The 3 Gs of American Idol: Week 4

In a departure from our normal content, we will be guiding you through this season of American Idol from The A Cappella Blog’s perspective. We’re going to do this through the 3 Gs format.

Good: Represents my thoughts on the best performance(s) of the night—these are the star-makers, the tearjerkers, the ones we’re all going to remember.

Gone: Represents my thoughts on the contestant(s) who I think is most likely to be going home (not necessarily the one I think should be going home).

Give it a second look: Represents the act(s) you might not remember, or that we might not have expected much from, but which delivered just the same, and deserve another listen.

Here are my thoughts from tonight’s episode:

GOOD

Lee unleashes his inner beast (of burden): Up this point, I would assess Lee to have been the most overrated Idol contestant this year. This week, he turned things around, finally staying in tune and arriving at a memorable sound—somewhere in the John Mayer-Dave Matthews neighborhood, as opposed to Scott Stapp-esque. I didn’t expect this kind of song or this kind of sound for him, and was pleasantly surprised. Given his lackluster body of work and the judges’ underwhelming reaction to him this time around, I don’t think Lee has much longer on the show—let’s celebrate him while he’s here!

Crystal gets what she needs: Let’s face it—this season is Crystal’s to lose at this point. She’s performing at a level several steps above anyone else in the competition and doing so on a consistent basis. This was the right song, and she had the money spot. She didn’t make the most of it, but she did well enough to maintain her lead in the overall race.

GONE
Goodbye, Lacey Tuesdays : Were there justice in the Idol democracy, Lacey would be long gone by now. This week wasn’t awful, but it was completely uninteresting and among the bottom 3-4 vocals of the night. This ought to be it.

GIVE IT A SECOND LOOK
Didi Benami plays with fire: I’ve got to be honest here. Didi has been my personal favorite Idol contestant this year, ever since Hollywood Week. Her chances of winning the whole thing resemble those of Aaron Kelly taking down Michael Lynche in an arm wrestling match. Nonetheless, after having her fair share of lukewarm performances, it’s good to see her put together the pieces again and turn in one of the better showings of the night in this emotionally rich song.