American Idol 2010, Last Night Recap: Adam Lambert Mentors For Elvis Theme Night

American Idol last night episode was a crucial one for the top 9 contestants as this week two of them will be going home instead of one because of Big Mike's save by Idol judges last week.

So how did the contestants do on American Idol season 9, Elvis Presley theme night. We will get to that shortly but first let me tell you that the contestants got a lot of help from this week's mentor Adam Lambert, season 8's rock star. He gave much needed guidance to the idol hopefuls very well.

Here is how the Top 9 contestants fared last night.

Crystal Bowersox performed "Saved" and earlier she was double minded about going with the acoustic guitar or electric this week. Lambert advised and she chose electric and what a performance it was for the beginning of the show. Judges were lavish in their praise.

Andrew Garcia got a lot of advise from Lambert who kept saying about his performance, "Change it, make it yours,” telling him that his performance was boring. By the way Andrew chose "Hound Dog". But sadly the advise did not prompt Garcia to effect much change in the performance. In brief it was boring. Simon called it lazy, Randy called it "not good karaoke" while Ellen liked it but wanted more swagger. Kara said, "I wanted to feel more,". Definitely in bottom 3.

Then came Tim Urban singing "Can’t Help Falling In Love". Song choice was perfect for him. Must have appealed to a lot of Americans with his longing eyes staring into the camera. It was a clean, simple performance. Judges too were positive in their comments. Highlight was Simon saying, "You have managed to go from zero to hero in two weeks.”

Lee DeWyze performed "A Little Less Conversation" and during rehearsals Adam pointed out the problem of not connecting with the audience, advised him to smile. It worked for Lee actually as he gave a very relaxed performance. randy said, "You are definitely in the zone,” while Simon said, "That was on the money full stop,” .

Aaron Kelly chose "Blue Suede Shoes" and it got all Karaoke. He was nervous even though tried to work the stage. he regained some of the confidence later but it was not enough. Simon compared the performance to a high school concert while Kara said she liked Aaron leaving his comfort zone.

Siobhan Magnus performed "Suspicious Minds" next. Lets talk about the positive first: her Elvis style hair- great. But the performance was not with the first half turning out bad. Judges liked second part. Kara said the two voices confused her. Simon called it screechy and erratic and said that she lost who she is.

"Big Mike" Michael Lynche had the additional pressure to perform as he was the favored one by judges who used the season's once only save on him last week. He chose "In the Ghetto" and did not disappoint. “I’m glad we saved you,” Ellen said while Simon called it Michael's best performance.

Next was the turn of Katie Stevens with "Baby, What Do You Want Me To Do", kind of a sarcastic comment on the mixed signals she was getting from the judges. So did it work? well, Simon found it loud while Kara said, "I think you showed us judges,” .

Lastly Casey James sang Lawdy Miss Clawdy and it was good but not the chart topper kind of good. Randy expressed the same saying, "I didn’t see anything different, but it was another solid performance.” Simon called it a wasted opportunity but praised his vocals.

So now the big question- who goes and who stays on American Idol results episode tonight. Remember there are 2 leaving tonight. I feel it should be Aaron Kelly and Andrew Garcia.

Also on American Idol tonight Adam Lambert will perform along with performances by Brooke White from season 7 and Justin Gatson of “If I Can Dream”.