American Idol Top 9 Power Rankings (Again)

WOW!

A couple quick thoughts from the American Idol performance and results shows:

- I personally didn't care for Big Mike's performance on Tuesday night but there was no way I would have put him in the bottom three, let alone had him on the chopping block. Once he was, however, there was no doubt in my mind that the judges were going to save him. So, the moral of the story is that even though the talent this year is less than stellar, at least it seems to be pretty even across the board. Last night's results proved that anyone can head home over the smallest slip-up. Looking forward, you gotta believe Mike returns to form next week - which will only complicate things more now that two contestants will be leaving.

- For some reason, I was really glad Katie didn't fall to the Bottom 3. You can see her improving each week and she may be starting to peak just at the right time (maybe I'm just pulling for her because I had her as the female favorite after Hollywood Week. Whoops!)

- The biggest surprise of the night was that Tim Urban wasn't even in the Bottom 3! While Tuesday night was one of his "better" performances, all of the contestants should be very aware (and alarmed) that he is only gaining steam as the show continues (congrats to VoteForTheWorst.com. This is an epic run for them).

- Hate to say it, but Andrew seemed to take a major step backward after taking a necessary, albeit small step forward last week (I just wanted to use the word, "albeit").

- I was glad to finally see Aaron in the Bottom 3. I didn't think it was possible, but he is actually somehow finding a way to get more boring and generic each week. I flipped the channel and watched the commercials during Lost while he was singing and was way more entertained.

On to the Power Rankings!

1. Crystal Bowersox (no change from last week) - still the most consistent, solid performer of the group. I don't know if she will hang on for the wire-to-wire win but she is the only "professional" singer in the group so far.

2. Lee Dewyze (no change) - despite his Eeyore personality, Lee is getting better every week and has really started to grow on me. I could actually see myself going to one of his concerts someday (as long as the tickets were free).

3. Casey James (+1) - HUGE night for him. It was good to see him stretch himself a bit and prove that he can be a legit singer in addition to a solid entertainer.

4. Siobhan Magnus (-1) - There is nothing technically wrong with Siobhan and I still think she will be a major player down the stretch, but it does seem like maybe she peaked a little too early in the competition as there has been increasing Siobhan backlash on the message boards lately.

5. Katie Stevens (+3) - Best night for her so far this season. I agreed with Simon that her performance had a strong country/Martina McBride-ish element to it (in a good way). She needs to keep picking songs that mean something to her because that's where she is showing to be the strongest.

6. Michael Lynche (-1) - Even though his neck was on the line, I still like Mike to return to form next week and make some more (good sounding) noise down the stretch.

7. Tim Urban (+2) - Tim definitely seems to be gaining steam somehow and he makes it hard to nail down a specific spot for him. Had to move him up a bit this week by virtue of the fact that he finally escaped sweating it out in the Bottom 3.

8. Aaron Kelly (+1) - With his appearance in the Bottom 3, I'm hoping that proves that people are starting to tire of his generic offerings as much as I am. I just don't know if he has the self awareness and experience to know how to turn it around. Hope I'm right.

9. Andrew Garcia (-3) - With two people going home next week I already think Andrew could be in trouble no matter what he does. Hope I'm wrong.