Michael Lynche stays in 'Idol' judges' good graces

[April 20, 2010]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The "American Idol" judges don't regret keeping Michael Lynche out of the jailhouse.

The 26-year-old personal trainer from Queens, N.Y., hit the right notes on the Fox singing competition Tuesday with his stripped-down version of Elvis Presley's "In the Ghetto." Lynche previously impressed the panel with a dramatic rendition of The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" but received the fewest viewer votes last week and was subsequently saved by the judges.

"It's a beautiful song, and you definitely sang it well," Kara DioGuardi said after Lynche's take on The King.

Lynche's fellow bottom-vote getters -- 25-year-old musician Andrew Garcia of Moreno, Calif., and 17-year-old high school student Aaron Kelly of Sonestown, Pa. -- didn't fare as well.

Simon Cowell proclaimed that Garcia's interpretation of "Hound Dog" was "lazy and predictable," and he said Kelly's downfall on "Blue Suede Shoes" was that he "didn't make it young."

"It felt like you were dressing up for the part," Cowell informed Kelly.

Two singers continued to impress: raspy 24-year-old singer Lee Dewyze of Mount Prospect, Ill., who sang "A Little Less Conversation" and earthy 24-year-old musician Crystal Bowersox of Toledo, Ohio, who offered "Saved."

"That's the way to come out," Randy Jackson told Bowersox, who performed first.

For fear of sounding repetitive with her Bowersox praises, Ellen DeGeneres called out to the crowd to see if anyone was celebrating a birthday instead.

Katie Stevens, the 17-year-old high school student from Middlebury, Conn., and Siobhan Magnus, the 20-year-old glass blower from Marstons Mills, Mass., received mixed responses to their respective performances.

Cowell said Stevens was "loud and a bit annoying" on "Baby What You Want Me To Do," while DioGuardi "wasn't crazy" about Magnus' "Suspicious Minds."

"It's getting confusing for me," DioGuardi admitted to Magnus.

Two contestants will be sent home Wednesday because the judges saved Lynche from elimination last week.

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[Associated Press; By DERRIK J. LANG]

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