Idols Fail to Inspire

I am starting to agree with the press that this is the weakest Top 7 ever. Peeps have been calling me, texting me, emailing me to ask if I am still alive, because this blog sure isn't. I assure them that I am alive and well and plotting the tour bus routes of both Jason Castro and Danny Gokey as we speak, as well as scheming behind the back of my employer to figure out how to be online at 9am Thursday to snag Carrie Underwood tickets for her local summer performance.....so all that to say, Idolmama does have a pulse! However, their point is well made. I am uninspired this season!

Tonight really didn't help that much. I think Alicia Keyes is gorgeous and way talented but the performances tonight fell short for me. I almost feel like the contestants chose songs that inspired THEM for whatever reason, but not the average listener.....so I wasn't feeling it.

I decided to rank them in terms of inspiration and not so much performance.....bear with me, trying to shake things up a bit....from MOST inspiring song choice, to LEAST inspiring song choice...now, bear with me, we are going to focus on SONG CHOICE.....

Aaron had the most inspiring song choice of the night for me, in terms of song and lyric and performance. He tackled R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly" and didn't totally botch the thing, which would have been easy to do....I still think he's Theme Park, but the judges liked him (Simon was lukewarm). But I give song choice an A! And that modified 80's Members Only jacket.....too cool for school.

Second-runner-up on inspiration was Crystal's "People Get Ready". And yes, I was unduly swayed by her sobbing at the end. But chick has incredible musicianship and as all season, is leaps and bounds ahead of her competitors musically. Can she be stopped on her way to the Nokia Theater?

Third on the Inspiration-o-Meter for me tonight was Siobahn's choice of the Whitney/Mariah anthem "When You Believe." Applaud the chick for picking a great inspirational song, and she did sing it adequately, but I didn't connect with her on it at all. Agreed with Simon that he butterflies on her shoulder were a bit distracting, and I honestly found her performance (of an inspirational song) boring! I still just really don't get her!

Lee's nervous fingers betrayed him tonight. During his interview piece with Ryan pre-performance he sat nervously twiddling his guitar pick and I realized, he doesn't know how good he is. This may be Lee's biggest downfall. I LOVED his rendition of "The Boxer" and think it's way cool that his parents exposed him to the music greats while he was a kid,but my only fear is that there are so many lyrics in the song that are lost on a big venue like this. I only hope Lee connected with people!

Now we're getting into the hurt zone. Not only were these songs not inspirational they were poorly performed. Number 7 on my list tonight was Casey's "Don't Stop Believing". Casey does much better with his hair pulled back for some reason. I think I take him more seriously. Anyway, I have to wonder about the inspirational-ness of this song.....a little on the weak side IMO. He definitely rocked it out, but I agree with the judges that we are still lacking connection from him..something is missing.

Bottom two for me tonight in terms of inspirational song choice (and performance?) were Mike and Tim. First off, Mike's song choice might have looked good on paper,but I almost fell asleep during his performance. And Tim....well...the Goo Goo Dolls "Better Days" may have seen some better days....give him an A for effort.

What did you think? Was Alicia Keyes a good mentor? Are the best contestants left? And do you think this is a great season, or the worst ever?

Photo courtesy of Paul Bradforth, AdStockImages.com