Casey James

Casey James, a singer-songwriter from Fort Worth, Texas performed his rendition of John Mayer's "Slow Dancing in the Burning Room" during the American Idol Denver audition that aired on February 2, 2010 to advance to the Hollywood Rounds.

James is currently the lead singer and guitarist of The Casey James band, featuring brother Billy James and Jacy McCann. Various online sources revealed that is among the top 24 semi-finalists in Season 9 of the reality singing competition to be announced on February 17. Substantiating the rumors: all YouTube performances by James have been removed, a common step taken by American Idol producers for a contestant that advances to the semi-finals in Hollywood.

James' contestant status has generated a bit of a controversy with criminal offenses dating back to 2001, including driving while intoxicated, driving with an invalid license and reckless driving.

American Idol

For his first live performance on American Idol, Casey James sang "Heaven," originally by Bryan Adams. A blushing Kara DioGuardi began the feedback saying "Casey, I don't recognize you with your shirt on." She got very flustered telling Casey she was married, and didn't make much sense out of anything she said. Ellen DeGeneres continued by saying that she could feel Kara undressing him with here eyes and thinks he's going to get votes like crazy. Randy Jackson thought it was a great song choice and said "I like you too, but not in that way." Kara interrupted and said that not only is he eye candy, he's also ear candy, "you can sing." Simon Cowell felt he could understand James, as "we've both been cursed with good looks." Cowell went on to say that he chose the right song and it came across as honest and sincere and this was his best performance of the competition.

This week, Casey performs Gavin McGraw's "I Don't Want to Be." Bo Bice, Chris Richardson and Elliott Yamin have performed the song on Idol in past seasons. Casey tells about how lightning struck the house when he was 7 and blew out the TV, so they had no television, which gave him lots of time to do "other things." He teases about his pre-show ritual and says if he makes the top 10 he will share what it is. His performance, accompanied by his electric guitar, was applauded by Randy who loved the guitar and can see him making this kind of record. Ellen loved the song choice, thought the sound was great. She wants to see him perform more. Kara feels that he took 2 steps backwards tonight, felt that he did not take the performance to the next level and criticized the guitar performance. Simon felt that his performance lacked grit and reduced him to any bar singer.

As the weeks progressed, the feedback from the judges lessened, with Simon Cowell telling Casey that he could hear everything in any bar across America.

Miley Cyrus mentored Casey while he practiced "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News. For his live performance, Randy Jackson said that Casey is probably the best musician on the show, but didn't agree with the song choice. Ellen agreed, she didn't like the song choice, but called his performance of the night. Kara feels he is ready to make an album, "you're in a zone, stay in it!" Simon called it old-fashioned, like 25 years ago. "It was like watching and listening to an 80s cover band, nothing different, no originality." "Maybe it's just me, I'm English."

American Idol Songs

Top 11 Song, March 23, 2010: "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News
Top 12 Song, March 16, 2010: "It's All Over Now" by The Rolling Stones
Top 16 Song, March 10, 2010: "You'll Think of Me" by Keith Urban
Top 20 Song, March 2, 2010: "I Don't Want to Be" by Gavin McGraw
Top 24 Song, February 24, 2010: "Heaven" by Bryan Adams

Featured Video: Casey James Hollywood Week Round 1

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Randy Jackson pronounced this performance of "I Don’t Need No Doctor” as "dope" and deemed him a "real singer songwriter." To date, James has made it through the individual and group rounds. He is rumored to be part of the top 24 semi-finalists.