Idol 68 - Michael Lynche

68. Michael Lynche

Season 9, 4th Place

Yes, it's Big Mike!

Sure, he has had a few rather incredible moments on the program that he can be incredibly proud about, but if I’m being honest, I really didn’t think he was that good to merit a 4th Place finish. I admit though that the one thing that worked in his favor was how friendly he came across to the audience. I mean, people love to see huge men acting jolly. Seriously. Look all around you. Santa Claus and Jollibee. Haha.

Now, let's go back to his Idol journey, shall we? Personally, especially during his audition and Hollywood week performances, Big Mike became a solid comedic gold fountain for all my reviews. Haha. He’s huge and any object next to him looks like it came out of a dollhouse. Oh, and Mike played what I can only assume was a toy guitar.

His audition was mediocre and his Hollywood performances were average at best. Still, I thought that there may be hope for Big Mike. Well, vocally there's a big potential but an episode that chronicled the birth of his first child was BEYOND ANNOYING. Really. There were even cameras in his wife’s emergency room! Who would agree to having their lady bits filmed for a segment on a nationally broadcasted television show? That’s ridiculous.

Now, by the time we got into the semifinals, I thought he managed to deliver weak to outstanding performances. I mean, his This Love performance was relatively weak - his voice had never really made him a contender as it was always very average. But with the brilliant and risky choice of James Browns’ This Is A Man’s World, Big Mike was easily one of the best of the Top 10 guys. Really. After that week, his version of This Woman’s Work made me second guess if I should have counted him out as a strong contender for the Idol crown. 

Sadly, he became predictable and boring for the next couple of weeks. Yes, Big Mike almost always gave gorgeous vocals every week but I somehow just didn't care about him anymore. Heck, I was hoping he'd be the Mandisa of Season 9 - good singer, had charisma but was just too predictable.

When he was eliminated during the Top 9 and the judges saved him, I knew it wasn't the best thing to do. I think Big Mike getting the lowest vote that week wasn't really that shocking. I somehow expected him to go early in the competition. Too bad, the judges intervened. If he was eliminated that week, maybe Andrew Garcia would have gone at 8 and Katie Stevens would have made it to at least 7 or even past that since she was gaining extreme momentum at the moment. Sad.

To cut everything short, Big Mike was technically a good singer but he was just dead to me come Top 6 or Top 7 as I thought his presence already started to offend by that time. Oh well, what do I know. Haha.

Favorite Performance(s): As I've said, he had a few incredible moments on the show but I really think his rendition of This Woman's Work was his best one and my favorite as well. It even entered my Season 9's Top 25 Best Performances. Haha.

This Woman's Work

#67 - Spamalot!