American Idol – See the Top NINE

American Idol is supposed to be all about the singers, but judge Harry Connick had the highlight of Wednesday's show. After commenting on singer Alex Preston's sock-less look, Connick convinced host Ryan Seacrest to flash some ankle. Then, when Seacrest took off his shoe, Connick ran on stage, took the shoe from between Ryan's feet and ran off with................

it, depositing it somewhere backstage.

The judges' antics — another bit involved Connick and Jennifer Lopez gnawing on a giant gummy bear provided by Keith Urban — brought life to a show that has had trouble engaging viewers this season. Fortunately, the nine remaining singers took advantage of this week's I'm With the Band theme to come up with the season's most solid night of performances.

"What we want, at this point, is superstar performances," Lopez told the singers on a recent episode. Caleb Johnson and Jess Meuse did just that Wednesday, channeling Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant and Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks, respectively. And even the weaker

performances had something to recommend them.

Here's the performance ranking:

Caleb Johnson, Dazed and Confused (Led Zeppelin). Well, this settles it: Nobody, but nobody, else on Idol this season is anywhere near the complete singing package that Johnson is. He may not have brought much new to Zeppelin's version, but few people can manage a convincing Robert Plant. And he did. And the band killed. Lopez calls him sexy: "You want to front a rock band? You have to have that. You have that." She and Connick both rave about the band, which made Johnson look like a star. "I don't know how you could have sung the song any better," he says. Urban says, "You're such a good frontman, it was like the band was saying, 'I'm with the singer.' … The band's never played like that until that moment. … Your whole performance came at me like an airbag in slow motion." Grade: A

Jess Meuse, Rhiannon (Fleetwood Mac). Meuse earns the Stevie Nicks comparison she got earlier in the season with a note-perfect rendition of the '70s Mac hit. It's the one performance that, when the cameras pull back, actually looks like it's part of a concert. And Meuse's voice sounds flawless. Not especially original, but, boy, did she nail every other aspect of it. Connick thinks it may be his favorite performance of hers: "It felt focused, it felt like you were thinking about whatever the songs means to you." Urban think she needs to be as comfortable without an instrument as she is with one. Lopez believes Meuse's confidence is growing and that she's connecting more with the audience: "I could listen to you sing all day, but now I have to feel something." Grade: A-

Malaya Watson, The Long and Winding Road (The Beatles). Watson's got a bit of Aretha Franklin in her version of the latter-day Beatles classic. It's the sort of performance she needed to prove she could — a big, soulful ballad that lets her show off her chops. But it's been done so much it's not particularly interesting. Still, should be good enough to keep her around for a week, and that's important. Urban says the performance showed her voice: "When you hit that right place, your personality comes through. … That performance really showed me your spirit." Lopez fondly recalls the headbanging from the opening group number and is impressed with the subsequent control she showed in her solo number. Connick gives her the "award" for "most consistently improving" each week. "It was strong," but he has one piece of non-performance advice: "Work on harmonies. Hang around the guitar players and the bass players. … You really, really can become something great. Forget about stardom. All of that will happen. Work on your craft." Grade: A-

Jena Irene, Bring Me to Life (Evanescence). Jena Irene seems to have found her groove now, between last week's trip into the world of EDM and this week's excursion into rock's dark side. She's peaking at the right time. Connick says she did a good job following Johnson and says her voice could be heard on radio: "It was really, really strong." Urban says she delivers every time: "You've got your own lane, baby." Lopez say she sounded phenomenal: "I wanted you to be more messy." Grade: B+

Dexter Roberts, Boondocks (Little Big Town). Roberts throws down with this song about Southern identity, taking a four-part song and turning it into his best solo performance in weeks. Connick still thinks he sounds generic, though: "You have to find a way to make these songs your own." He wants to hear something that shows Roberts' voice rather than all the rhythmic anthems that he's just not big enough to pull off. Urban thinks Connick needs a gummy bear. So he gives him a giant one, and Connick and Lopez both take huge bites out of the ears. "It's like plastic. With sugar," says a grinning Lopez, her mouth full of gummy. As for the performance, "If Little Big Town hadn't recorded that, and it had been given to you, I think it would have been a hit on country radio. … What I want to see now is another side of you. Give us something we haven't seen yet." Lopez calls Roberts "our resident modern country guy." She thinks he did a great job but would like to see something that makes her take a second look at him. Grade: B+

Majesty Rose, Shake It Out (Florence + the Machine). Majesty has an enticingly retro look tonight with her wide-lapel collar and pinstripes. She's also giving one of her best vocal performances, her charming stage presence overcoming any vocal issues. Lopez is smiling big as she says, "That's the Majesty that I love. … Vocally, it was a little all over the place. Performance-wise, it was a 10." Connick thinks she's close to breaking through in the competition, and the diversity of her chosen styles makes it hard for people to connect to her. "I really dug what you did with this arrangement," he adds. "You're so close to just owning the stage. This is the closest I've seen you to being a performer." Urban thinks she chose a great song, but thinks the adrenaline rush she gets from performing "can feel like a really energized performance, then, when you watch it back, it looks a little out of control. ... you can stand there and bring us to you." Grade: B+

Alex Preston, Don't Speak (No Doubt). Preston brings a quiet, reggae-jazz feel to the No Doubt song, almost like the Police doing a Sade song. It's a good enough vocal performance, but the arrangement, which suits Preston's delivery perfectly, turns out to be the real star. Urban begins the judges' critiques by saying, "I love that you've got your thing; it's so consistent. … Having said that, I do feel like the one thing I want you to do a little bit more of is give a little more edge somewhere." Lopez admits she can't help but think of Gwen Stefani when she hears it, and Preston's low-key version "sucked the energy out of the song." Connick admires that Preston has his feet firmly planted in the competition but would like to see him move around a bit more and engage the audience more onstage. Grade: B+

Sam Woolf, Hey There Delilah (Plain White T's) Woolf's performances would probably be more effective in the Idol director just locked in a close-up shot and let him stare intently at the camera the whole time. Good performance, but nothing special otherwise. Lopez wonders if he had someone in mind when he was singing. She wishes there was, because then, she thinks, people would feel it more. Connick wants him to be more self-assertive, and he sees him presenting himself in this sort of environment, but he didn't feel much connection with the lyrics, either: "It felt like a one-dimensional reading." Urban would like to see him quit thinking about every note he sings. It's a confidence thing, and Woolf ought to have more of it by now. Grade: B

C.J. Harris, If It Hadn't Been for Love (Steeldrivers). Anybody that covers the Steeldrivers, one of the greatest bluegrass bands around, gets extra points in my book. And Harris puts himself into a song in ways that guys like Sam Woolf and Dexter Roberts can only dream of. His phrasing's still a mess, though, and his guitar playing's not much better. Urban thinks the song was a clever choice, allowing him to tap into his soulful side. But "be careful that you don't confuse the sound of expressing with the feeling of expressing." If he does that, "the response will be very, very different." Lopez never tires of hearing his voice but found the performance inconsistent. Connick compares performing to juggling (implying that Harris dropped the ball). "You can hear, C.J., you have good ears, I know you have good ears. … You. Have. To. Work. On. Your. Pitch." Grade: B-