Big Mike Lynche Exits Idol with 'Will You Be There?'

And then there were three.  American Idol fans for once got it right and voted Casey James, Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox into the final three, while sending home soul singer Big Mike Lynche, who sang an uninspired version of Michael Jackson's "Will You Be There?" from the movie "Free Willy," during Tuesday night's movie theme song competition.

The night opened with season No. 3 winner Fantasia singing her new single "Bittersweet" from her first album in three years, followed later in the show with strong performances by Chris Daughtry on his new single "September," while perennial rockers Bon Jovi introduced their latest single "Superman Tonight."

Daughtry sounded vocally great on his emotional mid-tempo ballad, which has a guitar intro reminescent of the Christopher Cross' hit from the 1980s,  "Sailin'."  Bon Jovi blended several musical styles with their single, opening it with an alt-rock guitar riff, but delivering a more-or-less pop-rock verse and chorus melody on a tune that lyrically touches the fabric of country music or a novelty song.

The Fantasia single, despite a good lyrical concept, felt cliched, hackneyed and tired, as so many of her past songs have been.  Her career has been seriously hampered by poor and mediocre material and "Bittersweet" doesn't give us a lot of hope that her new album will be any better.  It would be a pleasant surprise to be proven wrong.  It also would be great to hear Fantasia sing a great song, with an exceptional melody and lyric that she didn't feel compelled to oversing.

In evaluating the three guest performers' new singles, Daughtry had the best vocal and most emotional melody, even though the song lyrically is sentimental but not particularly unique or memorable.  The Bon Jovi single come easily come across as corny if Jon and Ritchie didn't sing it with such darn sincere conviction.

The Daughtry and Bon Jovi singles both underscore artists who understand who they are, where they are in their respective careers - and what their audiences expect from them - however predictable or formulaic, while the Fantasia single emphasizes an artist still searching for her identify - and a hit signature song.

And that's our view from The A&R Room.