1. Aaron! What a great surprise; the best in our opinion.
2. Lee; don't usually like him, but tonight, he nailed it.
3. Crystal, loved the dress, but the song was so-so.
4. Mike, just okay, but not the worst.
5. Casey, time to go.

LAST EDITED ON 05-05-10 AT 10:25 AM (EST)

Loved Harry C. being on the stage, his mentoring, and just the overall feel of the big band! It was, indeed, a special night, and I think some of the contestants really shone because of it.
Also loved the way Ellen kept ribbing Harry! I know they are good friends, and it just helped to break some of the chill that being judged can bring to a competition.

Anyway, here are my rankings, for what they are worth:

1) Lee: been loving you for a long time, now. And that is something to speak for, because you've even beaten out Crystal in my eyes! And it doesn't hurt that you are oh, so, good to look at!! But you had it all going for you last night!! The look, the, confidence, the tone..I felt like I was watching the next Connick or Bouble (however you spell that weirdo's name). You are genuine and I LOVE YOU, DUDE!

2) Crystal: You have been proving each and every week that it doesn't matter WHAT genre they throw at you, you are going to throw it back as a major songstress! Love you, loved your hair, your dress, and the song touched my heart in a way that took me back to my senior year in high school, when it meant something to me, too!! Way to go! I see a DeWyze, Bowersock finale coming down the pike...

3) Aaron: did a good job of taking a big band song with a country voice and making it your own! You moved away from your comfort zone, but still managed to be believable. You are a cool kid who has much to gain.

4) Mike: Don't like you, don't like your little pouts, or gestures that make you look like you think you're 'all that'. OK, you can sing, but I just don't like you! Sorry, dude. I did when you first started, but you are getting on my nerves now. Sadly, young, inexperienced people do not realize that attitude is HUGE when they are breaking into this business. And he has turned me off so completely with his, that I cannot bring myself to watch him sing, nor would I vote for him. Ever.

5) Casey: Wow. ICK! Flash backs of Megan Joy and her bird calls! It's not looking good for you tonight, my friend. I think you are on your last leg, and it's just about to be broken.

I'd say, 'bye bye' to Casey tonight, and hopefully, next week, Big Mike will be in the 'bye bye' spot. Then they can do their thing with the top 3, and we can move on to a Lee/Crystal finale. Just saying...
ETA: misspelling, that may have actually not been corrected..

1++++++. Harry Connick, Jr. - swoon....*THUD* not only was he live he arranged the songs, led his orchestra and played the piano/organ. He was the best mentor ever and it was my favorite Idol show ever and it didn't really care what the contestants did. It was enough for me to just watch HCJ all nite...and tonite he performs...I may not recover. I saw him in concert way back when Blue Light came out...amazing and he just keeps getting better and he looks fantastic

Oh yeah, I guess I should rank the singers...

1. Michael-I agree with cahaya that he was the most Sinatraesque. He picked a good song and his glory note was good. I think he may have saved himself again... 5 weeks later...but we'll see, stranger things have happened.

2. Crystal-she is the best singer by far and I love Summer Wind. Her dress was beautiful. I think she messed up a little with what she wanted to do at the beginning with the piano..but if I was sitting that close to HCJ I would have fallen off the piano stool...so props to her

3. Aaron-he did surprisingly well with this and he looked so cute, you know, like a puppy. I love Fly me to the Moon..I can't get the song out of my head this a.m. Not bc of Aaron doing such an awesome job but I just love the song. I actually like it best when Tony Bennett sings it.

4. Casey-oh Casey...not good but he breathes new life into GFTW (I think he will stay tonite bc of his b2 scare last week)

5. Lee-ugh. the judges' tongue baths sickened me...the best of the nite, not quite. As I knew he would, he Nickelsuck'd Sinatra too. Michael should have gotten the pimp spot last nite. Lee's aw shucks attitude is so old and lame...I hope he meets the same fate as Melinda Doolittle....

What Emydi said.

HCJ really did a great job on the arrangements and it was nice, for once, for the good and bad to be about the contestants singing, not who got the really bad arrangement. Funny how a lot of these guys sound so much better when some other band is backing them up on some other talk show.

I'd put Lee over Casey for singing, but Casey did bring the amusement, and finally, finally, finally got one of the judges to admit the singer sounded like a caprid

HCJ really did a great job on the arrangements and it was nice, for once, for the good and bad to be about the contestants singing, not who got the really bad arrangement. Funny how a lot of these guys sound so much better when some other band is backing them up on some other talk show.

Agree with both of you. We saw some really good big-band arrangements last night unlike we've seen all season or in previous seasons. Kudos to HCJ for bringing out the sound. It was up to the contestants to provide the voice.

I'm just dittoing emy on everything. But adding an extra *THUD

1. Michael - can sing anything; as i have always said, the best singer of the competition.

2. Lee - sexy performance

You can switch the other 3 anyway you want. They were all horrible.

Here are my rankings:

1. Michael Lynch -- I really liked his performance! Of course, this is his comfort zone.

2. Lee Dwyze -- very close behind. Also very good but I liked Michael's performance slightly better.

Small gap --

3. Crystal Bowersox -- I love "Summer Wind" but it wasn't her best performance and she needs to not argue with the judges.

Gap --

4. Aaron Kelly -- he was pretty good, but a little boring. But at least he wasn't obviously country.

Big gap --

5. Casey James -- the performance was almost painful at times! Clearly the worst of the bunch.

Okay. I watched the performance show but I still haven't watched the results show. Don't tell me!

1. Lee - so good. I loved the interaction between him and Harry too. That guy was one hell of a mentor.
2. Crystal - that was beautiful. She looked great too.
3. Michael - I don't see how he doesn't make top 3 with Lee and Crystal at this point. He's their only competition.
4. Aaron - he reminds me of Stand By Me (the movie) for some reason.
5. Casey - not good. The shame of it is that I believed Harry when he said Casey nailed it two hours earlier. I can see where that might have been really good.