Wednesday night's (March 3) episode of "American Idol" was, without a doubt, the best episode of the season so far. That's not to say it was perfect (Haeley Vaughn's version of Miley Cyrus' "The Climb" saw to that), but there were a number of instantly memorable (and occasionally jaw-dropping) highlights. In addition to Crystal Bowersox's triumphant return from illness, there was Siobhan Magnus' rousing, left-field run through of Aretha Franklin's "Think," Lacey Brown's interesting take on Sixpence None the Richer's "Kiss Me" and Lilly Scott's not-unreasonable take on the Sam Cook classic "A Change Is Gonna Come" (even though she still should have left it in the "retired" pile). Heck, even though Michelle Delamor's attack on Creed's "With Arms Wide Open" (which she re-imagined as a sort of shuffling R&B jam) was most certainly a failure, it was nice to see her take a risk and push the envelope.
The most memorable performance of Wednesday night's show undoubtedly came from Katelyn Epperly, who took Coldplay's "The Scientist" (from their massive 2002 album A Rush of Blood to the Head) and slowed it down to a crawl that focused on the song's deep-seeded pathos. By focusing on the lyrics (and thus on her voice), she revealed something about "The Scientist" that may not have been entirely evident before (namely that it's an incredibly devastating tune about being lost). She made the chorus cry, especially the line "Nobody said it was easy." The judges may have been lukewarm, but "The Scientist" absolutely ruled.
Of course, the original has one of the best music videos ever made working for it. In this clip (which won three MTV Video Music Awards), the entire narrative is told backwards. It's a stunning and technical accomplishment. While the song now belongs to Epperly, Chris Martin still has the video in his pocket.