The One Where Siobhan Became the Underdog and Lee's Life Changed Forever

Hully gee! Once again, I got all comfy with my low, low expectations, and then these Idolettes, for the most part, knocked my (Bower)socks off! If Siobhan is one of the weakest, you know there's some mad singing going on. Or it's Armageddon — it could always be Armageddon.

But the Four Horsemen have thus far evaded my living room, so I'm going with the former.

Siobhan's our lead-off singer tonight, and chose to tackle "Through the Fire." First off, the big glasses threw me, as I kept thinking I was seeing Big Glasses Girl from Hollywood Week – and what shenanigans were going on now? Was it another Chris Golightly/Tim Urban thing, and they had to pull in yet another previously-passed-on Idolette? But no, it was just Siobhan doing that I-can-get-away-with-this-nonsense thing that wildly talented beautiful girls with attitude can in fact get away with, but it didn't make me love her, nor did her diva 'tude post-performance, though I'm getting ahead of myself.

Her performance was just all right, and Randy called it: It wasn't the big screamy notes, it was the lower notes that were the problem. But the big screamies are kind of their own problem too, because they're now predictable and a little silly.

And then she went back to the dressing room and didn't talk to anyone; I get that she's young and it's hard to get your first bad reviews, but sweetie, America's watching; put on your happy face and move on. Have a hissy later in the shower, like a grown-up.

I don't for one minute think she's in trouble, but hopefully this will be a wake-up call and she'll sing for her life next week, because that would be cool to hear.

ANYWAY. Batting second is Casey, rocking out on a bluesy "Hold On, I'm Coming" with his great raspy voice; it's not a hugely original version, but he gives a confident, assured performance and sounds fantastic. He is in the zone, man. The judges all liked it too, and Casey beams.

Michael is singing India Arie's "Ready for Love" (yes, I know that's not how she does her name, but I am a writer of English), a song neither Kara nor I knew, but as far as I can tell he does a nice job with it. I liked that he avoided his falsetto. I'm still not a huge fan of his voice, and when he sings a ballad I find it all a little dull, but I actually think his voice is getting better. And he is such an immensely likable presence, he'll be around for a while.

Didi promises to emote through "What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted?" and then sings a curiously flat version of it. Who'da thunk the day would come when we'd beg for more emotion from Didi? Yeah, this just wasn't good at all, and I don't know what to make of it. The judges are likewise nonplussed. I'm sad, because I used to love her (but it's all over now).

That crazy kid Tim takes it into his head to sing Anita Baker's "Sweet Love," and earnestly assures Usher that he has in fact been in love, and next year he gets to stay up till 10:30 and borrow the car two nights a week! Oh, Tim. I do truly love how much fun he's having with all this — he beams and beams as the judges flay him. (He doesn't sound terrible — he's fine. The song is way too sophisticated for him, that's all.)

So Andrew's next, and I have my usual feeling of total disinterest, other than mild surprise that he's still here — hut blow me down, he does a very nice job with "Forever." I'm still not a big fan of his voice, but tonight he pulled it together and it all worked. Nicely done, Andrew.

Little bitty Katie tells Usher that she's singing "Chain of Fools," and I'm thinking, Ohhhh honey. But I freakin' loved it! (Way more than the judges did, for sure.) What I saw was a young girl casting off all the confusing advice she's received, singing a song she's sung into her hairbrush 1,200 times, having a great time playing a part, and just really letting go and enjoying herself. And that made me happy. Go, kitten!

Pre-Lee side note: I had lunch with our usual blogging partner Mrs. Cynicletary today, and she confirmed that she's not into blogging this season and has barely connected with the show so far — but the one contestant she's interested in is Lee, as she sees great potential there and he's already starting to get better. So she may be one of the few who weren't completely stunned by what came next.

Lee, who has always been a consistent, competent performer, brought down the house tonight! He nails "Treat Her Like a Lady" with astonishing vocals and tremendous stage presence, charisma emanating like a sexy halo. He looked confident and mature and handsome. What a singer! What a performance! Where on earth did that come from??!!!

"This may be the night your life changed forever," said Simon, and I got a chill.

Thank goodness la Bowersox is up next, because I can't imagine anyone else following Lee's stealth brilliance with any success. Though Lee did steal a bit of Crystal's thunder; by the time we got a gander at her stilettos, I think we were all surprised out.

But it deserves to be commented on: Crystal cleans up very, very nicely. ("Crystal's a girl!" I squealed.)

I couldn't watch her while she played the piano because she made me too nervous, but her voice was as pure and lovely as ever. "Midnight Train to Georgia" was a perfect song for her. A very nice, clean, polished, fine performance. And good for her for mixing it up a bit.

Little Aaron closes the show, singing "Ain't No Sunshine," one of those fabuloso songs that it's hard to really screw up, and he doesn't really screw up, he sounds sweet and fine, but it's nothing to write home about. But I was a tad disappointed: Aaron was the recipient of the one and only piece of Usher advice that I thought actually useful, and that was how to sing the long string of "I know I know I know I know . . ."s. Aaron did it really well with Usher, but then he didn't do it on stage, which was a bummer. But Aaron is such a cute little pup, I don't think he's in danger.

But then . . . who is? Most people did pretty well tonight!

Based solely on tonight's performances, the bottom three should be Didi, Tim, and Siobhan, with Didi going home. I truly can't believe that Siobhan will be in the bottom three, though, and I suspect that my delight over Katie's inner vixen will NOT be the popular opinion, so Katie will likely take her usual place in the bottom three with Didi and Tim. Though I still think Didi will go home.

Wow, for a season touting "the strongest women yet!", the chicks are sure dropping like flies, aren't they?

Lady Chardonnay, out!