by Jenn |
The guest mentor for the week was Shania Twain, a country music star who has managed to cross into pop. She has single-handily changed country music by becoming the biggest cross-over artist ever. She has 5 Grammys to prove it. All the performances will be one of her songs that has written and performed. She was a guest judge at the Chicago for the auditions.
Last week’s Idol Gives Back fundraiser brought in an incredible $45,000,000.
Lee DeWyze – You’re Still the One
- Randy – “You found a way to make it your own.” “You did a pretty good job with it, dude.”
- Ellen – “Every song you take, you make it your own.” “You couldn’t look cuter.”
- Kara – “Look how far you’ve come.” “It was a good job.”
- Simon – “That was absolutely the perfect song out of Shania’s catalog.” “You were pulling some kinda weird faces.”
Michael Lynch – It Only Hurts When I’m Breathing
- Randy – “You did a great job and you’re really in the zone of who you are.”
- Ellen – “It felt like Luther Vandross.” “I felt you’re emotion.” “Beautiful.”
- Kara – “You changed it enough that you put your mark on it.”
- Simon – “The performance was a little bit wet.” “It was a little bit girly for you.”
Casey James – Don’t
- Randy – “This is one of the best Casey James performances ever.”
- Ellen – “You sang that like that’s where you really belong.” “You’re best performance that you’ve done to date.”
- Kara – “You didn’t hide, you didn’t cover it up with the guitar, you were vulnerable, you were raw, and that’s what you need to do and if you keep doing it you’ll be at the front of this competition.”
- Simon – “You’re best performance so far.” “It didn’t feel like someone else’s song.”
Crystal Bowersox – No One Needs to Know
- Randy – “It wasn’t my favorite performance.”
- Ellen – “There’s nothing you can’t do.” “It was not my favorite performance of yours either but that’s like saying ‘what’s your least favorite color of the rainbow?’ You’re just brilliant and you’re always going to be good but it just wasn’t my favorite performance.”
- Kara - “It was believable.” “You’re still amazing.”
- Simon – “We don’t like Crystal this week.” “It was limp.” “I didn’t feel any conviction from you.”
Aaron Kelly – You’ve Got a Way
(Now we have to wonder, not that it’s a bog deal, but because Aaron changed a line in the song, “it’s in the way we make love” to “it’s in the way we show love,” is he a virgin. Hopefully at 17, he still is…props to him! He informed the judges that he was singing the song to his mom, how cute! Kind of creepy though…)
- Randy – “This is your land. You’re our country artist on the show this year.”
- Ellen – “The amount of emotion and depth that you showed when you sang that song just now, the maturity that you had to embrace those lyrics.
- Kara - “It was like you really felt those words.”
- Simon - “You were like a different artist.” “This is the kind of record…you should make.” “It felt believable.”
Siobhan Magnus – Any Man of Mine
- Randy – “I loved it.”
- Ellen – “Way to pull the Shania Twain into the station.” (Twain…sounds like train…)
- Kara – “Guess who’s back!”
- Simon - “It was almost like you were giving birth up there at the end. If you heard that note in isolation you would have thought something else was going on.” “It was fun.”