Vote at the MRAs 2011 here!



Friday, April 1, 2011
Billboard Update



Katy Perry has finally overtaken Lady Gaga, as E.T. surges forward, hitting #1, making it Perry's fourth consecutive chart topper, while Rihanna and Cee Lo Green are right on her tail, with S&M making a new peak of #2 while F**k You! moves up a spot to #3 while Gaga herself falls to #4. Jennifer Lopez' addictive club stomper On The Floor has flown up to #10, after making a tiny slip to #13 last week. Adele's Rolling In The Deep has returned to the Top 20, hitting #17 this week, just a couple spots away from its peak so far at #13. Christina Perri, Britney Spears and Avril Lavigne are at #21, #23 and #24 respectively with Jar of Hearts, Till The World Ends and What The Hell. Selena Gomez' Who Says falls to #28 after debuting at #24 last week. Bruno Mars continues to fly up the chart, with Marry You making a new peak at #37. Jessie J has crawled into the Top 50 with Price Tag inching its way to a new peak of #50. It's album release week and Jennifer Hudson's Where You At continues to rise, moving up to #64. Taylor Swift's newie makes a re-appearance on the chart as Mean re-enters the Hot 100 at #90. A new song from Ke$ha's new remix album, F**k Him He's A DJ debuts at #97.

Over on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart, is Chris Brown's F.A.M.E. on top, while Jennifer Hudson's I Remember Me debuts at #2, shoving Adele to #3 as a result. Avril Lavigne falls a sharp drop to #24 with Goodbye Lullaby falling 17 spots down. Ke$ha's I Am The Dance Commander + I Command You To Dance The Remix Album arrives on the chart at #36. Well, could be worse. You could be Lee DeWyze who has fallen exactly a 100 spots down to #196 this week.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 7:34 PM | comment link here





Friday, March 25, 2011
Billboard Update



Surprise surprise. Guess who's #1 on the Hot 100 still? Yup, Born This Way still reigns over the Hot 100, with Katy Perry's new offering E.T. quickly gaining some serious steam, peaking at #2 while Rihanna rises to #3 again with the Airplay Gainer Title. After scoring another Top 10 hit a couple weeks ago with their cover of Teenage Dream, Glee has done it again, debuting at #6 with Loser Like Me. The Glee effect continues with Get it Right at #16, Raise Your Glass at #36, Blackbird at #37, Misery at #52, Hell To The No at #53 and Candles at #71. Unfortunately, Jennifer Lopez' On The Floor has taken quite a fall, falling to #13 this week. Hmmm, time for some much-deserved promo, J.Lo? Oof. In it's third week out, Britney's Till The World Ends dips from #9 to a shocking #23, while Selena Gomez & The Scene debut right behind at #24 with Who Says. Jessie J moves up a little again with Price Tag making a new peak at #54. How about a performance on American Idol then? Jennifer Hudson makes a move up to #89 with Where You At. Expect that to move even further up with album release week and a promotional spot on Idol. Christina Perri's melodic new single Arms debuts at #94 this week. Miranda Cosgrove's current single Dancing Crazy debuts right at the rim of the Hot 100 at #100.

Over on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart, Adele rises again to take poll spot with 21 right at the top while Avril Lavigne's Goodbye Lullaby falls three spots to #7. Miranda Cosgrove's new EP High Maintainence debuts at an unimpressive #34. After a performance on American Idol, Season 9's Lee DeWyze is back on the charts with Live It Up re-entering at #96.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 11:49 PM | comment link here





Friday, January 21, 2011
Billboard Update



Britney Spears is back and is showing other pop princess just how it's done, selling 411, 000 copies of Hold It Against Me and debuting right atop the Hot 100, pushing the overplayed Bruno Mars and Katy Perry tracks Grenade and Firework to #2 and #3 respectively. Avril Lavigne also returns to the Hot 100 with What The Hell debuting at #13 thanks to 168, 000 digital sales in its first week. Christina Perri's Jar of Hearts isn't heading anywhere but up, hitting an all new peak of #28. Also seeing some happy news is P!nk as F**kin' Perfect shoots up to #30.

Over on the albums chart, Cake and Cage The Elephant take #1 and #2, pushing Taylor Swift down to #3 with Speak Now while Bruno Mars falls just one spot away from the peak spot of #3 for Doo-Wops & Hooligans. Crystal Bowersox falls a couple spots down to #54 with debut album Farmer's Daughter while Lee DeWyze moves up to #122 with Live It Up.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 5:43 PM | comment link here





Friday, January 7, 2011
Billboard Update



We're still going into 2011 boringly, with Katy Perry taking the top spot again on the Billboard Hot 100, pushing Bruno Mars' Grenade to #2 while Ke$ha rounds out the Top 3 with We R Who We R. Rihanna and P!nk also stay intact with What's My Name? and Raise Your Glass maintaining their positions at #4 and #5 respectively. After a one spot slip last week, Taylor Swift moves up two spots to #25 this week. In an incredibly weird week, Swift has collected the Airplay Gainer title for Mine, the lead single from her Speak Now album that was released ages ago. Christina Perri's also on her way up with Jar of Hearts at #41 this week. Carrie Underwood's also not doing too shabbily, with Mama's Song sneaking back into the Top 60, moving three spots up to #60 this week. Selena Gomez & The Scene, however, are headed the other way as A Year Without Rain falls two spots to #77. The Glee effect still isn't wearing off for Bruno Mars yet, as Marry You moves up to a new peak of #85. It's kinda obvious this might be the third single..

Over on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart, Taylor Swift reigns at #1 while Eminem and Rihanna leap back into the Top 3 with Eminem's Recovery and Rihanna's Loud at #2 and #3 respectively. Bruno Mars has also skyrocketed back into the Top 10, flying from #20 last week to #7. Ke$ha's also seeing good signs with Cannibal jumping exactly 20 spots to #19 this week. Poor Susan Boyle though, after battling with Taylor Swift the past couple weeks, The Gift has fallen hard, dropping to a disappointing #31 after coming in second last week. Crystal Bowersox is also falling, with Farmer's Daughter placing #62 this week. Still, she's still doing better than eventual American Idol winner Lee DeWyze whose post-Idol debut Live It Up is at #170 this week.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 10:43 PM | comment link here





Thursday, December 30, 2010
Billboard Update



As expected, Bruno Mars collects his second solo #1 on the Hot 100 with Grenade overtaking Katy Perry's Firework which has slipped to #2 thanks to the Airplay Gainer Title. Meanwhile, Ke$ha rebounds up to #3 with We R Who We R riding out in its ninth week on the chart. Taylor Swift's slips a spot to #27 this week with Back To December. Christina Perri though, is headed in a different direction, moving up to #43 with Jar of Hearts this week. Selena Gomez & The Scene have returned with A Year Without Rain re-enters at #75 while Bruno Mars does the same with Marry You at #86.

Taylor Swift has taken over the Billboard 200 with Speak Now taking over top spot while Susan Boyle's The Gift falls to #2 while Glee's Christmas album reaches a new peak of #3. Katy Perry and Rihanna are staying strong over on the albums chart as well with Loud and Teenage Dream at #10 and #12 respectively. Bruno Mars rockets up to #20 with Doo-wops & Hooligans this week. Lee DeWyze falls to #125 this week with Live It Up. OneRepublic round out the chart with Waking Up re-entering at #200.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 10:04 PM | comment link here





Sunday, December 26, 2010
Lee DeWyze - Little Drummer Boy live on Disney Christmas Parade



American Idol Season 9 winner may have only shifted a lacklustre 39, 000 copies of his post-Idol debut album Live It Up, but he's not giving up yet. Lee was on the Disney Christmas Parade to perform Little Drummer Boy. It's the usual Lee performance, not horrid by any measure, but not stunning either. But the crowd was really getting into the performance. Colour me surprised.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 11:39 PM | comment link here





Friday, December 24, 2010
Billboard Update



Katy Perry's Firework remains at the top of the Hot 100 while getting the Airplay Gainer title. Expectedly, Bruno Mars is trailing right behind with Grenade hitting a new peak of #2. Taylor Swift's also on the move up with Back To December rising to #26 this week. Also moving up is Christina Perri with Jar of Hearts inching closer and closer to its peak of #34 at #46 this week. She must be doing something right.. P!nk's new single F**kin' Perfect has made its debut at #86 this week. Glee's Baby, It's Cold Outside falls to #99 this week while Mariah Carey's Oh Santa! has finally arrived at #100. Let's hope it doesn't just debut and disappear like Up Out My Face..

Taylor Swift's Speak Now has taken over on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart after Susan Boyle's reign on top with The Gift for a couple of weeks. Despite how utterly WRONG this is, Michael Jackson's posthumous album Michael has debuted at #3. Doing better than the American Idol Season 9 winner Lee DeWyze, fellow runner up Crystal Bowersox' Farmer's Daughter arrives at #28. Surprise, surprise. Lee DeWyze himself isn't doing TOO badly.. Live It Up has actually moved up to #119.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 11:31 PM | comment link here





Friday, December 17, 2010
Billboard Update



Katy Perry spends her second consecutive week at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week with Firework, pushing pop rival Rihanna away who's track What's My Name has rebounded to #2. Rocketing up to #3 is Bruno Mars with Grenade. You can pretty much expect Grenade to hit #1 in a couple weeks, if not next week. Slipping two spots is P!nk with Raise Your Glass which falls to #4 this week. Don't worry, she's another track coming out called F**kin' Perfect. Ke$ha bounces back up to #5 with We R Who We R after the music video of said track premiered. Refusing to budge is Rihanna and Bruno Mars' Only Girl (In The World) and Just The Way You Are at #6 and #7 respectively. Taylor Swift remains unstoppable, with Back To December heading up the charts, hitting #34 this week. Christina Perri's doing something right as Jar or Hearts is slowly getting closer to its original peak of #34, hitting #49 this week. After a couple weeks of heading the wrong direction, Carrie Underwood's Mama's Song has finally moved upwards to a new peak of #56. Then there's the unstoppable Glee Cast, with a slew of debuts after that Christmas episode. Baby It's Cold Outside and Welcome Christmas debut at #57 and #59 while Forget You spends a fourth week on the chart at #92. Gwyneth Paltrow must be doing something right. After falling all the way to the bottom of the Hot 100 last week, Shakira's Loca has bounced up 10 spots to #90.

Over on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart, Susan Boyle reigns Queen as The Gift lodges yet another week at the top spot. Taylor Swift's Speak Now trails behind Susan Boyle at #2 while Glee's Christmas Album takes the title of Greatest Gainer and hits a new peak of #3. Well at least this week's fall wasn't too drastic, Lee DeWyze' post-Idol debut album Live It Up falls ten spots to #133.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 5:40 PM | comment link here





Saturday, December 11, 2010
Billboard Update



Katy Perry's giving Rihanna a run for her money as the Singles Artist, with Perry sending her third single Firework straight to #1 on the Hot 100 after California Gurls and Teenage Dream hit the summit earlier this year. P!nk's Raise Your Glass has fallen to #2 in the meantime. And speaking of Rihanna, What's My Name? has just rebounded up to #3 on the Hot 100 while Only Girl (In The World) falls to #6. The Black Eyed Peas' single The Time (Dirty Bit) has entered the Top 4 this week. Bruno Mars rockets up to #5 with Grenade this week. Don't count out another Hot 100 #1 for this talented young man here. Ke$ha's We R Who We R falls to #8 this week. The Glee Cast's Dog Days Are Over, Hey, Soul Sister, (I've Had) The Time Of Our Lives, Valarie and Don't Cry For Me Argentina debut at #22, #29, #38, #54 and #97 while Marry You which debuted last week, falls to #57 and their cover of Cee-Lo Green's Forget You rounds out the Top 60 while Singing In The Rain/Umbrella spends its third week on the chart at #99. Taylor Swift slowly inches up the Hot 100 with Back To December moving up to #43 this week while fellow Country/pop superstar Carrie Underwood remains at #58 with Mama's Song. Christina Perri's Jar of Hearts remains entrenched at #65. Shakira's Loca rounds out the Hot 100.

Susan Boyle returns to #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart with The Gift, trailed behind by Taylor Swift's Speak Now. Glee's Christmas album shoots up to #4 with the Christmas season just round the corner. The Black Eyed Peas debut at a disappointing #6. Rihanna's Loud rounds out the Top 10 while Mariah Carey rockets up to #12 with the Greatest Gainer Title with Merry Christmas II You. It's bad news all-round for Lee DeWyze as Live It Up falls to #123 in just its third week out.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 11:55 AM | comment link here





Friday, November 26, 2010
Billboard Update



Rihanna recently hit #1 on the Hot 100 with second single What's My Name? featuring Drake, but now, the lead single from upcoming set Loud has hit the top of the Hot 100 as she collects her ninth #1, becoming the first artist in history to ever have the second single from the album hit #1 before the first single. Meanwhile, the aforementioned Drake-assisted track What's My Name? has slipped to #8 despite getting the Airplay Gainer title for a second week in a row. Could P!nk be on her way to collect another hit #1 with Raise Your Glass? Seems like it. The track surges to #2 this week and might rise again next week after the high profile appearance at the AMAs. Ke$ha's We R Who We R rises to #4 this week after slipping to #6 last week. Katy Perry's Firework is also creeping up the charts, hitting a new peak of #6 for the popstar's latest single. The Glee cast have crashed the Hot 100 yet again this week, as Forget You and Singing In The Rain/Umbrella debut at #11 and #18 respectively. Last week's big Glee track Teenage Dream falls to #36, but still charting strongly compared to other Glee tracks. The Black Eyed Peas fall to #13 with their latest single The Time (Dirty Bit). Awww, looks like not everyone's liking the new track eh, Peas? Bruno Mars' Grenade rockets up to #17 this week as smash hit #1 single Just The Way You Are continues to slip (slowly) down the Top 10 of the Hot 100. OneRepublic's Secrets is still lingering around the Top 30, moving up to #24 this week, a couple spots from its peak of #21. Rihanna's next single S&M debuts at #53 this week. Carrie Underwood moves up one spot with Mama's Song making a new peak at #58. Christina Perri is back on the charts and moving up with Jar of Hearts hitting #62 this week. Taylor Swift's next single Back to December is moving up as well, climbing to #67 this week. Shakira's Loca remains entrenched at #83. Ne-Yo's One In A Million is also moving up, hitting a new peak of #92 this week. Jason DeRulo though, has fallen quite sharply to #96 after peaking at #76 last week. Ke$ha's promo track lifted from Cannibal called Blow debuts at #97 this week.

Susan Boyle continues her reign on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart with The Gift hitting #1 for a second week in a row. Another freakishly talented singer Jackie Evancho with her debut EP O Holy Night debuts at #2 while pop megastar Rihanna has to settle for third place for Loud, but also boasts her best first week sales yet. Glee's Christmas album debuts at #8 while Taylor Swift's Speak Now falls to #9. P!nk's Greatest Hits... So Far! debuts at #14 this week. Lee DeWyze' post-Idol debut Live It Up has become the lowest-selling Idol debut album since Kris Allen debuted at #11 with his self-titled post-Idol debut album, entering the chart at #19, selling roughly 39, 000 copies. Oh dear. Mariah Carey's Merry Christmas II You falls to #22 this week while her first Christmas album Merry Christmas surges up to #124.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 4:16 PM | comment link here





Friday, November 19, 2010
Lee DeWyze - Sweet Serendipity live Ellen



Lee DeWyze is on a promotional roll, promoting his post-Idol debut album Live It Up which is expected to sell 45, 000 to 50, 000 in its first week of release, which is admittedly a little shabby, but anyway. The Chicago native was on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and performed post-Idol debut single Sweet Serendipity and it was an alright performance. Check out his backstage message for Ellen below.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 2:26 PM | comment link here





Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Lee DeWyze - Sweet Serendipity live @ The Today Show



Raspy-voiced American Idol Season 9 winner Lee DeWyze is a on a promotional kick as Live It Up, his post-Idol debut album, is released November 16th. DeWyze performed Sweet Serendipity, the first single from the album on The Today Show. It was an okay performance to me, and the instruments seem to be louder than DeWyze himself.

Check out DeWyze' five-song set on Walmart Soundcheck here which is easily one of his best string of performances he's done so far.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 8:44 PM | comment link here





Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Lee DeWyze - Sweet Serendipity live @ The Tonight Show with Jay Leno



American Idol Season 9 winner Lee DeWyze recently got his band together and started playing together and so here is the result. DeWyze delivered his first televised performance of post-Idol debut single Sweet Serendipity. To be honest, it was alright, and the highlight of the performance is when DeWyze stretched his vocals on "I ain't got no car, and I got one pair of jeans". The rest of the performance was rather bland. But the song's radio-friendly so it should do alright on the charts. Let's hoping his band gets more chemistry as they progress. As it always does with Idol's acts signed right after the show, such as Kris Allen or Allison Iraheta's band.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 8:36 PM | comment link here





Saturday, November 6, 2010
Big News: Listen to Lee DeWyze' Live It Up & album clips!



American Idol Season 9 winner isn't off to a shabby start after all. His debut single post-Idol Sweet Serendipity has entered the Hot 100 at #85 with 18, 000 copies shifted. The radio-friendly single is also impacting strongly on radio and it should be making a jump next week. However, things could've fatally changed for the Idol champ if it weren't for the label's sudden decision to release Sweet Serendipity as the first single as opposed to the album's title track which was supposed to precede the album. Live It Up isn't as catchy as Sweet Serendipity and although Sweet Serendipity is a safe choice, I think it was a good decision to release Sweet Serendipity instead of Live It Up as a introductory single. Take a listen to Live It Up below.




As for the rest of the album, DeWyze has opted for a Jason Mraz kind of folky acoustic pop/rock that works well in Lee's favour as opposed to the big rock anthem that was his Idol coronation single Beautiful Day. Take a listen to 30 second clips of the album below and tell me what you think. Enjoy!


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Music Reviews 10 @ 12:49 PM | comment link here





Thursday, October 14, 2010
Lee DeWyze new track: Sweet Serendipity



After winning Season 9 of American Idol, Lee DeWyze is ready to move forward with his music, post-Idol. Live It Up was supposed to be his debut single but at the eleventh hour, Sweet Serendipity has become his debut single and apparently music critics who were treated to 4 brand new tracks from the album preferred Live It Up. Neverthless, Lee DeWyze' Sweet Serendipity has a feel-good factor, Kris Allen meets Maroon 5 kind of vibe for me. It's exactly what I expected so it's not too bad. Enjoy!

Download Link: HERE
Download Link 2: HERE

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Music Reviews 10 @ 8:01 PM | comment link here





Friday, October 8, 2010
Big News: Lee DeWyze has his new album/single lined up!



Breaking the tradition of the usual self-titled post-Idol debut that most past Idols have done with their first albums, American Idol Season 9's Lee DeWyze will be releasig his debut album Live It Up on the 16th of November (while Season 9 runner-up Crystal Bowersox is targeting a Spring release) and it will include the first single of the same name. Live It Up is described as "being in the a Jack Johnson/Jason Mraz vein] is a breezy shuffle that DeWyze co-wrote with Toby Gad". Interesting.

Read more: HERE & HERE

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Music Reviews 10 @ 2:30 PM | comment link here





Friday, September 3, 2010
Big News: American Idol tour ends



After a less than stellar season 9, American Idol is looking to spice things up for the next Season. But most of all, what Idol needs ultimately is fresh talent. I think I've seen quite enough of male singers with a guitar in hand. Oh. In some Idol news, it appears that the rumour mill has started again with Steven Tyler an apparent done deal for Idol (Urgh..) and J.Lo has also signed on (Oh ho, will Mariah & Kara be so ever disappointed..) to judge the new Season of talent. Nothing much has really surrounded Randy Jackson's position on the judging table so I assume he's resuming his role on the panel. But however, while the Top 3 of Season 9 have all secured recording deals with major labels, the rest.. Well. We'll see. Well, now that the tour is officially over, it means Michael Lynche, Tim Urban, Siobhan Magnus and Andrew Garcia are probably going to end up as Idol rejects while the others still have a bit of chance to make it big in the industry. Make no mistake, I love those 4, but do we really see them making it big in the industry? Michael Lynche? Err.. Nope. Tim? Needs more substance. Siobhan? Where oh where can she possibly fit in the industry? Andrew? One of a billion YouTube stars. Just a tad too bland for my liking.

Now, watch 17 year old Katie Stevens strut her stuff on Christina Aguilera's Fighter. Or headbanding on Demi Lovato's Here We Go Again.



Someone sign her, please. Please. And most importantly, give her good advice.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 8:31 PM | comment link here





Big News: Go behind the scenes of Lee DeWyze' album shoot!



I won't be surprised if the album is self-titled. Nevertheless, Lee DeWyze' album hits stores November 16th!

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Music Reviews 10 @ 3:24 PM | comment link here





Friday, August 20, 2010
Big News: Lee DeWyze sets November 16th release date!



American Idol may be a complete mess right now, but Season 9 Idol winner Lee DeWyze is looking forward. He's on tour with the rest of the Top 10 right now, but is fitting in writing and recording sessions. iTunes listed his album for October 16th but we all know that is an impossible release date for any American Idol debut album. Now, we have a more concrete release date on our hands. Billboard has officially confirmed a November 16th release date which seems more believable.

Source: HERE

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Music Reviews 10 @ 10:14 PM | comment link here





Friday, July 2, 2010
American Idol's Season 9 Tour kicks off!



Well it American Idol's current crop of Top 10 finalists have kicked off the tour and the full setlists have been revealed, along with a couple of reviews.

Didi Benami - Finishing the competition in tenth place means this singer-songwriter got the honour to open the show, with Kyler England's Lay It On Me as her opening song.

"Thank you all so much!" she says over the audience's cheers. "I was little bit terrified before I came out here, to see all these faces, but I just realized that I'm among family.

"Speaking of being Terrified … " she says, trailing off as she dons her acoustic guitar.

- Brian Mansfield of Idol Chatter

And of course, delivers the crowd favourite Terrified, the stunning Katharine McPhee song she delivered with great emotion in Hollywood Week where she first started to steal hearts.

Andrew Garcia is second, and starts with his acoustic guitar and his well-known cover of Paula Abdul's Straight Up, yet another song that stole America's hearts back in Hollywood Week. He then plays Maroon 5's Sunday Morning.

Next up is 17 year old Katie Stevens, who kicks off her set with Demi Lovato's Here We Go Again and concludes with Christina Aguilera's Fighter, the song the Top 12 girls sang with Christina Aguilera herself. Adam Graham of The Detroit News called her "the evening's most current performer" while Brian Mansfield of USA Today said she looked like a less-hyper Lovato during her performance of Here We Go Again but closed his article saying, "Katie rarely rocked this hard on the show -- it's a much better direction for her than the older songs and ballads she favored on the show." The show meaning American Idol of course.

Heartthrob Tim Urban was next, gaining "applause" that "gets a little louder and last a little longer than any of the previous contestants." Nevertheless, he kicked off his set with The Goo Goo Dolls' Better Days and ending his with Coldplay's Viva La Vida. Brian Mansfield noted that though "Tim had his best moments on TV with smaller, less ambitious melodies -- a pretty good choice for Tim (and one he sang during Hollywood Week, though it wasn't never shown). When he closes his eyes and tilts his head back just so on the chorus, he looks and sounds perfectly at home singing it. And the girls get into it, too, waving their hands and singing along."

Then on comes Season 9's screamer. Siobhan Magnus' set starts with The Rolling Stones' Paint It Black while she "emerges amid billowing smoke and purple and white lights." After that it's No Doubt's Spiderwebs and then Muse' Stockholm Syndrome, where Brian Mansfield who says she "stretches it for all its worth, ending on her knees with an impressive scream."

On a completely different note, a very young Aaron Kelly was "the evening's most pleasant surprise" according to Adam Graham of The Detroit News, who opens with Keith Urban's Somebody Like You who "roams the stage like a pro" according to Brian Mansfield and then launches into Marc Cohn's Walking in Memphis. His closing song is Rascal Flatt's Fast Cars And Freedom and Brian Mansfield makes a big statement saying, "On the show, he often sounded like a promising kid who liked to sing ballads. Tonight, he sounds like a young guy that's ready for the big time. Both he and Siobhan have made strong cases that they should have placed higher than they did."

Then came the first group song, Miley Cyrus' The Climb. Andrew Garcia, Tim Urban and Didi Benami start first, sitting on stools, strumming their acoustic guitars and then are joined by Aaron Kelly, Siobhan Magnus and Katie Stevens.

Michael Lynche starts the second half with This Woman's Work, and then India.Arie's Ready For Love, arguably his most memorable performance on Idol. Brian Mansfield described his set as "sexy ballads" as Lynche's closing number is Justin Timberlake and T.I.'s My Love which causes Adam Graham to state the song choice as the "riskiest song choice of the evening" and that Lynche seemed "worn out by its close".

Casey James' set is described as "inconsistent" by Adam Graham and that James' is a "better guitarist than singer." His set consisted of I Got Mine by the Black Keys, Don't! by country/pop darling Shania Twain, It's All Over Now, and Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman? with Michael Lynche originally by Bryan Adams.

Then, runner-up Crystal Bowersox strolls on stage, earning a standing ovation from the crowd. She perform's What's Up by 4 Non Blondes, a song she apparently tried to do on Idol. Her next song is Melissa Etheridge's Come To My Window, who she mentions is her new "good friend". She then proceeds with her Idol coronation single, Patty Griffin's Up To The Mountain and closes her set with her Idol audition song, Janis Joplin's Piece Of My Heart.

Next up? Winner Lee DeWyze of course! He takes the stage to perform Beautiful Day, his Idol winning anthem, but of course, he switches things up and transforms the song into an acoustic rock number. Think Kris Allen's version of Heartless on his self-titled album and you get the drift. Next is his take on Elton John's Rocket Man. He also shakes up the arrangement for Hallelujah and Treat Her Like A Lady, songs he did on the show before closing with the Kings of Leon's Use Somebody.

And of course, there's the last group number of the evening, as the whole Top 10 launches into Kelly Clarkson's #1 hit My Life Would Suck Without You.

Reviews:
Adam Graham of The Detroit News
Brian Mansfield of USA Today

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Music Reviews 10 @ 7:36 PM | comment link here