’t like the soup. Today I didn’t like the soup.” Tim could finally be off the menu.

Aaron Kelly – I Believe I Can Fly: If any song could take a contestant down the stairway to karaoke hell, it’s this R. Kelly number. Well, A. Kelly thought he was good enough to do it. Scary, scary karaoke hell it was. It was like a little boy trying to belt it out in church. It’s like, even when it sucks, the church members aren’t going to say it does, so might as well go crazy with runs and forced soul. The judges mostly give him props for taking on the big song and doing OK. But Simon put it best: “In the real world, if we had heard that on the radio, I would have turned it off within 10 seconds.”

Siobhan Magnus – When You Believe: Siobhan is known for taking on big, soulful voices. She’s done Aretha. Conquered Stevie. Now, she would give Idol a one-two punch with Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey’s “When You Believe.” With two big voices on one track, you almost have to be twice as good to deliver a reasonable cover. Siobhan just didn’t pull it off. There were moments of sheer bliss — her crystal clear note at the end was perfection — but it was mostly a bad imitation of soul. Randy thought it was “just OK,” but Ellen liked it. Kara said it was well sung but “too dramatic,” and added: “I’d wanna hang out with you more than buy your record ’cause I still don’t know who you are.” Simon called it “all over the place.”

Michael Lynche – Hero: Big Mike decided to take on “Hero” from the Spiderman soundtrack. Gosh, remember how inescapable this song was on VH1!? Anyway! Big Mike admitted he was stepping out of his comfort zone, but that’s exactly what made his rendition so cool. It kept some of the rock elements, but added a delicious drop of soul. Randy and Ellen liked what they heard, but Kara thought he didn’t have the voice for that song and made it unrecognizable. Simon thought he sang the song well, but was bothered by the song being about Spiderman. “It didn’t quite gel for me,” he said. “But I still think you’re going to be around next week.”

Crystal Bowersox – People Get Ready: It’s been a hard week for Mama Sox. She had to deal with the media frenzy over reports that she almost walked out on Idol. It was later confirmed as true by Ryan Seacrest, but Crystal insisted people made more of the story than was actually there. Inspiration is what she needed, but inspiration is what she gave everyone watching. Starting the song out acapella, and ditching her guitar this week, Crystal focused strictly on making the message of the song soar from her powerful voice. By the end of her performance, Crystal was in tears. She says it was because she saw her father in the audience and it was the first time he’d been to the show. The judges were awestruck and lavished her wish praises. “Mama Sox, you know why they call you that?” Kara asked. “Because you just schooled all those contestants!” “That was inspirational,” Simon said.

Predictions: Unless Idol is feeling charitable and keeps everyone around like they have on past Idol Gives Back shows, the bottom three will consist of Tim, Aaron, and Siobhan. It’s Tim’s time to go.