'American Idol' Recap - Lacey Gets The Boot + Idol Power Rankings

March 18th, 2010 9:26am EDT

American Idol Final 11 season 9 First Lilly hits the road, and now the second of my initial favorites bites the dust.

It’s not a surprise that Lacey left last night – she was probably the worst singer left in the competition, and it wasn’t a surprise she was joined by Tim Urban in the bottom three. The man who is now certainly the worst singer remaining. The mild shock was Paige’s presence in the bottom three. She absolutely killed “Honky Tonk Women” on Stones night, and showed that she could develop into the kind of pop artist that plays well on the radio – along the lines of Jordin Sparks.

So while the departure may be melancholy, it wasn’t anything close to a shock – and certainly something that makes the judges save seem a bit ridiculous at this point. Couldn’t they have used it on Lilly? But I digress. Back to the results show.

Because this was a results show, we got plenty of performances, and tonight it was a mixed bag. Former “Idol” winner David Cook gave us a capable rendition of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” that wasn’t as good as several of his contest performances and somebody named Orianthi (who fits the tradition of “Idol” having a musical guest that I’ve never heard of before) hit us with something of a mediocre 80s ballad

Those two don’t really matter though. Let’s talk about Ke$ha. More importantly, let’s debate if that song she sang is the worst song in the history of mankind. It seemed any moment the required any actual singing was dominated by Autotune and the rest, just kind of speaking, not rapping, speaking. Saying “blah blah blah” – now that’s an inventive lyric.

The worst part? This song peaked at number 7 on Billboard Hot 100. In what crazy universe is a song that sounds like drunken sorority sisters singing along to the radio while having a cell phone conversation a top ten hit? At least we got to see what Lady Gaga would like if she didn’t have any talent. And were those rappers that looked like doppelgangers of Brandon Flowers and Crispin Glover? It’s moments like these where you wish Simon were allowed to critique the musical guests.

But back to the elimination of Lacey. This is a girl who I just wish had a better voice. She’s got such a winning personality and the ability to wear a humongous flower in her hair and make it look lovely. All that, but nowhere near enough ability to make a real run on this show. Hopefully, she’ll find a way to make it without “Idol” – just like I hope my other favorite, Lilly, will.

So look out, Siobahn. It’s been a bad year for my favorite contestants.

And with that, here are this week’s power rankings. . .

1 (Rank Last Week: 1) – Big Mike

Not only did Big Mike pull a soul rabbit out of his hat this week, he also showed that he’s capable of completely reinventing a song, as he did by taking the Disco joke that is “Miss You” and turning it into something that could actually work as a contemporary radio single. He’s the most versatile performer and the most capable of handling any strange theme nights.

2 (6) – Siobahn Magnus

Siobahn is looking lie this year’s Adam Lambert – huge voice, offbeat style, and talent to spare. Unfortunately, like Lambert, she may be a bit too strange for a full-on embrace from middle America. That’s probably all that could keep her from winning.

3 (5) – Lee Dewyze

All you have to do is listen to those cheers – Dewyze is way more popular than people seem to realize. He’s got a David Cook-like ability to make any song a rocker, so he shouldn’t be too fazed by strange theme nights. His voting bloc will continue to grow.

4 (2) – Crystal Bowersox

The judges said it last night – Crystal is starting to repeat herself. That’s her problem, she really only has one move, a move that’s going to get tired after three straight months. Plus, she doesn’t seem versatile enough

5 (7) – Paige Miles

Paige showed this week that she can deliver a mass appeal performance that is both current and radio friendly, and that landed her in the bottom three. Low vote total aside, if Paige keeps moving in a pop direction, she has a chance to build up a big bloc of support.

6 (3) – Casey James

Casey is a bit of an enigma. He looks the part, he has the voice, and he plays a mean guitar to boot. There’s just something about him that’s sort of boring. He’ll need to start connecting to songs

7 (4) – Andrew Garcia

In my predictions I had Andrew leaving this week, showing how much I really believe in him. He’s tumbling down this list (he would have been number one on a list heading into the top 24) on the heels of lame performance after lame performance. He’s going to have to recapture his old form to make a real run. That may be a bit of a longshot, but he’s the only one left that has a chance to really make a big jump.

8 (8) – DiDi Benami

I kind of feel like she’s the dark horse in this competition: She’s super pretty, has an excellent voice and seems to have a Kaitlin Epperly-like ability to pick the right song. That’s going to suit her well, even though she doesn’t have the total package of those ahead of her.

9 (11) – Aaron Kelly

If you sing country, you’re going to get votes. When you’re a young kid, you’re going to get votes. When you’re both, you’ll stick around for awhile – though he’s got no chance at winning.

10 (9) – Katie Stevens

She’s young, she’s got a great voice, but she just seems out-of-place onstage. There’s nothing about her that screams “star”. Let alone anything that screams “Idol” winner.

11 (10) – Tim Urban

Urban may Sanjaya his way along for a few weeks, but sooner or later Vote For The Worst (who recently quoted me on this topic - Danke Schoen, kids) won’t be enough to see him get past the big guns .

Photo Credits: Michael Becker /FOX

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