American Idol Season 7

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And now on to the other 3 contestants….

David Cook, despite how much I don’t like him, did a very nice job of both songs last night.  Seems he’s getting a little less cocky and a little more serious about the competition now.   Either that or well, the judges and audiences alike are totally cheering him on.  He’s had one too many “you could win this” pats on the back and so I guess it’s gone to his head but he’s trying to suppress it now.  But hey, he can sing.  So I’ll give the guy credit for that.

David Archuleta picked some horrible songs last night.  “Coming To America”?  REALLY?  Could it GET any more annoying than that?  The judges seemed to think it was a wise choice but honestly, let’s can all these patriotic songs, okay?  Unlike Kristy Lee Cook however, David’s song choice didn’t seem to be a cheap ploy to get votes.  It was just nauseating.  But I’m still a loyal fan.  He just knows how to choose some cheesy tunes.

And finally, Syesha Mercado in a pretty purple dress, barefoot and singing her guts out.  Good for her!  She may not be the BEST singer Idol’s ever had but the girl has been putting it out there week after week and she deserves to be in the top 3.  Her first song was very classy and her second reminded me of something Beyonce would do or something straight out of the movie Dreamgirls.  She’s good though.  Really good.

Simon’s last words were that he thinks Syesha is going to be in trouble this week just because things are narrowing down so much.  Honestly, I think he just said it to keep her in there.  He needed to give America a reason to push to vote her to the top.  We’ll see if it worked tonight.

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So the top five Idol contestants have been whittled down to David Archuleta, Jason Castro, David Cook, Syesha Mercado and Brooke White.  Last night, these kids got to sing not one - but TWO Neil Diamond songs.

In my opinion, the show was a train wreck this week and I think that’s really saying something about the producers.  I guess they figure they’ve got a number one show and they can afford to do whatever they want to do.  And it’s not like these contestants are terrible singers but come on now - these are the TOP 5 singers in America???

Where have all the Melinda DooLittle’s gone?

Okay, so Ryan Seacrest tells us that they’re going to sing and be judged after their second performance.  Different, but alright.  And then they each perform and the judges give their opinions anyway.  It seemed like there was some kind of mix up from the get-go.

Anyhow… the competition is quickly coming to a close and since that’s the case, let’s just get real about this.  Jason Castro needs to go.  End of story.  I like him but he doesn’t even seem to care that he’s on the show.  It almost seems like he’s purposely trying to get himself kicked off.  His facial expressions are ones of “yeeeeah, I know I sucked.  Oh well.”

Brooke White’s “I’m a Believer” last night was as Simon put it, “a nightmare”.  You know I’m a fan but seriously, Brooke??  Why would you do this to us?  That performance was horrible.  Her second song was much better as she seems to shine behind the piano.  But… as much as I’m a fan, the girl has got to go.

I’ll get to the next three contestants in the next post, but first… let’s go back to the judges for a moment.  After all 5 performers sang their first song, Ryan Seacrest asked the judges to comment on everybody.  Randy quickly ran through his thoughts and then on to Paula Abdul.

Here’s where the show went WAY down hill.

Paula tells Jason Castro what she thinks about his first song and then starts going into how he did on his second song.  HUH?  Ryan is panicking, the contestants are all completely speechless and wide-eyed, trying to remain calm on camera, Simon and Randy are listening to Paula with dread on their faces… finally, Randy speaks up and politely tells Paula that they are only judging on song #1.  And then Paula gets confused and says she thought that Jason had performed two songs.

How embarrassing!  …. So we cut Paula short, head to Simon and speed into a commercial break.  Talk about hilarity.

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And there you have it America.  The first time in ages that Carly Smithson sings and does just amazingly (yes, I made that word up), America goes and gets her booted from the competition.  Let’s see how the show went down tonight.

First, this week’s Ford commercial featuring the song “Tainted Love”.  This one was actually scary to me since the contestants were dressed up in 80s goth rock wear.  The video was a flashback to Aha’s “Take On Me” with the black and white cartoon imagery.  Interesting.

And then President Bush and his wife, Laura came on via satellite with a message to all the viewers for helping with Idol Gives Back.  I guess American Idol is the only place the President can speak without sounding like a total idiot.

Moving along!  The show got down to the bottom two which consisted of Carly Smithson and Syesha Mercado.  At that point it was pretty much a given that Syesha was at the end of her rope… and then in a surprising turn of events, Ryan Seacrest announced that Carly had the least amount of votes.  Quite the shocking news seeing as how she did so well the night before.  Before she left, Simon let her know that she could leave with her head held high.  See, sometimes he’s a nice guy after all

Next week?  The music of Neil Diamond.  Oh, this is going to be good!

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It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that David Archuleta can sing some show tunes.  He decided to go with “Think of Me Fondly” and it was fantastic.  Just spot on perfect.  Randy told David, “you can sing.  You can sing anything.  Dude, it was the bomb.”  Paula said it was “absolutely perfect” and Simon called it pleasant and yet “one of your weakest performances. All a bit forgettable.”

Carly Smithson  sang “Superstar” from Jesus Christ Superstar.  This was the best she’s done in a long time - if ever.  She had a ton of fun.  Randy said “I don’t know if this was your best performance but it was really good”.  Paula thought it might be too high for her range but she did a great job.  And Simon thought”it was actually one of my favorite performances of the night.”

David Cook went with “Music of the Night”.  It was overly Broadway and I was waiting for Simon to tell him that his performance was everything but contemporary but not the case.  Randy said “dude, that was an amazing vocal performance.”  Paula said “this song proved more and more… that you have a beautiful instrument” (yet another sexual innuendo?).  Simon called it “too rounded off, but you made the most of the song you were given.”  I thought the contestants picked their own songs? Hmm.

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Last night’s idol had the contestants performing the songs of famed Broadway composer, Andrew Lloyd Weber.

Syesha Mercado was up first singing “One Rock ‘N Roll Too Many”.  She came out in a gorgeous, tight red dress and oozed with sass and sex appeal.  She was classy and her vocals were spot on.  Randy said it was Syesha’s “best performance to date”, Paula said this is her “happy place and you’re real good at it”.  Simon said that is was “very sexy” and it was “one of your strongest performances so far.  You showed masses of personality which we haven’t seen before.”

Jason Castro did just okay last night and even I’m a big fan of his.  He just isn’t cut out for singing show tunes.  Randy said that musically and vocally “it was a train wreck.” He said that it is “just not your thing. It’s too big of a song”.  Paula said the performance “allows you to put your influence into it and further identifies your unique being as an artist”.  Simon thought “it came over as a young guy being forced by your mom and dad at a wedding, you didn’t want to sing.  You were miserable throughout.  It’s not your style of music.”

Brooke White starts her song and then stops.  She says she’s sorry and then starts over again.  It wasn’t a good song for her at all.  She tries but it just doesn’t come over well.  Randy said “for me there were parts of it that were good”, Paula thought she connected with the lyrics.  And Simon said that the start and stop threw her off and said “I think you’re going to be very disappointed when you watch this back.”

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Well, last night’s bottom three was a little different than what I had expected.  By this point, I figured Kristy Lee Cook was going to stick around for a few more weeks.  Those pity votes can sure add up so there is no telling what could have happened. 

 The contestants were split up into two groups last night.  On the left - Kristy Lee Cook, Brooke White and Syesha Mercado.  On the right - David Cook, Carly Smithson and Jason Castro.  This left David Archuleta in the middle of the stage and Ryan asked for him to head over to the group that he thinks is safe this week. 

 Why on Earth do the producers do this manuever every season?  The contestant thrown in the middle is always the clear Idol favorite to win.  Not to mention that every time they pull this stunt the contestant left to choose a side always refuses to do it.  It’s just unethical if you ask me.  Anyhow… David plops right down in the middle of the stage to show that he’s not willing to pick sides.  Good for him!

So the bottom three this week ended up being Kristy, Brooke and Syesha.  Then Syesha was sent back to safety and things got emotional.  I was all but waiting for Brooke White to get the axe so I was pretty nervous.  Ryan went to the judges to ask if America had gotten it right to which Simon very bluntly said that Kristy has got to go (he said it a little meaner than that though!).  Brooke seemed offended by his remark about Kristy and got upset.  The two girls clung to each other - it almost seemed as if Kristy assumed she was safe and was consoling Brooke. 

And then - the SHOCK!  Kristy Lee Cook is GONE!  Who would have guessed!

She was upset but before she left she sang “Forever” practically right in Simon’s lap.  Well, she sat at the judges desk and sang it straight to Simon.  It was her way of getting back at him for the rude comment he made.  I guess she was trying to shove her talent in his face?  Who knows.  Either way, she’s finally off the show.  Amen.

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Alright, alright, alright… some commentors have been sticking up for Kristy Lee Cook and pitching a fit with me.  SO!  On that note let me shock you all by saying that Kristy Lee Cook did a GREAT job last night with “Forever”.  I was actually impressed!  It was the best she has ever sounded (in my opinion) and she still put that country twang to it that could easily make it’s way onto the radio waves if somebody wanted to sign her to a record label.  Surprisingly, the judges didn’t like it as much as I did (and believe me, it’s difficult to admit she performed well).  Randy said it was a little pitchy and he wasn’t crazy about it.  Paula said she was really proud of her.  And Simon said that even though Kristy gave Mariah chills during their mentoring session, Kristy sure didn’t give him any chills.  He said “it just wasn’t great”. 

And now you’re all going to hate me.  *ahem*

Dear David Cook,

“Always Be My Baby”? What? 

- AmericanIdol7blog

Okay, in all seriousness I thought that David’s performance last night was the weirdest thing ever.  I usually dig the rockers and I usually love things being changed up but this was just so out of the box that I didn’t get it at all.  It was like the music and the lyrics just clashed - badly and I was completely speechless.  It was super serious and if the lyrics were different then I probably would’ve loved it but just knowing that it was “Always Be My Baby” and hearing those poppy, bubblegum love song lyrics to such a serious, violin-driven anthem with haunting background vocals was very off-putting.  But let’s go ahead and give him credit because the judges ate it all up. Randy called it brilliant.  Paula said “that song could be in a movie soundtrack right now” and again she referenced his package… oh no wait, she said he HAS “the whole package”.  Simon described David’s performance as “like coming out of karaoke hell into a breath of fresh air.  It was original, daring, it stood out by a mile and this is the sign of a great artist - someone who takes risks.”  All of this love had David in tears, aww.

Jason Castro sang “I Don’t Want To Cry”.  I enjoyed it because it was laid back, heartfelt and Jason showed a lot of emotion.  Randy said he felt “like I was at a weird beach luau” and the song was playing in the background.  Paula called Jason amazing.  And after a bit of a pause, Simon said he has to agree….. with Paula.  He noted that it “wasn’t the best vocal of the night” but it was “identifiably you, it was a cool version” and that the guys beat out the girls tonight.  

So who is going to get the boot tonight?  If I had to take a guess at this point in the game I would say that Carly Smithson, Syesha Mercado and maybe Brooke White will be in the bottom three. 

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Tonight the Idol contestants performed songs by the legendary Mariah Carey.  But first, a quick note to everyone who has been commenting on this blog!

Thank you for stopping by and showing some love :)  And for everybody who would rather read straight, un-biased recaps of the show -  go read the news!  I realize you’re not all going to agree with my opinion but that’s what makes this so much fun!  Okay, on to last night’s performances…

Let me start by “pimping” out David Archuleta once more (the kid ain’t perfect but he is pretty freakin’ good).  He sang “When You Believe” which was originally a Mariah Carey/Whitney Houston collaboration.  It was gorgeous and very well done.  He tried out his falsetto like Mariah had told him to do and it worked out in his favor because all of the judges loved it.

Carly Smithson sang one of my favorite Mariah songs, “Without You”.  The beginning was sultry and soft.  She used her bottom range really well even despite the note changes in the arrangement that made the song sound a lot different.  But as the song progressed, Carly seemed to get “angry” again.  Anytime she tries to put power behind her vocals she comes off as overbearing so I’m not really sure what to make of her.  I want to like her but I don’t think she’s got what it takes. 

Syesha Mercado has been fighting week after week to keep her place in the competition.  A lot of commentors on this blog apparently like to bash me for sticking up for her but man, the girl is good!  Last night her performance was fantastic.  Plus she looked amazing all gold and shimmery.  The judges all really liked it but Simon still believes that David Archuleta had the best performance so far and that he is the one to beat.  Agreed.

Brooke White sang “Hero” at the piano.  Of course, you know that I have a soft spot for her so naturally, I thought she did a nice job.  It definitely wasn’t her best by a mile.  Midway through the song (from “Lord knows” onward) she put some oomph behind her vocals which sounded great to me but left her visibly shaken up.  You could clearly see that she had tried something she wasn’t totally comfortable with and her nerves seemed to get the best of her.  Simon called it “a bit like ordering a hamburger and only getting the bun” saying that she doesn’t have the “meat” to do that song.  This was followed by the judges bantering over pickles, onions and special sauce.  Boy, the metaphors this season are hilarious.

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Now David Archuleta sang When You Believe in tonights epsode of American Idol 7. And as you know, the judges were all over him.

You see, if you’re a fan of David, you’re going to want to watch ths video. And the reason is because he does an awesome job singing When You believe.

Now, there will be some poeple who say that only teeny boppers are voting for him. And the reason for it is because of his good looks. But I think it’s hard to deny he’s got a wonderful voice.

You see, these were the judges’ reactions tonight:

Randy: You probably picked one of the toughest songs. But I gotta tell you something. If you can sing, you can sing anything. That was the bomb, baby!

Paula: You made Mariah feel proud, very proud.

Simon: I thought it was very, very good. You performed that very well.

Anyway, I hope he chooses a few edgier songs to show off to others that he;s more than good looks. I think edgier songs will help him break the mould of being just a ballad singer or something.

Anyway, here’s the clip you;ve been waiting for.

… David Archuleta - When You Believe

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As you probably know, it was Mariah Carey night. And the top 7 sung their heart out.

… While others cried too.

Ok. So David Cook sang Always Be My Baby.

Anyway, normally I hate to see guys cry, but with David, I felt sorry for him. You see, I think he was emotional because his ill older brother with cancer was in the audience or something.

As they said at the start of the series, they wanna make this a little more down to earth. So I guess it was cool that American Idol flew David’s brother to see him on a private jet. You probably know that he wasn’t allowed to fly on a commercial plane due to the sick.

Anyway, I think David Cook’s version of Always Be My Baby was good.

And if you didn’t catch it, then have a look for yourself.

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