American Idol's Crystal Bowersox, Lee DeWyze and Casey James in the "fight for the finale"

It's now down to just three contestants on American Idol: Crystal Bowersox, Lee DeWyze, and Casey James, but as we all know, they're all already winners. (Blah, blah, blah.)

The good news? Only one more week of American Idol Season 9! The bad news, we have to endure two more agonizing results shows before the "winner" is crowned.

I thought the producers should have just crowned Mamasox the winner weeks ago, but if we have to go through this charade another two weeks, let it be a Crystal Bowersox vs. Lee DeWyze finale, if only so we can hear them sing another duet together and we won't have to listen to any more stupid "Kara Cougar" jokes.

As for tonight's "theme," I guess you could say it's "Choice," as in the judges' choice and the contestants' choice (though sadly not the viewers' choice, though I guess we could always change the channel). And leading it off...

Casey James singing some song I've never heard of (his choice) called "Okay, it's all right": Is it just me, or was that kind of an abrupt transition? Also, was this song inspired by Randy Jackson or what? "Okay okay okay... [Randy cringes, shrugs shoulders.] That song was just all right by me." And OMG (though really, no surprise) Randy said it (just after I typed it)! FWIW, it was just okay by me and J-THREE-O, too. (Seriously, this is the song you choose on one of the biggest nights of your life when you gotta go big or go home? Has Casey learned nothing or does he just not give a shit? Help me out here, people.) Our grade for Casey James' first performance tonight: B

Next up, Crystal Bowersox singing Melissa Etheridge's "Come to my window": Much better song choice than Casey's but I'm not wild about this arrangement. Clearly, the chick's multi-talented, but I thought Crystal's version paled next to the original. "I thought it was good not great," said J-THREE-O. What is there to say about Crystal at this point? She's been consistent (for the most part), and hasn't "compromised" herself artistically, and the judges decided a while ago she was the winner, but I don't see Crystal going on to become a big star -- and frankly, I'm not sure I'd buy her album. Our grade for Crystal Bowersox: B+

And now Lee DeWyze singing Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple man" -- a simple song for a simple guy? Another song I never heard of, but a way better performance than Casey's. Lee is definitely in it to win it, though I wouldn't rush out to buy that song on iTunes. And man, the judges really really want Lee in the finale, though I agree with Kara DioGuardi that Round One goes to Lee. Our grade for Lee DeWyze: A-

DING! DING! Round Two!

And Kara DioGuardi and Randy Jackson's pick John Mayer's "Daughters" for Casey James: And I am bored. Which is a shanda, because it is a beautiful song, and Casey should be nailing it. Instead he sounds listless and off-key. And I cannot believe the judges are praising him. COME ON, people! It SUCKED. Feh. Our grade for Casey James' second performance: B-

And Ellen DeGeneres's pick for Crystal Bowersox? "Baby I'm amazed" by Paul McCartney. Baby, I'm amazed by that song choice. Really Ellen? Though I'm liking this performance way better than Crystal's first song, though the whole "maybe I'm a man" thing isn't working for me. "It was okay. It wasn't great. She should have given her a Janis Joplin song to sing," said the spouse (who just joined us). I completely agree. It would have been great to have heard Crystal rock some Joplin. Our grade for Crystal Bowersox's second performance: B+

And finally Simon Cowell's pick for Lee DeWyze, Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," because I guess hearing it sung by Tim Urban this season and Jason Castro last season wasn't nearly enough. If you needed more proof that Simon has checked out of Idol and doesn't really care anymore, this is it. Not that it was a bad choice, just a totally uncreative one. Similarly, not a bad performance, though Lee was off-key, and I can't help comparing it to Jason Castro's. Still, it was (hopefully) more than enough to get Lee into the finale, with Crystal. Our grade for Lee DeWyze's second performance: B+

Until tomorrow, American Idol fans...

UPDATED 5/19/10: As predicted, it's Lee vs. Crystal in the finale. Yawn.