It was pretty cool to have Harry Connick, Jr. not only mentor the performers on American Idol‘s Frank Sinatra night, but to play in the band too. Harry, or should we say, “Hammy”, because he was so full of yuks all night, wrote the arrangements for the contestants which is certainly above and beyond what most mentors do. (A fact not lost on him when he said “You think Shania Twain was up in here doing this?”) Harry reminded us of an embarrassing, goofy uncle (who is also a piano virtuoso and really hot) so we kinda liked his dorky presence.
We really could never have predicted how much we’ve come to admire Aaron Kelly. Week after week we predict his demise, and week after week, he’s improved drastically. Kelly was solid this week singing “Fly Me To The Moon”, but because he had to contend with Michael Lynche and Lee DeWyze‘s even more solid performances, he wasn’t the best of the night. Crystal Bowersox provided what we thought were some smooth jazz vocals (in a good way), but the judges only liked her a smidge more than they liked Casey James, who sang “Blue Skies” and was pitchy, warbly and weirdly shaved. In other news though, the name Casey Blue Skies is a modern take on a mob classic, we think, so he can use that is he ever needs to rub anyone out. (Ew. That’s a syllable away from DioGuardi-dirty-old-woman territory.) Simon Cowell was even cruel enough to tell Casey in advance that he should prepare to take another gig next week. (It was a callback to a story Casey told, but was still unnecessarily cruel…but true? We’ll see tonight!)
Since Crystal is no longer the lone standout, at least not for these past few weeks, this show is getting interesting. Also interesting: Nancy Sinatra‘s hair, glasses and athletic jacket are a testament to the fact that you really can’t take the Jersey out of the girl.
[Photo: Getty Images]
