'IDOL' WATCH: The Top 6

Tonight, "Idol" saw the return of Shania Twain, who joined the audition process in Chicago, as the contestants sang from her vast catalog of songs. Twain is primarily a country artist, which resulted in a marked change for some of the contestants. The majority of the themes thus far have fit nicely into the pop genre and, while Twain's songs are definitely pop, the country influence allowed us to see the versatility of the performers as they tackled a new challenge.

This is the second time Twain has seen Lee Dewyze, who was the first performer tonight. DeWyze auditioned in Chicago and Twain said she loved him there and was glad to see him still in the competition. DeWyze sang the classic You're Still the One and brought a very different feel to the song. Although it's an older song, DeWyze, as always, made it feel as though it could have been written yesterday. Twain's excellent suggestion to begin the song with just the piano allowed DeWyze's unique tone to take center stage. The pitch was a bit flat at times, but it was still a really nice showing. Simon called it "the absolutely perfect song out of Shania's catalog," and Kara and Ellen both praised DeWyze for making it his own. DeWyze's consistency has served him well so far and tonight was a prime example of why he is one of the top six (and likely top five) contestants this season.

Michael Lynche gave a heartfelt performance of It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing and his vocals were spot on tonight. While I understand that the emotional ballad is Lynche's niche, it's starting to feel a bit tired to me. It didn't seem as though we saw anything new from Lynche, as this was similar to many performances he has given in the past. I did, however, enjoy the ending, where he flipped into his head voice, giving a nice, soft close to the song. The judges all praised his performance, although Simon called it "a little wet" and "a little bit girly for you." Lynche is good, but he didn't do anything to stand out tonight.

Showing a very different side, Casey James put aside the electric guitar and let his voice and emotion carry his performance of Twain's Don't. Before the song, James said this was one of his favorite pieces because "it's a singing song. I don't think I've sung yet." I didn't really understand what he meant until he finished performing. This is a completely new avenue for James and it fit him well. Kara and Randy both agreed that this was his first time performing as an artist and Simon said it was his best performance yet. "It didn't feel like somebody else's song." James gave himself a huge boost and has finally decided to make a real push to win the competition.

Crystal Bowersox chose No One Needs to Know and, for the first time, she wasn't as spectacular as she typically is. It wasn't bad, per se, but it lacked some of qualities that made the other performances great. Bowersox must be commended, as she was one of the few singers to take on a pure country song, but it just never really landed. The judges all seemed to want to sugarcoat their criticisms, but Simon, as always, spoke his mind, calling the performance "limp" and "something you would expect in a coffee shop when they hire a band to sing for you and you don't particularly want them to." This was the first time where Bowersox hasn't had the best performance of the evening and I would even go so far as to say it was a fairly weak performance. It will be interesting to see if one bad week will have a significant impact on Bowersox's standing in the show.

Aaron Kelly has had trouble finding his niche in recent weeks, but tonight he was a completely different singer. The country feel to You Got Away fit him extremely well and he was able to connect with every aspect of the song. In his mentor session, Twain said it seemed as though Kelly was preoccupied with hitting the notes, but he must have worked to avoid that because it was not the case at all tonight. Randy pointed out, "[Kelly] is our country artist on the show this year," and that the song was "in [his] wheelhouse." If Kelly is able to stick around this week, it may be a very interesting competition from here on out.

Siobhan Magnus closed the show with the upbeat Any Man of Mine. Magnus was finally able to get back to where she was earlier in the competition, giving a very strong performance with even stronger vocals. I thought her audience interaction felt a bit forced and awkward, but the overall performance more than made up for it. Her belted money-note was held a bit too long, but worked better in this song than it has in the past. Kara likely put it best, "Guess who's back?" Even Simon, who has been critical of Magnus as of late, said he thought the song was perfect. This was a much better showing than we have seen from Magnus, and a much needed one at that.

It seems unfair to have to choose someone to go home this week since no one was really bad enough to deserve it. However, since someone will be sent home tomorrow night, I would guess it will be Michael Lynche to get the bad news. We know from earlier in the competition that the audience has been known to forget about Lynche's performances (he was technically eliminated three weeks ago) and I just don't think he was all that memorable tonight. It's tough to know who will round out the bottom three, but I would say Magnus and Kelly seem the most likely.

Tomorrow night will feature a slew of hit artists, featuring Lady Antebellum singing Need You Now, Rascal Flatts singing Unstoppable, Shakira singing Gypsy, and Sons of Sylvia singing Love Left to Lose. One contestant will head home, leaving "Idol" with its top five on tomorrow night's 8:00pm EST results show.

"American Idol" is a reality competition to find new solo musical talent, created by Simon Fuller. It debuted June 11, 2002 on the Fox network and has since become one of the most popular shows on American television. It is currently the #1 TV show in the Nielsen Ratings and is one of only three that have been #1 for five consecutive seasons. The cast of "Idol" includes judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi, and Ellen Degeneres, and host Ryan Seacrest.

The program aims to discover the best singer in the country through a series of nation-wide auditions, and subsequent viewer voting. Through telephone voting, America has chosen past winners Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, David Cook, and Kris Allen.

Several "Idol" contestants have been seen on the Broadway stage, including Barrino (The Color Purple), Hicks (Grease), Clay Aiken (Spamalot), Diana DeGarmo (Hairspray, Hair), Josh Strickland (Tarzan), Tamyra Gray (Rent, Bombay Dreams), Constantine Maroulis (The Wedding Singer, Rock of Ages), and Ace Young (Hair).

"American Idol" airs on Tuesday and Wednesday nights on Fox at 8PM EST.

Photo Credit: AmericanIdol.com