It took several months, but "American Idol" finally turned in a consistently excellent episode during the penultimate night of the ninth season. Both Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze turned in stellar performances of each of their three songs, though Bowersox may have had the slight edge in the performance department that could be enough to put her over the top. But just like this weekend's UFC fight between Rashad Evans and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, the showdown between Bowersox and DeWyze is a total dead heat. If Vegas set proper odds, it would totally be a pick'em situation.
Though Bowersox's songs were more consistently polished and excellent (especially her reprisal of "Me and Bobby McGee" and her take on Alannah Myles' chart-topping hit "Black Velvet"), the biggest moment of the night belonged to DeWyze, who turned in a spotty but beautiful rendition of U2's "Beautiful Day." It's a pretty loaded tune, as it not only has a vocal from one of the greatest rock frontmen of all time but also was the song that began the band's 21st century renaissance and accidentally became an anthem in the wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001.
Following a decade that saw them veer off into the world of dance music, electronic experiments and art rock with mixed results, U2 dropped "Beautiful Day" as the lead track and the first single from their 2000 album All That You Can't Leave Behind. The spacious anthem brought back the band that everyone fell in love with at the end of the '80s, with those signature guitar stylings from the Edge and a clear-eyed vocal from Bono. If Lee DeWyze wins "American Idol" tonight, he has U2 to thank.