Singer: Crystal Bowersox
Song: "Saved"
Monkeys As Critics' Take: Yikes, "American Idol." With a double-elimination coming up tomorrow, I wouldn't want to be putting Crystal this early in the show. That's just tempting fate. Or do the "Idol" producers figure that America is smart enough to recognize that Crystal is in the early stages of making a mockery of her alleged competition. She didn't start out as a huge personality show-woman, so this ought not be her ideal theme, but she's getting better at opening her performances up with every week. Tonight, she's got a bejeweled electric guitar and three accompanying singers and she just holds the stage with confidence. I also have a hunch this will be the least iconic Elvis song tackled tonight, meaning that it's the one where we're most likely to walk away talking about Crystal's awesomeness, rather than Elvis'.
Randy, Ellen, Kara and Simon Say: Yo. Yo. Alright. So yo. You know what? Randy thought it was dope, with her blues-cool vibe, comparing her to Bonnie Raitt. Ellen, sick of raving about Crystal, asks if there are any birthdays in the audience. Kara calls it "solid." Simon loved that Crystal put her own slant on the song and avoided the karaoke trap. Simon ends by shrugging as if to say, "Surely this is obvious to everybody, right?"