Lee Dewyze and the Philadelphia Flyers Are in a Class by Themselves

(BOD - Katie Holmes)

Another Tuesday has come and gone and another night of toggling between American Idol and the NHL playoffs, the eternal struggle of my masculinity, took place in the Tewks household.


It was Final 3 performance night on Idol while the Canadiens and the Flyers engaged in the second game of the Eastern Conference Final. Luckily, I was tremendously pleased with the results of both viewing options.

On Idol, each contestant performed two songs: one of their own choosing and one picked by the judges. Let’s look at contestant’s choice first.

Casey James – “Ok, It’s Alright with Me”

I have never heard this song before and I will have no problem never hearing it again. That being said, Casey didn’t sound bad. His performance was perfectly serviceable. And that’s the problem with Casey. He always sings in tune, but lacks any semblance of charisma or star power.

Crystal Bowersox – “Come to My Window”

Crystal gave a terrific rendition of the Melissa Etheridge hit, but the performance lacked the ‘Wow’ factor one might expect from the next American Idol. Of course, Ellen loved the song because girls who like girls like to stick together.

Lee Dewyze – “Simple Man”

Lee crushed it. I could easily imagine hearing that performance on the radio. If I knew how to download music I would definitely put that baby on my Ipod. And that’s the difference between Lee and the previous two. Lee is current, mainstream and has a marketable sound.

The Montreal Canadiens are getting exactly what they deserve in this series. Both the Capitals and the Penguins were flummoxed by Jaroslav Halak, a no-name goalie riding a hot streak of luck and nothing else, in the first two rounds of the series.

Karma has come back to bite Montreal in the ass in the form of Michael Leighton. Who? Exactly.

Leighton has been placed on waivers four times in his career and is suddenly George Vezina incarnate. He has completely stymied the Habs’ offensive attack and he hasn’t let up a goal since the first period of Game 7 against the Bruins.

The parallels between Halak in the first two rounds and Leighton this series are downright eerie. Leighton single-handedly kept the Flyers in the game in the first period, withstanding a barrage of Montreal shots. He gave his team a chance to regroup and then thoroughly dominate Montreal in the last 40 minutes, which is the same game plan the Habs used in the first two rounds,

Casey James – “Daughters”

An improved performance over his first attempt, but this song resides perfectly in Casey’s wheelhouse. It’s the equivalent of a 3-0 fastball down the shoot; all Casey had to do was put a good swing on the ball and it would go out of the park. Plus, thousands of women will be swooning over John Mayer’s insipid ballad, so there is a slight chance Casey could sneak into the final two.

Crystal Bowersox – “Maybe I’m Amazed”

Crystal sounded much better on this song than I thought she would. To use another baseball analogy, this would be a 1-2 curveball down in the zone. She was able to get enough wood on the ball to muscle it into the gap for a surprise double.

Lee Dewyze – "Hallelujah"

I wasn’t as blown away by this performance as the judges were. I don’t think Lee has the right sounding voice for such a melancholic song. However, Lee still sounded fantastic and this contest is definitely his to lose, evidenced by the crowd reaction every time his name was mentioned. If the audience is any indication of America’s choice, then Lee will win hands down. The crowd went bonkers for him throughout the telecast.

Philadelphia looks unstoppable right now. This is the first time I’ve watched them all postseason and I’m very impressed. They are outplaying Montreal in every facet of the game. After their third goal, the crowd once again started up an Ole, Ole, Ole chant which brought a tremendous smile to my face.

I immediately sent a text to CSzem echoing those sentiments. His response: ‘Go Fuck Yourself.’

With pleasure.

Honestly, I have no rational explanation for hating Montreal as much as I do. I actually liked them just over a month ago. However, that all changed with the actions of 50 French jerkoffs in Cuba and now I hate the team with every fibre of my being. Plus, it just makes being friends with CSzem that much more fun.