Crystal Bowersox Moved To Tears On ‘American Idol’

“Dancing with the Stars” wasn’t the only reality show to leave a contestant in tears on Tuesday night. Crystal Bowersox briefly broke down at the end of her latest performance on “American Idol” on Tuesday, while singing what Simon Cowell called an “inspirational” version of “People Get Ready.”

The “Idol” Season 9 frontrunner changed things up in her performance for the week, singing without any music to accompany her at the start of the song, and later bringing in back-up singers and the show’s band.

“You don’t need no ticket, no, no, no, you just thank the Lord,” Crystal sang as she choked up on the last few words and wiped her face.

Crystal later explained that the tears were the result of seeing her proud papa in the audience.

“My dad’s here and this is the first time he’s been here and… I saw my dad and I was like, ‘Thank the Lord for my family!’” she explained.

Mama Sox, as she’s been nicknamed over the season, was heavily praised by the judges, including Ellen DeGeneres, who gushed over the singer.

“You have never looked more beautiful… and you keep evolving and growing,” a very moved Ellen said. “That was so beautiful.”

“In a strange way, [I’m] actually happy to see you emotional because you have like, closed down a little bit and all of us felt this song meant a lot to you,” Simon Cowell chimed in. “You sang it fantastically, and for me, it was in a completely different class to everything else we heard tonight.”

The judges weren’t the only ones to praise Crystal. Guest mentor Alicia Keys, who coached the contestants on the week’s theme – inspirational songs, picked the 24-year-old mom as the one to watch.

“Crystal is definitely one of my favorites,” Alicia said in a clip. “I think she’s very, very special and you can see it and you can feel it.”

Here’s how the rest of the pack did:

With his hair pulled back and a smile on his face, Casey James opened the show with “Don’t Stop” by Fleetwood Mac, but his smile turned into a grimace when he heard the judges’ comments.

“The theme this week was inspirational songs and that wasn’t particularly inspiring,” Simon said. “I thought that was actually a lazy song choice.”

Things faired better for Lee DeWyze, the one contender who continues to give performs that suggest he could end up in the final two with Crystal. After hearing his performance of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Boxer,” judge Randy Jackson said Lee is “gonna have a big career.”

“That was sincere, it was emotional, it was inspirational,” Simon added.

Chirpy chap Tim Urban rolled out “Better Days,” a Goo Goo Dolls song, but his shaky vocals caught Kara DioGuardi’s attention.

“I think this is where you belong, but it wasn’t the best execution,” she said of Tim’s song choice. “But you’ve still got something and at times you’re very commercial, but it wasn’t your best performance.”

Aaron Kelly opted to test out “I Believe I Can Fly.” The teen didn’t soar, but Randy said he did “a good job.”

Things were tougher for Siobhan Magnus who brought out the Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey duet from the movie, “The Prince of Egypt” — “When You Believe.” Taking on a song by two great singing divas, however, cost the 19 year old.

“I don’t think that was the right song for you,” Simon noted. “I just kind of found the whole thing a bit odd, a bit all over the place.”

Michael Lynche also got a knock for his song choice – Nickelback’s “Hero.”

“I think you sang it pretty well… but the theme tonight is about inspirational songs and that was about ‘Spider-Man’ wasn’t it?” Simon asked.

“Spider-Man’s a hero too,” Mike responded.

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