Tuesday night's (March 9) episode of "American Idol" did a great deal to help kill the opinion that the ninth season of the show has been the worst of its run. For the first time in this cycle, there were more great performances than not-so-great ones, lead by Crystal Bowersox's throaty, soulful, rugged take on Tracy Chapman's "Give Me One Reason" and Didi Benami's shuffling, groovy twist on Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon." Even the less-than-stellar showings from Lacey Brown, Lilly Scott and Katelyn Epperly showed promise.
Though it appears as though the competition is Bowersox's to lose, the contestant who could be the one to upend her is Siobhan Magnus, who took her quirky sensibilities and applied them to a sparse, powerful version of "The House of the Rising Sun," made famous by the Animals. The classic folk rock song took on a psychedelic twist when Animals frontman Eric Burdon took it on, and Magnus' version pushed it even further. The a cappella section was stunning and powerful, and when the accompaniment finally kicked in, there was a passion in Magnus' voice that we hadn't heard yet (possibly because she was dedicating the tune to her father, who is also a singer).
The Animals' version of "The House of the Rising Sun" is best known for the haunting guitar line, Burdon's guttural bellow and the twisting organ lines laid down by Alan Price. (That organ absolutely transforms the song from simply great to absolutely indispensable.) While "American Idol" has a tendency to resurrect songs that nobody ever wants to hear again, Magnus' revival of "The House of the Rising Sun" gets the MTV Newsroom Blog seal of approval.