‘American Idol’ top 9 preview: What should Angie Miller, Lazaro Arbos sing next?

If you are a historian of “American Idol,” then you are surely well aware with the repetition of the Lennon / McCartney songbook theme. It has been done so many times at this point, you’re almost eliminating every possibility of there being a performance that you haven’t quite heard before.

With that in mind, we have to approach picking the songs for this week with a little bit of a different mindset. What songs would best suit the singers, and give them potential to have a little bit of fun? We’re really going to stress this today, given that so many performances thus far have been of the slow and dreary variety.

We’re sure that the top 9 is given a more limited list, unfortunately, and the criteria for our picks is simple: anything written by Lennon, McCartney, or the two together over the course of their musical careers (including post-Beatles work). Sadly, there’s no George Harrison on the list, which leaves out “Here Comes the Sun” and some of our other favorites.

Kree Harrison – “And Your Bird Can Sing.” The good thing about Kree is that she could really sing anything, but this song could be slowed down a little bit since the lyrical content here is so poignant. Plus, it has a lovely melody suited for her voice.

Burnell Taylor – “Imagine.” You know that someone is going to do this Lennon ballad, and Burnell is probably the best person for it, especially given that we can’t see his voice working with an uptempo number.

Candice Glover – “With a Little Help From My Friends.” We’re sure that Candice would probably gravitate more towards the Joe Cocker version than the original recording, but there is so much material here for her to vocally demolish.

Lazaro Arbos – “Eight Days a Week.” Lazaro needs something fun to sing for a change, and this is probably the perfect week for it since some of the Beatles’ earlier work is something that he could grasp onto pretty easily so that his personality shines through.

Paul Jolley – “Dance Tonight.” There’s absolutely no way that Paul sings this modern-day McCartney track, and we’re almost sure that it will not be available to choose. Nonetheless, he needs to simplify a little bit, and this fun ditty would be a perfect way to go back to basics.

Angie Miller – “Let It Be.” You can picture her on the piano already, right? She doesn’t need to necessarily go uptempo in order to differentiate herself, and this is a way that she can keep herself in her comfort zone (and at her piano) while showing a very different side.

Janelle Arthur – “Blackbird.” She did a uptempo song last week, and that’s probably her quote for a few weeks. Kidding aside, “Blackbird” would be a pretty song for her.

Amber Holcomb – “Come Together.” There’s no question whether or not Amber can sing, but she needs something to prove that she has an edge. This song is always fun no matter who does it, even though she’ll have a hard time matching the version from Crystal Bowersox.

Devin Velez – “I’m Looking Through You.” Another personal favorite, and it’s an opportunity for Devin to speed things up a little bit, while still keeping the essence of who he is musically.

What do you want to see some of the performs on “American Idol” this season perform? Be sure to share some of your thoughts below, and you can see where we’ve ranked the top 9 over at the link here.

Photo: Fox