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"American Idol" - Top Nine Performance Show - April 6, 2010

Theme: Lennon/McCartney Songbook We get a video package on the legendary men. Sir Paul McCartney pops up to say hello and wish the contestants good luck.

Randy predicts big highs and lows. Ellen is a fan. Kara says the songs are as relevant today as ever. Simon says sometimes it's good to change up classics and sometimes not.

Ryan tells us that the contestants will be describing each other tonight.

Contestant #1: Aaron Kelly The contestants describe him as Yoda and use lots of Yoda-speak to do so.

Song: "The Long and Winding Road"

Performance: Aaron goes for a straight up reading and sounds pleasant and assured. He's not setting any fires but he acquits himself well.

Randy: He liked his tone but didn't care for the sleepy arrangement and wanted him to change it up.

Ellen: Thinks he's fantastic and it was a big song to take on and it felt like a long and winding song.

Kara: Says when it comes together for him, it works, but for what he was trying to do he had to be great and it wasn't there yet. She'd like to see him do something more uptempo.

Simon: Asks why he picked the song and arrangement. Aaron says it parallels his "Idol" journey and he didn't want to mess with the Beatles arrangement. Simon says it was very old-fashioned and boring. Simon gets some big boos. He tells him to take some risks.



Contestant #2: Katie Stevens In stool chat Ryan says Katie's getting a lot of prom offers. She says she'll go with whoever's voted for her most. In her video, everyone likes Katie, she's energetic. She likes to do the "Single Ladies" dance.

Song: "Let it Be"

Performance: Katie takes the same mostly straight up road, changing a few notes here and there like Aaron did. She's dressed really cute but is, obviously, very solemn in her performance. She sounds nice in her upper register.

Randy: Says it's her best performance ever and reaffirms that she has hot vocals.

Ellen: Says it was a perfect example of changing it just enough to make it your own without disrespecting the song.

Kara: Says she's blossoming both vocally and in her attitude, she likes her confidence given that she's been in the bottom three for two weeks in a row.

Simon: Agrees that tonight she got it right and it's because she's leaning in the country direction that he's been saying. Randy and Kara completely disagree and they're right.



Contestant #3: Andrew Garcia The contestants describe him as crazy and funny. They think it's weird that Simon says he has no personality since they think he's full of it.

Song: "Can't Buy Me Love"

Performance: Standing on the platform behind the judges he does it with a slightly rockier vibe with swing undertones. He sounds good and it's fine.

Randy: Thinks it was a solid performance and an interesting arrangement.

Ellen: Thought it was a perfect song choice and a lot of fun.

Kara: Wants to love it but didn't see anything new this week and wants to see more, she liked the breakdown though.

Simon: He does the wedding comparison. He thinks the band overpowered the arrangement and made it corny and irrelevant.



Contestant #4: Michael Lynche The other contestants describe him as a loud snorer and hilarious and a big teddy bear.

Song: "Eleanor Rigby"

Performance: He starts it out slow singing in a falsetto, it feels very Luther Vandross. He does a little too much hand-fluttering but it's a groovy arrangement and a strong vocal.

Randy: He's loving that Michael's reached a point that he's got license to do whatever he wants to do, he thinks he could record that one. He didn't think it all worked but loved the performance.

Ellen: Thinks he can do anything and he can handle all his sides equally well. She loved it.

Kara: She thought it was fire and the vocals were amazing and that it was really dramatic. She agrees he may have done some crazy stuff but he was committed to it and he made it relevant to today.

Simon: He didn't love it as much but felt like it was something you'd hear in a musical. He disagrees that he made it contemporary. He thought it was too over-the-top.

Randy brings it back to "Glee." Kara and Simon bicker a bit.



Contestant #5: Crystal Bowersox The contestants describe her as "Mama Sox," funny, goofy, a beautiful mom to her kid and the other contestants. She says her only strategy has been to stay true to herself.

Song: "Come Together"

Performance: She makes it a little funkier and inexplicably has someone playing a didgeridoo. She seems distracted by her guitar a bit but she sounds typically good.

Randy: Calls it another solid performance, not her best but that it got hot at the end. He didn't get the didgeridoo.

Ellen: Loved the didgeridoo. She says her only problem is finding a new way to tell her how great she is. She thinks she made it current and could hear it on her album.

Kara: Calls it one of her favorite performances. She liked that it had a slinky, Bonnie Raitt feel and she liked that she was more accessible, not so serious as she usually is.

Simon: He thinks that's a song he could picture hearing on the radio. He thought the didgeridoo was quirky but contemporary. They bring the player out and chat with him a bit.



Contestant #6: Tim Urban The contestants admire him for his easy smile. Crystal calls him good looking.

Song: "All My Loving"

Performance: He starts off slowly in an almost Ricky Nelson place strumming an electric guitar. The song picks up and jaunts along. In fully kicks in on the chorus and stays true to the arrangement essentially from there. He switches up a few notes and sounds just fine. It's cute. Very teen heartthrobby.

Randy: Thought it was a much better performance than the last couple of weeks and the Beatle haircut.

Ellen: Thinks it was perfect choice and his second-best performance after "Hallelujah."

Kara: Likes that he took some of their criticisms and worked them in and tells him he did a good job and he can smile.

Simon: Thinks he did really well without gimmicks and he liked the arrangement. And he likes that he takes the criticism like a man. He says he's proud of the way he's handled himself.

David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel of "Bones" are in the audience.

Contestant #7: Casey James The other contestants poke fun at him for being like a soap opera star and his big laugh.

Song: "Jealous Guy" (Lennon Solo)

Performance: He starts solo acoustic, soft and contemplative. A cello joins in. He gives it a bluesy-Southern tinge that really works. He also seems really into it. Really nice stuff. Quiet but captivating.

Randy: Loved that he switched to acoustic and the sensitive vibe and he loved that he set himself apart. He really felt it.

Ellen: Agrees that it felt like it was about somebody specific and thinks it was his best performance to date. She felt it emotionally and calls it beautiful.

Kara: Liked that he showed a vulnerability to himself and a tastefulness to his playing. Liked that she pushed himself and that he could do it even more.

Simon: Thinks it was the best performance of the night so far and it's showing a huge growth from last week. He's very impressed with him tonight.



Contestant #8: Siobhan Magnus The rest of the gang describes her as amazing, weird, interesting, unique, and true to herself.

Song: "Across the Universe"

Performance: Seated on a stool she starts it as a tender piano ballad. She sounds strong vocally, well-controlled but it's kind of snoozy, with a lullaby feel. She hits one high note sweetly and lightly, a nice change.

Randy: Calls her wild and unpredictable and although it was a bit sleepy he liked the tender side but she showed nice control.

Ellen: Supports those who march to the beat of their own drum and calls her talented and special and thought it was beautiful.

Kara: From a purely singing perspective she says she hit the notes and thought it was maybe too polite for her to process. She does feel like she connected with it personally though and thought that was good.

Simon: Asks where she connected with it personally and she gets teary talking about her sisters. Thought she came back much stronger this week. The heckler gets a shout out from Simon and comes onstage and gets to hug Siobhan.



Contestant #9: Lee DeWyze The other contenders call him a worrywart, even when the judges say he's great. Lee and Andrew are having a bromance.

Song: "Hey Jude"

Performance: Accompanying himself on acoustic for the open he sounds pretty good, if pushing it a little hard. The band comes in and it plods along. He gets right to the "na-na-na-na's" and a bagpiper emerges. It is odd but his outro ad-libs actually sound pretty great.

Randy: Tells him not to be nervous and it was another hot one and tells him to believe.

Ellen: Likes that he was more confident and that he was smiling more. Loved it.

Kara: Some there were some good moments and some off moments but likes his tone.

Simon: Thinks the bagpipe player was a bad idea. He thought he was doing great and then the bagpipe player seemed to wander in from somewhere else.

Lee wanted the bagpipe player because "why not?"