American Idol Recap: Who Sang It Sinatra's Way?

3. Crystal Bowersox, "Summer Wind"

I raved like a Trainspotting freak for Crystal's under-appreciated performance of "No One Needs to Know" last week. "Bigger doesn't always equal better," Crystal noted of her lilting performance, and I agreed. You'll remember that Danny Gokey always went for "bigger" in season eight, and I always wanted him to go for "an unending sprint in traffic." Which is a problem. Unfortunately, the first half of Crystal's performance last night just didn't fly -- it sounded like talking, or humming, or Beaker beeps, or something. The second half's comeback was compensatory, but we all know that laggard first halves can do you in with voters. (RIP Glue Girl! Butterfly nibbles and glass-blown kisses to you!)

Crystal shouldn't be in trouble, but strange things happen at this juncture of the competition. Chris Daughtry's laughing from his chinstrap-shaped mansion in Dubai at that old story. Luckily for Crystal, Casey and Aaron both dished nondescript performances while she gave us a quieter one -- and "nondescript" is more of a death knell than "bad," as history has shown Katelyn Epperly, Alex Lambert, and Lacey Brown.

2. Michael Lynche, "The Way You Look Tonight"

Finally, an opportunity for Big Mike to swan about the premises like an odious Guys and Dolls extra. Jesus. I thought he was going to throw dice at us in 3-D. Anyway, after Mike stopped snapping his fingers and tipping his f*cking hat at Miss Adelaide, he turned in a perfectly digestible performance. Clear vocals, no oversell, no falsetto that inspires a murder where I do a fine job cleaning up the clues. Just the well-phrased tintinnabulation of a mayo-lite vocal maneuvering through a Sinatra classic.

If Mike outlasts Crystal thanks to this meager victory, I'll just die. For now, he's performing well, but knowing Mike (as we do), he'll take the judges' comments as validation that he's a scion to Sinatra himself. Ugh and please. He's a Piscopo who doesn't know he's a Piscopo.

1. Lee DeWyze, "That's Life"

Ol' Blue Balls here can't chirp eight bars worth of confidence to save his life -- usually. Lee's nerves subsided tonight with his near-animated rendition of "That's Life," a fitting title for a singer who seems resigned to life as a runner-up. Kind of a shame. While Lee's face is still somewhat paralyzed thanks to a tragic muttering accident, he introduced darling gestures on "That's Life" -- shrugging, smirking, counting on his hands for the "a prince, a pauper, a pole vaulter, a pillow princess" segment, and a soupcon of believable emoting. He's still mincemeat in Mama Sox's great big hippie stew, but he was the night's undisputed champeen.

I don't think he's a sure Top 2 bet just yet, though. Casey, Aaron, and Michael also have fans waiting to adore their every move, if only they'd budge from their limited range. One solid performance from that triad could oust Lee, but for now, he's a shoo-in for the Top 4. On next week's episode: Lee attempts to move his eyeballs. Suspense! You haven't seen this kind of sexual thriller since The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, ladies and gents.