It came down to the final two performers on American Idol last night as Crystal “Mamasox” Bowersox and Lee Dewyze fought it out to see who would become Season 9 champ. Each performer was given three songs to go after. The first was to be the performer’s favorite of the season, the second was to be one that Simon Fuller (Executive Producer) hand picked and the third was to be their first single if they were to win.
The two stand out performances of the evening were the two songs that would become the performer’s first single. For Lee Dewyze it was “Beautiful Day” made popular by U2. For Crystal Bowersox it was “Up To the Mountain” written by the legendary Patty Griffin. Here is each performance followed by the lyrics for the song.
Lee Dewyze: ‘Beautiful Day’
The heart is a bloom
Shoots up through the stony ground
There’s no room
No space to rent in this town
You’re out of luck
And the reason that you had to care
The traffic is stuck
And you’re not moving anywhere
You thought you’d found a friend
To take you out of this place
Someone you could lend a hand
In return for grace
It’s a beautiful day
Sky falls, you feel like
It’s a beautiful day
Don’t let it get away
You’re on the road
But you’ve got no destination
You’re in the mud
In the maze of her imagination
You love this town
Even if that doesn’t ring true
You’ve been all over
And it’s been all over you
It’s a beautiful day
Don’t let it get away
It’s a beautiful day
Touch me
Take me to that other place
Teach me
I know I’m not a hopeless case
See the world in green and blue
See China right in front of you
See the canyons broken by cloud
See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out
See the Bedouin fires at night
See the oil fields at first light
And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colors came out
It was a beautiful day
Don’t let it get away
Beautiful day
Touch me
Take me to that other place
Reach me
I know I’m not a hopeless case
What you don’t have you don’t need it now
What you don’t know you can feel it somehow
What you don’t have you don’t need it now
Don’t need it now
Was a beautiful day
Crystal Bowersox: ‘Up To The Mountain’
I went up to the mountain
Because you asked me to
Up over the clouds
To where the sky was blue
I could see all around me
Everywhere
I could see all around me
Everywhere
Sometimes I feel like
I’ve never been nothing but tired
And I’ll be walking
Till the day I expire
Sometimes I lay down
No more can I do
But then I go on again
Because you ask me to
Some days I look down
Afraid I will fall
And though the sun shines
I see nothing at all
Then I hear your sweet voice, oh
Oh, come and then go, come and then go
Telling me softly
You love me so
The peaceful valley
Just over the mountain
The peaceful valley
Few come to know
I may never get there
Ever in this lifetime
But sooner or later
It’s there I will go
Sooner or later
It’s there I will go
In Simon’s final critique as a judge on American Idol he said of Bowersox’s performance:
“I thought that was by far the performance and the song of the night. And since this is going to be the final critique I’m ever going to give, that was outstanding.”
So who do you think is going to win? From what I’ve seen it has to be Mamasox. Since this was Simon’s last critique I wanted to leave you with a top ten list of suggested replacements. The final results should be interesting.
