‘American Idol’ in 60 seconds: The Crystal conundrum…

Really… it can go either way this season on “American Idol.”

Not the competition itself, of course… is there any question that Crystal Bowersox is the most assured and talented performer to step onto that stage since, well, since Adam Lambert last year? Head and shoulders above the rest, Bowersox is setting the bar for the other contestants and, as Simon Cowell says, the crown is hers to lose.

No… the question this year is whether “Idol” and its fans will let that happen — thereby making this one of the most interesting seasons of “American Idol” — or will they dispose of Bowersox quickly and let this season sink into a quagmire of competently banal, disposable pop?

It’s clear after Bowersox steps off the stage tonight that she’s working in another league. At least regarding the women contestants this year, there’s seven singers but only one artist. Bowersox sings Tracy Chapman’s “Gimme One Reason” and it’s impressive – and I can’t stand Tracy Chapman. You can tell the “Idol” stylists are trying to spruce up her baggy, shaggy look — baubled rings sparkle as she strums a gleaming electric guitar (a successful change from her usual acoustic). And in a season when it seems half the contestants are casting about for a song, a tone, a look, a personality — anything that will stick with the judges, Bowersox’ performance is assured and honest, almost offhandedly cool.

Even as the judges heap praise on her (Ellen Degeneres says she’s “out of adjectives”), Bowersox just smiles wanly and offers a languorous ”thank you,” seemingly unimpressed with herself or the glittering proceedings around her. She doesn’t need us — and, of course, it just makes her all the more appealing.

But here’s the thing: Can this dreadlocked, lip-ringed, gap-toothed hipster-scenester actually win a pop contest?

Here’s the other thing: If she doesn’t win, it will be a body blow to the credibility of “American Idol” to break new talent — and perhaps its reign as king of reality contests. “Idol” has been a pop contest up to now because that’s the kind of singer the show has appealed to. But Bowersox isn’t pop — and she’s made it clear she’s not there to become a pop star. Can “Idol” and its fans handle the identity crisis that will come with crowning as champion a talented woman who’s already rejected the strictures of the fame they want to give her?

That will be fascinating to watch.

But, as I said, if the fans vote her off early, then “Idol” will quickly become a wasteland of pretty young singers with a modicum of talent and absolutely no idea about what to do with it. Empty vessels, as Simon would say.

Tonight continues to prove it as all the other singers work their damndest to make “American Idol” as dull as dishwater:

Katie Stevens sings a gloomy version of Kelly Clarkson’s “Break Away.” Always in a lower register, Katie… Why? Is your voice not elastic? All the judges think she just doesn’t know what to do with herself. She protests that she does, indeed, feel the spirit of the lyrics…  after all, she says, she lives in a small town and knows what it means to want to break free of the provincial life. I have to laugh. She’s from the wealthy suburbs of Middlebury, Conn., midway between Hartford, New Haven and New York City.

Siobhan Magnus sings a cantorial “House of the Rising Sun” for her dad. It’s a clean double, and she goes to third on the throw. Competent, solid… but too unpredictable to be a franchise player.

Lacey Brown takes the stage to sing “The Story”… and Lacey’s added an animal print to her look, which, coupled with her jagged, dyed red up-do hair, completes her transformation from young woman to retiree volunteer. And if I’m fixated on her looks, its only because her song is so incredibly dull. Randy Jackson has the night’s best moment of unintentional hilarity when he says the song is sleepy and boring, but it was her best performance in a long time. Lacey smiles, believing it’s a compliment.

Katelyn Epperly then stands at a keyboard and sings Carole King’s “I Feel the Earth Move,” and from the second note, we’re in trouble. It sounds like something the maid of honor requested at your cousin’s wedding in Baltimore. TiVo fast-forward, get me out of here. Randy just laughs. Seriously.

My thoughts as Didi Benami sings: “Oh, God, it’s not a Fleetwood Mac ballad, is it? Oy, it is.” She’s a beautiful young woman who, for some reason, wants to put us to sleep.

Paige Miles hits the stage with Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile.” Did she honestly think that song is going to win her a pop music contest? I can’t hit the FF button fast enough.

Last is Lilly Scott — perhaps the only contestant who might give Bowersox a run for her money. She sings Patsy Cline’s “I Fall to Pieces” strumming a mandolin. The country standard is an odd choice for her. Maybe if she did something personal with it, but Lilly tries to shoe-horn her pixie-indie voice into a note-for-note copy of the song’s classic countrypolitian arrangement — and you have to wonder what she thought this cake was going to look like when it came out of the oven.

Once again — it’s Bowersox’ to lose.