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The judges get their way, with a little help from the blond guy’s poor song choice. By Jim Cantiello Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze on “American Idol” Photo: AP Images This week’s “American Idol” had the contestants singing two songs each, which was good news for Crystal Bowersox , better news for Lee DeWyze , and totally irrelevant news to Casey WhatsHisFace . Round one was the contestants’ choice! That blond guy did himself no favors by picking a song by an artist who’s somehow less famous than he is, and MamaSox went the predictable route with a poor Melissa Etheridge impression. That left Lee DeWyze to steal the show with Skynyrd’s “Simple Man,” which was quite simply his best performance on “Idol,” period. In round two, the judges picked the music. Kara and Randy did their best to sabotage Ponytail Man’s “Idol” run with a tuneless, low-impact John Mayer song. Meanwhile Ellen DeGeneres finally did some good on the “Idol” stage by allowing Crystal Bowersox to bare her soul with Paul McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed.” The ‘Sox may have hit some bum notes, but the best note she struck was keeping the pronouns the way the Beatle wrote them. She didn’t care that she sounded like a transgendered man in love with a woman, so why should America? A thousand awesome points to MamaSox. But it was predetermined that it was Lee DeWyze’s night to shine, what with Simon assigning him “Hallelujah” and basically telling America that Lee was going to have “a moment” with the song before the dude had moaned a single note. (Why is it when Paula Abdul critiqued Jason Castro ahead of time everyone freaked, but when Simon Cowell did the same for DeWyze, it became gospel?) The good news is that DeWyze did not perform the done-to-death (no pun intended) Jeff Buckley arrangement. The bad news is the version DeWyze did was the Overwrought, Overproduced, Overcooked Vegas Spectacular Rendition, complete with strings, horns, timpani, choirs, SteadiCams, angels, furrowed brows and the cast of Cirque du Soleil waiting in the wings, ready to pounce on Lee’s signal, which he never activated. (Also, no bagpipe.) Lee sounded great, but then again, with that setup even Seacrest could have warbled a line and sounded like Pavarotti. It’s a miracle 30 million Americans didn’t choke Tuesday night, given the way “Idol” producers shoved Lee down viewers’ throats. On Wednesday night’s results show, after an interview segment that lasted approximately 42 minutes, we saw footage from the “Idols” hometown visits! And everyone cried! Casey got emotional when he visited the hospital that saved his life, Crystal got weepy at a stadium and Lee DeWyze sobbed from start to finish. We met doctors, teachers, paint salesmen, local Fox affiliates, AT&T employees and creepy fans who ran next to limousines and plotted to tattoo autographs to their chests. (This … is “American Psycho”!) To put things in perspective and make the season-nine finale showdown all the more enticing, “Idol” booked Perez Hilton’s pet project Travis Garland as a guest performer, and suddenly this year’s crop of contestants seemed exponentially more appealing. (Also now suddenly appealing? Justin Bieber ! Travis Garland should be on standby on Tax Day to make that hell seem like a holiday, too.) In the end, the results played out exactly the way Simon and company hoped they would. Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox will face off next week, while Casey James was left to sing that John Mayer song again, except this time he performed with a little girl prop. It’s too late to get the “awww, look at the cuteness” votes, Casey. Did you feel like Simon Cowell was heavy-handed in his promotion of Lee DeWyze this week? Sound off in the comments. Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page , where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions. Related Videos ‘American Idol’ In 60 Seconds Related Photos ‘American Idol’ Season Nine Performances

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‘American Idol’ In 60 Seconds: Casey Makes Way For Lee And Crystal