Yesterday's Songs

Neil Diamond is one of the biggest recording stars of all time, however I’m guessing most of the Idols and a large percentage of the voting population (teenage girls) have never heard of Mr. Diamond, so tonight should be interesting. Everyone gets to sing two songs tonight. Really? Last week we had six people singing one songg and they fit it into one hour. But this week we have five people singing two songs each – that’s 10 songs. So last week they had six songs, this week they have ten. Remember when we had 10 people singing? Yeah that’s right the show was longer than an hour. I have no idea how they will make all this fit nicely into a one hour show. Is “Hell’s Kitchen” that important Idol cannot go long tonight?

Ryan asks if anyone will lose their cool tonight. I know I’d lose my cool on Neil Diamond night. I know a few Diamond songs, but not 10, which means there will be several songs I’ve never heard before. I bet you could have Neil Diamond walk into the room with the Idols wearing a shirt that said Neil Diamond on it and Jason would not recognize him. The audience gives a loud “Hi Carly” to Idol’s latest reject. They are all about twos tonight – two songs and phone lines each. Neil has sold over 100 million records world wide, but he has never been on Idol before! Neil says this is a chance to encourage the performers and is anxious to hear them sing his songs. Brooke says they are nervous to sing his songs. She, on average, talks more than any other Idol contestant EVER. Neil says his songs are written to be joyful. He likes turning his songs over to other people and hear what the person brings to the music. Interesting. In what might be an Idol first the contestants will sing both songs before the judges comment on their songs. This time saving approach seems like a bad idea from the start and I feel a train wreck coming.

Jason Castro – Forever in Blue Jeans

Jason brings his guitar into the rehearsal with Neil. Jason starts singing and didn’t remember the words and looks down at the lyrics, but wait, it’s the lyrics to the next song. Jason! Why is it every week the one person that doesn’t remember their lyrics is Jason? He had them written down last week with Andy and was reading them during their time together. To his credit though, unlike a certain Nanny, he hasn’t forgot his words on stage yet. But, with the judges constantly inferring he is lazy and doesn’t really care about winning Idol, you would think he would take the extra step of learning his lyrics before he meets with Neil. Neil thinks Jason will bring both songs off very well on stage. Jason starts the song in his lower register. We have never heard him this low before, and he sounds pretty good. He never really plays a lot of on the guitar, but I think he is more comfortable playing it while he sings. He goes back into his higher voice on the second verse. The song loses a little steam in the middle. Filmed from behind, Simon is looking to his right with a ‘bored out of my mind’ expression. Whoah, one of the violin players is wearing sunglasses. Really? Since when are violin players so cool they have to wear shades? The beginning of the song is the best part, but he sounds ok throughout. Typical Jason. Not the best vocals, but warm and sincere and just enough to make his fans happy. Jason has a big smile on his face when he finishes. He is probably excited he only to sing Neil Diamond one more time in his entire life (unless he falls into the bottom two tomorrow).

David Cook – I’m Alive

David gets the first sit down and Ryan asks him how he prepared for this week. David turns the table on Ryan asking him the same question. Ryan rambles on about his childhood love for Neil Diamond until David sends us to the videotape. They pulled off their scripted banter pretty well, or at least as well as the best actors in the world during the Academy Awards before giving out Oscars. David is singing two songs no one has ever heard before. Which will either be good, or very good. Sometimes when you sing unpopular songs the votes don’t materialize. Neil says David gave him goose bumps. He says David made a gutsy choice of songs, but he has the right voice and will do great – no doubt about it. David has a large AC on his jacket and guitar. I’m assuming this is for his brother and not for his undying love of CNN’s Anderson Cooper. He is singing in his middle voice. Not the creepy low one we saw on Idol Gives Back or the higher one he displayed last week, but instead right in the middle. I could hear a song like this on the radio right now. I am not familiar with the original, but I’m assuming David made a few alterations. David is making Jason look like an also ran. Actually he is making everyone on the show look like they do not belong. The song is over already? Really? I feel like it just began. I’m guessing it’s not shorter than Jason’s, but, probably because I really am enjoying it, I feel like it ended after only 20 seconds. I wish we could hear the judges comments right away and not have to wait until the end of the show.

Brooke White – Believer

Brooke is still here even though she was awful last week. She asks Neil if he hugs or handshakes and he says both. Speaking of both, she will be playing the piano and the guitar this week. Neil says her second song is very hard to sing and sound genuine, but she did which surprised him. I would have preferred hearing Neil’s comments on each song. Instead they lumped the whole thing together so you are not always sure if he is talking about their first or second song. Uh oh, this is going to be a train wreck. Brooke looks scared when the song starts. Then her face looks uber happy. It’s like in one moment she is a scared little kid about to get abused by her father and in the next she has the maniacal smile of a crazed super villain about to destroy planet Earth with a massive missile. She starts the song flat but recovers in the second verse. I think she had to start the song a little too low to hit the higher notes. The back up singers are moving in unison. I wonder if they go to school to learn how to do synchronize so well. The camera flashes on the judges for a moment. Paula is dancing, Randy is bouncing his head and Simon is drinking from his glass and looking down at the table. You can tell he is having a great time tonight. Brooke picks up the pace as the song goes along and actually sounds pretty good near the end. She just might be able to salvage this…no wait, the song is over already. Jut when she started to maybe get good the super short song ended.

David A. – Sweet Caroline

Is it legal to have David go anywhere but last? Ryan is walking through the audience selling itunes. David, in his usual ‘omg I can’t believe I’m here right now’ manner tells Neil he’d love his advice on his songs. David is singing Neil’s two most famous songs. Way to go outside the box David A. Neil says he is kind of a prodigy that needs a few suggestions, and if he accepts them he’ll do great. David starts off on Caroline with his normal jacket and stupid look on his face. He manages to turn Sweet Caroline, which is not exactly hard rock, into even more of an adult contemporary song. Can you imagine the people of Fenway park singing along to this version? No you can’t! You would think the judges might once says that David keeps singing songs like a 40 year old pop star instead of a kid, but no that would require something less than positive directed towards young David and that is strictly against the rules, except for the occasional comment from Simon. I don’t know what to say about David. It’s the EXACT SAME THING I’ve seen from him since his Idol journey began. I know the musically naïve 13 year old girls love David and his big notes, but this is just not that good. He always uses his right hand to convey his emotions and his hand is moving back and forth tonight. David isn’t hitting any bad notes, but I think more so than some other songs this performance demonstrates how his voice is incredibly thin outside the big power note realm. Again, once he hits puberty this might no longer be a problem. What? He is already 17? Oh, umm, never mind. They show David’s family and friends and his dad is still wearing a hat, but this time there is a woman with a hat on too. Every one in that family wears hats!

Syesha – Hello Again

She says tonight is their chance for a mini concert. Neil thinks she did a good job on both her slow and fast song and then asks her if he can give her a hug. She says of course. I wonder if there was an awkward Chris Hansen inspired moment where Neil asked David for a hug. She starts off sitting on the edge of the stage. She is singing in her subtle full lower voice. I think I prefer this over her belt it out almost screaming voice. She probably has the most pure vocal talent of any remaining Idol. She stands up on the key change. I am not sure if this is how the original sounds, but I could hear this in the soundtrack of an animated Disney movie sung by the precocious baby bear or something. This is one of her most restrained performances all season and it also might be one of her bests. Ryan joins her on stage and then calls out all the other Idols to get a mid show review from the judges.

Judges Midway Comments

Randy says Jason was just ok, but better than last week, David Cook was very good in the zone doing his thing, Brooke was too karyoke for him, David A. was the bomb, and Syesha wasn’t amazing but strong.

Paula says she loved Jason on the first song because of his lower voice, but on the second song she didn’t like it because she felt like he wasn’t fighting hard enough to make the top 4. Huh? There has only been one song from Jason tonight. What? I don’t understand. You can see the people sitting behind Paula suddenly start looking at each other talking when she says second song. They are all asking each other ‘did we miss the second song.’ An ashen Ryan looks over to I assume Nygel as if to ask what the heck should I do now. The Idols look confused. Kids, this is your brain on drugs. Forget the commercial with the frying egg, use this clip of Idol next time you want to stop a kid from dropping acid. Randy and Simon both look dumbfounded, but Randy manages to tell Paula they are only commenting on the first song right now. Paula says ‘oh my god I thought you sang twice’ when she realizes she is predicting the future. The really funny thing is she was going into David Cook and the others and would have probably made comments on everyone’s second song. Simon moves things along by asking Paula who was her favorite. She says David Cook.

Simon says Jason was forgettable, David Cook only above average, Brooke a nightmare, David A. amateurish, and Syesha too old fashioned. He says they are all top 5 and he wants to see a performance of a lifetime on their second song. Jason has a ‘why am I even trying’ look on his face when they go to commercial. I don’t blame him. If the judges already know what they are going to say why should he even try. Of course he should try, but I’m guessing that’s how he feels right now. As for Randy’s David’s the bomb comment. Sigh. It’s become painfully obvious the Idol folks want to tap into the Disney market held by the Miley Cyrus types and David A. is their chance. Sure Jordin is really young, but she looks and sounds like a 25 year old so there aren’t the screaming teenagers waiting to buy her albums and attend her concerts. If they can help young David win they have a massive money maker for the next couple years. I bet they figure David Cook can be like Chris Daughtry and achieve massive success even without an Idol victory.

Second Songs

Jason – September Morn

Ryan gives us our first plug for the upcoming Idol tour. Jason is still sitting down this time but he has given up the guitar. A cross is clearly visible around his neck. That should be good for a few votes. He is singing in his middle voice. He sounds ok but when he enters the middle of the song and has to go a little lower I think he loses the right pitch for a few notes. Unlike his first song, this is pretty lifeless. Not even his standing up near the end of the song can give this thing any energy. The is just a so what performance. He looks like it is almost painful to sing this song; it isn’t quite as bad as he is making it look with that facial expression. I wonder if the judge’s earlier comments are ringing in his head right now. Randy says he doesn’t know what is happening tonight to Jason. He says this is about finding the best vocals and that was only ok for him - not the best. Paula says Jason was too safe on both songs. Jason says he started choking right before the song and that threw him off. Simon says this is not the Jason the judges love. He thinks he was forgettable and will regret tonight. The show is so packed Ryan cannot talk with Jason without making him move away from center stage so David Cook can stand there instead. In fact you can see David Cook and his guitar walking out as Ryan is dragging Jason to the side.

David Cook – All I Really Need is You

David has an acoustic guitar. His voice is made for pop/rock. You can hear version of him all over the radio right now. The song starts quite and thoughtful. David is very subtle until the drums come in and the song gets larger. He sounds great. I swear David is 10 times better than when the show began. As if his confidence is propelling him along. He hits a few big notes that lead into a nice falsetto note. This is by far the best of the night. No one is even close. Again, like his first song, I could hear this on the radio right now. Randy says he is a huge David Cook fan because again he rocks the house tonight. He calls it blazing blazing blazing. Paula is proud that he picked some obscure songs – she feels like she is already looking at the American Idol. Simon says he will be honest with David; the first song was ok but the second song was brilliant. He continues over the music…that David actually made this song feel like it was written this year by changing the arrangement and making it work for him.

Brooke – I am I said

Ryan is sitting down with Brooke and asks her about Simon’s comments regarding her first song. She says although it wasn’t his dream come true it wasn’t a nightmare. She has some of her lyrics written on her palm, which should be interesting if she needs to consult them considering she is playing the piano. She is playing the piano better than she did on her first attempt, but she is just not a great piano player – that will not change during her Idol run. She wisely takes Neil’s advice and changes New York to Arizona. Her voice always has a certain warmth to it, and this song is no different, but on the chorus when the song requires a number of pitch changes in quick succession she falls apart a little. This is much improved from the ‘nightmare,’ but she is still not really nailing the song. There is someone standing behind Simon with a sign reading “Simon for governor of Cowell –fornia.” Randy likes her being the piano being vulnerable and showing all her flaws. He says that might be the toughest song tonight but she did a nice job. Paula thinks Brooke had fun and showed her vulnerability by showing who she is, which works. Simon really really hated the first one because it was like a girls night out, but this is the Brooke they like behind the piano. He says it wasn’t incredible, but a million times better than the first song.

David A. – America

He has the exact same facial expressions as the first song, he is doing the same thing with his right hand, and he sounds exactly the same. If we played this version of the song all over the world, especially in Mexico, I bet less people would want to come to America. He manages to turn any song into the exact same adult contemporary pop song. I don’t know how he does it, but he made a Neil Diamond song his own by making it even safer. He might hit a bad note in the first part of the song, but like all his other songs he is hitting the right notes. If he was older than 17, would the judges be so kind to him, would they constantly pimp him, would they do everything they could to help him? I’m guessing not a chance. Randy says all he can say is for a young man he is in the zone right now with another good performance. Paula says this is the perfect song and his voice is on point. She loves him. Simon, laughingly says that was a smart choice of songs. He thinks David ticked all the boxes making his fans very happy. David looks a little scared standing next to Ryan. Since he maybe missed a note there is no doubt a massive beating forthcoming from his loving father.

Syesha – Thank the Lord for the Night Time

Ryan is in the audience again selling itunes, but this time he has the help of a very young girl. It seems like a lot of the time he ends up next to a senior citizen sitting in the audience. Ricky Minor is grooving to the song. Syesha is too. She has all three back up singers on stage to her side. She is having a lot of fun singing this song. She is showing off the personality she discovered last week. Her voice is close to being a little shrill at the start but then she settles into her smoother middle voice. She is clapping to the song. Is this the first Idol clapping of the season? She is moving around far more than anyone else tonight. With the new addition of instruments this season the Idols move around less than previous seasons. Syesha’s voice gets very big near the end of the song, but she holds back a little and keeps it sounds really nice. This, other than David Cook’s second performance, is the best of the night, but the judges hate her so we’ll see what they say. Randy says this is also in the zone and he likes her in this. Paula says the first song was vulnerable and her magic, but on the second song she showed a whole different side that is great also. Simon says this is officially the strangest show they have ever done. He says she demonstrated she is a very good singer/actress, but he thinks she might be in trouble tonight. She asks him why. He says because there are only 5 left so it’s his calculated guess. Her second song was not memorable enough for his liking. Syeshsa says she is still smiling.

Final Thoughts

Jason still sounds pretty good on the first song and disinterested on the second. David still sounds great on BOTH songs. Brooke is still not a believer nor is she I even though she said it to no one there. David A. is still coming to a high school talent show near you and is the best thing to happen to illegal immigration since the great depression. Syesha is still far more talented than the judges will ever admit and still sounds great on both songs. Ryan asks us which one of these contestants will be the next American Idol and then totally randomly happens to stand in front of David A. while he says we need to vote for our favorites. So who is going home? Jason, based on tonight, should go home. If not him then Brooke. However, this is Idol where fan base is more important than pitch, so I fear Syesha will be heading home after a thousand trips into the bottom three. I think Idol is wary of David Cook’s sudden popularity and might try the unthinkable and shake things up; if they let little David A. slip into the bottom three and act as if he is going home then his fans will redouble their efforts and almost ensure he wins. Remember, near the end of season 2, frontrunner and eventual winner Reuben slipped into the bottom three one week. So don’t be surprised if Sweet Caroline himself makes a quick non-lethal trip into the land of Kristy Lee Cook.

The Music of Tuesday Night

Idol is all about throwing conventional wisdom out the door the last couple weeks. There are two constant themes during Idol’s first 6 seasons. First, never ever sing a Mariah Carey song because doing so implies you believe you are a better singer than her and the judges will eviscerate you. Second, being too ‘Broadway’ will always earn you an insult from Simon. For Clay’s first four weeks or so, Simon constantly pointed out that his facial expressions were too Broadway for a pop star. Well, last week they did nothing but songs from Mariah Carey and now this week they are doing the songs of Andy Llyod Weber, the dean of the great white way. Thankfully, they did not do this theme earlier in the season. I think they realize that not everyone in the top 12 could handle a Broadway song. Perhaps, Idol finally embraced the whole Broadway thing, considering everyone that has ever been on Idol ends up in a musical. Dianna, Fantasia, Ruben, Frenchie, Tamyra, and Clay have all been in a musical. I think this night could be really good for some and really bad for others. As always, it’s all about song choice. The Idols without big voices (this means you Jason) need to select their songs very carefully.

Ryan starts off up in the rafters and says tonight’s theme is the toughest test yet. Even though he started off 40 feet in the air he still managed to get downstairs behind the stage door. I really think they film the opening sequence ahead of time, because Ryan should really be out of breath sometimes with how much ground he has to cover. David Duchovny and Rosalind Sanchez are both in the audience tonight. I am always impressed when non Fox stars show up to the show – it means they really like Idol and are not there just to plug something (it’s possible each have a deal with Fox for a movie or something unbeknownst to me). Ryan says it’s Earth, Wind, and Fire day…oh wait, he just said Earth day. Idol is going green power for the finale, so look forward to dim lights and no fireworks or flames burning on the screen behind the Idols while they sing. The band is sitting on the stage and Rickey is in formal wear. Ryan shows off his conducting skills for a moment before Rickey wrests the baton from his grasps. The top 6 Idols are so small in number they can walk out right when the stage opens. Gone are the days of waiting around forever for it to open wide enough to allow passage. The contestants flew out to the Las Vegas home of Phantom to meet Andy. He says he wants to help make the songs work for all the Idols. Andy is in the audience wearing a shirt that looks like he picked it up at Walmart. Randy says him and Simon think tonight will be the toughest night of the season. Simon says the challenge for the Idols is to make the songs sound memorable but contemporary.

Syesha - One Rock and Roll to Many

Unluckily she gets the death spot after being in the bottom three last week. Andy says she had an interesting song choice. By that I think he means ‘wow I didn’t think anyone would pick a song from Starlight Express tonight. Syesha is excited because she can finally show some personality and be theatrical. Andy tells her to just have a laugh with it and do an animated version. Andy thinks she could well bring the house down by being witty and a different incredient than the rest of the program. She starts off standing on top of the piano. She rather effortlessly manages to get on her knees and slide off the piano even while wearing a tight fitting dress. That’s some pretty impressive movement, but can she do it on roller blades. She might start the song a half beat too early, but if she did she quickly fell into the rhythm. This is an excellent song choice. She isn’t trying to belt out the massive power notes, instead she is singing and having a good time. She might sound a little shrill on one of her few big earlier notes. She might miss a few pitches during the song, but she is subtle and playful instead of overbearing. A welcome change for Syesha. She goes big at the end and I think misses the note just a little. However, she had a lot of fun with this and is more likeable this week than ever before. She manages the first ever ‘dancing with Ricky’ moment in Idol history. Thankfully the band can still follow the beat while he is dancing with Syesha. On a technical basis, she was probably better last week than tonight, but no where near as enjoyable. If she could ever combine her vocals with her performance she could survive a few weeks longer than I would have thought possible. Only two of the three Syesha family and friends are standing. Dude, stand up for your girl. Randy says he feels tonight is not only her element he thinks she could be a huge Broadway star. He thinks it was her best performance yet. Paula says this is her happy place and she is really good at it; she says she brought the house down. Simon says it was very sexy and agrees with Randy. He thinks was one of the strongest so far and showed personality we haven’t seen before. Simon says she is definitely more comfortable in this area. She has two numbers tonight. She was good enough she might actually need two numbers to handle all her votes.

Jason Castro – Memory

I’m not saying this might be a bad song choice….but this might be a really bad song choice. Jason gets a Ryan sit down and is wearing a suit looking thing for the first time. Jason says he recognized all the songs but he has never seen a musical and was a little concerned. He didn’t have the words memorized yet when he worked with Andy. Andy says he never thought he would hear this sung by a guy with dreadlocks. He tries to explain the origins of the song but Jason didn’t even know a cat sang the song. Oh boy this is not looking good. Andy says he thinks Jason ‘gets it.’ Jason says he is a little worried because this is such a popular song. Andy whimsically suggests Jason might ignore everything he said and do it better because he is him. Well I think it’s safe to say Jason will not be in the touring production of Cats anytime soon. Jason is sitting in a chair when the song starts. His voice sounds decent on the upper register beginning but as soon as the song hits the lower notes his voice disappears a little. The song gets HUGE in a little, and I wonder how he will handle that moment. Jason doesn’t do HUGE. He doesn’t do huge, he doesn’t even do huge so the big moment of the song is more a dud than anything. Other than the low notes he is hitting all the right notes, but this is just not the song Memory. Instead of the power ballad bring the house down song it was meant to be, Jason is singing it as a soft contemplative almost plaintive plea for mercy. For me it doesn’t work, but I can imagine a lot of the youth vote unfamiliar with the original song really enjoying his even softer side. The judges could either credit Jason with knowing his limitations and what works for him or criticizing him for having absolutely NO range. Jason looks nervous waiting for the judges’ comments. Randy thought vocally it was a train wreck but did like the dreads; he thinks the song was too big with too much melody. Paula says this is normally a female power ballad, but still considers this song a wise choice. Huh? She says it showed how unique he is as an artist. She compares his version with the Joe Cocker classic “You are so Beautiful.” Randy says Jason is a beautiful guy. Simon says it felt to him like the longest two minutes of his life. He says it came across as a young guy being forced by his mom and dad to sing a song he doesn’t want to sing at a wedding. Jason laughs, but doesn’t argue with Simon’s explanation. Ryan asks Simon how do you vote this week based on the theme and Simon says, “for that you don’t.”

Brooke White - You Must Love Me

It’s like Idol decided to put the small voiced people back to back tonight. Ryan is in the crowd selling intunes with his arm around a grey haired woman named Betty. Andy says he doesn’t think Brooke has a clue what she was singing about. Andy explains the meaning to Brooke and she looks like she might be crying a little. Andy wonders if she will be able to keep up the emotion; if she does he thinks she can do something that hasn’t been seen before. Oh my goodness. Whoah. Haven’t seen this before, at least not since the last time she screwed up the start of a song. Brooke gets the first few words out then blanks and says she is sorry and looks to the band to start over from the top. Wow. Jason is backstage high fiving people. Kristy Lee Cook and Michael Johns are watching thinking why couldn’t you screw up this bad the last few weeks. How is she going to be able to emotionally connect on this song now that she is restarting it? This is the first super cringe worthy moment in Idol history I think. Is this like track and field. Is she disqualified after the second false start. Ricky quickly starts again. She is struggling to hit all the notes. She song is too big for her within the first few moments. She is trying her best to connect emotionally, but I don’t think I am buying what she is selling. Why did you pick this song Brooke? Because you heard Madonna sing it a few years ago? She would have been far wiser to select an upbeat non ballad song to hide her vocal deficiencies. Even the arm waving crowd looks like they are bored. She doesn’t hit any particularly bad notes, but she doesn’t hit any really good ones either. This is an ok performance you might see at your local small town talent show. Unfortunately for Brooke and Jason their voices belong on Broadway about as much as Randy Jackson belongs in a speedo. Brooke just can’t pull off this song. Let’s see if the judges give her effusive praise that she recovered from her suckitude or if they lambaste her for messing up so badly. Brooke can’t even look at the judges at first. Randy says for him this wasn’t great. He liked some parts, but he is glad she listened to Andy and believed what she was singing. But for him, vocally, it was pretty tough. Paula can barely start talking. She says you can never start and stop. Paula says she is great enough to pick up the pieces and likes that Brooke didn’t overact. She says any of the missed notes added to the emotion of the song. Right Paula, so to emote when I sing I should miss as many notes as possible? Great advice. Simon is going to crucify this girl, or will he feel so bad for her he goes all nice and fluffy. Simon says this is why he loves live TV. It was so dramatic when she froze. He thinks she was so upset with the mess up and screwed up the rest of the song and made her voice sound strained. He thinks she will be really disappointed when she watches it back. Ryan asks her what happened and Brooke says she was so sad about missing her sister’s wedding she couldn’t concentrate. Ok actually she says she lost the lyric for the first time on the show. Simon says he would have done what she did if he forgot the words. He says it was a very brave thing to do. She looks like she is about to have a nervous breakdown. Paula suggest Brooke could have sang anything there and Randy and Simon point out the lunacy of making up your own words. Paula is in rare form tonight.

David Archuletta - Think of Me

David gets the second sit down tonight. I am not really keeping track but I think he has more of these than anyone so far. He is back to wearing a jacket. A bunch of girls walk up on stage and give him a huge hug. Groupies are fantastic. Andy says he can’t wait to hear David sing a song written for a girl. He cannot imagine how a boy could sing this song. Well Andy, it’s because David is more girl than boy. Andy tells her to open his eyes and to open his eyes. David says he tends to close his eyes and get lost when he sings and knows he has to work on that problem. Andy says he must keep them open! David changed the song around surprising Andy, but he didn’t say ‘no you killed my song’ so this should be interesting. The changes are evident within the first two notes where a guitar is playing the melody. He Davidized the song. He is turning a powerful song into a boy band anthem. I loathe his alterations. Words cannot capture how his changes are anathema to everything in Phantom. His vocals are the normal David vocals. Great on the higher soaring notes and nonexistent on the low notes. Will the judges ever point out David has NO lower range. I know the judges will eat this up like cake at a party but his changes were horrible and notwithstanding the cheering giddy musically naïve and stupid teenage girls’ praise, this just wasn’t that spectacular. I think the Idol producers were wise when they put their golden boy after Jason and Brooke, knowing anyone who could sing a song all the way through hitting the right notes would look pretty good. I am so over David. Wait, I was never into him. They show Andy who looks like he is about to start crying. Is it possible he also can’t stand the David’s changes. Randy says what is really cool you can sing anything. He likes that he put his personality into the song and says David is the one to beat. Paula thinks it was perfect because he took a risk on a known theatrical song and turned it into a pop ballad. Simon says it was pleasant but one of his weakest performances because no one will remember it, but it will get him through to next week. Thank you Simon. I’ve decided I hate David a little more every time the girls scream for him.

Carly - Jesus Christ Superstar

Ryan is standing behind the judges selling itunes when he introduces Carly. She started out singing All I Ask of you and Andy cuts her off and says she picked the wrong song. He says she needs a song to show off her big voice. Andy says you have to pick a song that suits your voice so you can live in the song. He says a girl with that much art work on her arm has to do Jesus Chris Superstar. He thinks the smiling Irish eyes have it. She is clearly having fun singing this song wearing a dress that could have fit in nicely in the late 60s/early 70s. Ricky is rocking out too. She sounds great showing off her big voice. She is intentionally singing the chorus out of sync with the back up singers, which is harder but gives the song even more edge. It’s hard for any bad notes to really stick out on a song like this, so as far as I can tell she has none. This is her best performances all season and if the judges says David A.’s was better I think I might have to start drinking. Andy gave her some really good advice. Randy says the bigger voices are doing better tonight because the songs are hard and even though he isn’t sure this is her best ever he thinks it was good. Paula loves that it was unexpected but she loves what she did in the chorus. Simon thinks it was a little shouty in the middle, but was one of his favorite performances of the night. Carly runs over and gets a “Simon love me (this week)” shirt and holds it up. Even Simon can’t help but laugh.

David Cook - Music of the Night

Ryan might be standing behind David’s parents. David, rather surprisingly, says he grew up doing musical theater – didn’t see that coming. Andy is the dude he says. Andy says this song is the most sensual song he has ever written and you must pretend you are singing the song to the most gorgeous girl in the world. David had to stare longingly into Andy’s eyes. Andy says David might be able to pull if off if he really allows himself to speak. Wow David is doing the song straight – I expected him to rock it up or something. But, unlike the little David he has the courage to sing the song the way it was composed. David sounds pretty decent even though he doesn’t quite have the vocal seniority to pull off the lowest notes. He sounds better further into the song when hits his low notes. So he can hit them, just not when they are really soft. He does a pretty good job with the first big note of the song. He is putting a little of his own spin on the song changing up the melody ever so slightly. He created his own ending adding a little raw power. I am pleasantly surprised by David tonight. He doesn’t have the voice to sing the song straight so he put a few minor changes into it that allow him the chance to sing it without totally changing the song. I give him a ton of credit for picking the most well known song and trying to sing it like you might see on Broadway. He sounds pretty good, but not on par with something you would see in even a touring company of Phantom. If nothing else, David has more guts than anyone on this show. He is showing his range tonight. Combine this song with his rocking Bille Jean and we have EASILY the most well rounded Idol this season. I hope the judges are fair. Randy says if you can really sing you can sing anything and he thinks David can sing. He says it was amazing, unbelievable another hot molten hot lava bomb tonight. Paula says David is well rounded with a beautiful instrument – he was fantastic. Simon says he made the most of the song tonight even though this isn’t the side of David he prefers. Ryan sings, “if you want to vote for David.” Sadly he sang it better than Brooke could tonight.

Final Thoughts

Syesha is still having a ton of fun. Jason still can’t sing like a cat. Brooke is still not singing the song well. Would it have been wrong for them to show the part where she screwed up here instead? David is still destroying one of my favorite Andy songs. Carly is still rocking the house down. David Cook is still braver than the other David and gets a ton of credit from me tonight. Andy is on stage with Ryan and the kids. Andy says he loved working with everyone. All the judges are wearing Phantom masks, even Simon. So tonight was interesting. There were two pretty bad performances by Brooke and Jason and a few really good ones by pretty much everyone else. Personally I didn’t like David A.’s version, but I am biased because I’m so familiar with the original. Someone that hasn’t’ heard that song 100 times will probably really enjoy David’s version. Best of the night goes to Carly who sang a song so well I never once wondered why there wasn’t a black guy singing it. The two David’s will be safe along with Carly (I hope). meaning Jason, Brooke and Syesha will end up in the bottom three. Brooke might get a sympathy vote tonight because let’s face it, she was horrible, meaning Jason could unfortunately be leaving us in a surprise dismissal.

What Next, Celine Dion Week?

American Idol loves themes like Rob Lowe loves nannies, and this season has been no exception. We have already had two Beatles weeks, perhaps one too many, an inspirational week, a year you were born week, and Dolly Parton week. Now, in maybe the worst Idol idea ever, we have Mariah Carey week. Not that I don’t enjoy Mariah, but the overriding message delivered by the judges over the last 7 years was simple – never ever ever ever sing a Mariah Carey song. So ummm, who thought up having her songs as a theme? I know Randy Jackson and Carey are tight and I’m sure she wanted an appearance on Idol to assist with her new record. Idol is so effective at selling songs via itunes, even big time artist ask to be on the show. I heard rumors the producers almost made the theme top 100 songs instead of restricting the song universe to just Mariah’s catalog, but probably relented when Mariah told them she wouldn’t be on the show unless they used her songs. Syeshsa and David A. should excel tonight, but what about the others? Can Kristy sing a Mariah song country? Can David Cook turn a Mariah song into a rocking hit? Can Jason Castro – oh my god what the heck is Jason going to do with a Mariah song? The performance might not be the best tonight, but tackling Mariah’s songs should be interesting. Also, who will get the coveted pimp spot and the dreaded spot of death. I’m guessing they put Jason first and David A. last.

We are down to 7 and it’s up to us. I think I just saw Teri Hatcher in the audience with her daughter. I still have no idea why they thought her singing would be a good idea during Idol Gives Back. Ryan starts off discussing the elimination of Michael Johns. Every year there is always a surprising departure. Conspiracy theorists might suggest Idol ensures a favorite goes home early to scare the crap out of the show’s fans and guarantee increased voting in the following weeks. I wonder if Idol can get more money from advertisers based on the number of votes each week. The Idols come out from back stage. It seems a little silly to show them before the show begins, and then make them run backstage so they can come through the moving stage door. During Mariah’s introduction video they of course mention her involvment with Randy Jackson, and then use his use of the word dawg into brilliant transition to her meeting the Idols with her own dog. She calls American Idol a music bootcamp and feels weird about judging people in general. The Idols do not seem that impressed upon meeting Mariah, or at least less impressed than they were with Dolly. Ryan asks Randy about the whole not singing Mariah songs rule, but Randy says they should just sing the songs as themselves. He wants to see who the Idols really are through their singing. Randy threatens us with the possibility of a song tonight. Up first is David A. Wow, I didn’t think they would put the wonder boy up first.

Donnie Osmond’s Love Child (Mini Jesus)– “When You Believe”

David was really scared to meet Mariah because he listens to her music a lot. Mariah thought his performance with her was very moving. Mariah suggested he use a little falsetto during the song and tells her not to fear the performance. Mariah is proud of the person David is and loves his beautiful singing. At least David isn’t wearing a jacket again this time, but is he really wearing leather pants? I guess after cornering the teen vote he is after the biker vote tonight. The song starts off sounding like almost every other David song. I think I’ll call him Ballad Boy. The crowd screams for no apparent reason when he hits a few sustained notes. David gets the most unwarranted cheers this season. His voice cracks going into a note, but he recovers pretty nicely. Honestly, he looks silly trying to sing with passion. His falsetto is incredibly thin but he pulls it off. Shortly after he hits the falsetto notes he attempts his first really low note of the season and again does a passable job. This is text book ‘ok’ ‘doing your thang’, but nothing special. In fact, at times this song feels all over the place. Hopefully the judges respect our intelligence and refrain from calling this performance the best vocals ever in the history of everything every where for all time. Randy says he was a little worried about tonight with Boys singing Girls songs, but David can sing anything – he calls it the bomb baby. Excuse me while I laugh at the boys singing girls comment. I mean are we sure this kid has reached puberty yet? For all intents and purposes I think he might still technically be a girl. Paula says it must feel great for Mariah to hear his interpretation of the song and suggest she must be beaming after hearing David. Really? Mariah has been waiting all her life to her a little Mormon kid sing her songs? Simon says he knew David A. would sing this song and says the song was good. He thinks the guys will have an easier time tonight because there are no comparisons with Mariah and based on his producing the song in England says David sang it very well. Ryan asks David if he ate tonight (he is so nervous when he sings he doesn’t eat) and David assumes him he did eat something. Stupid joke that I don’t agree with but have to say – yeah he eats the other contestants for breakfast.

The Only Non American Left (Carly)– “Without You”

Carly gets a Ryan interview and he asks her about her emotions when Michael left. She says it was really sad and the whole week has been boring without him around. Things are not the same without Michael cracking jokes. Mariah gives Carly a big hug and says she loves watching her do her thing. Carly says she tried to forget Mariah was watching her sing. Mariah says Carly made wise decisions fitting the song with her voice. Translation – she can’t sing all the notes I can but she figured out a way to fake it pretty well. Carly is standing next to the piano on stage. I’m almost surprised she isn’t on a stool. This is one of those songs that has a built in ‘stand up’ moment. She is using her thick full yet subtle voice, and sounds good. But when the song gets big will she start to scream? She continues her nice tone on the song’s bigger parts. She is doing a good job but I cannot help thinking how her vocals pale in comparison to Mariah. If I had never heard the original I would think this was a really good vocal. She finishes the song with a nice ascending note progression. When she is done they show a random flash of Rickey Minor for some reason. Before Randy talks we can hear Simon asking Paula if she wants his advice and then he proceeds to tell her something she should say to Carly. Undeterred, Randy says he likes that Carly challenged herself, but he doesn’t think she trusted herself in the beginning of the song, but calls her pretty good. Paula thinks she showed some vocal restraint and then swelled and soared and made the song her own. Simon really wanted to hear her sing this song, even before this week, and based on a direct comparison he doesn’t think she pulled the song off tonight. He says he thinks she has the capability, but tonight she held herself back. Ryan asks her if she was able to pretend she was back at the bar singing in front of a few people instead of thirty million and she thinks she was successful. I’m sorry judges, but there is no way that David A. sang his song better than Carly; hopefully America will agree with me and not the judges.

The person who should have gone home last week instead of MJ (Syesha)– “Vanishing”

Ryan is in the most pit selling itunes when we return. Mariah liked Syesha’s song choice; a song Mariah wrote when she was a teenager. Unlike some of the other Idols, it looks like Mariah actually sang the song the way it should be sung for Syesha. She is standing in literally the same spot on stage as Carly but she gets three back up singers on stage to her right. This song’s melody is very similar to “I’ll be there for you” by the Jackson 5. She sounds really good on the first part of the song showing a lot of control hitting notes in her higher octave. I think she goes a little flat on a note halfway through the song. She hits a bunch of power notes near the end of the song yet gets half as much applause as David A. does just by singing the simplest notes. I have a feeling the original version this song might have had a few more ‘big’ notes, but I like this arrangement for Syesha. I can’t believe I’m saying this, since I wanted her gone last week, but this might be the best performance all night. Randy says the last couple weeks Syesha picked the hardest songs but tonight she did a good job all things considered, despite a few pitchy moments. What a minute, I thought he called David A.’s song the hardest. Paula says singing these songs are difficult and she was smart for picking a less well-known Mariah song so people cannot compare her vocals. She calls Syesha magical. Simon says technically it was very very good indeed, but he is not sure he would have picked such an unknown song. Simon says he is in the middle with the theme tonight and thinks so far David A. has stolen the show. I have David A. as the third best performer tonight through the first three.

Brooke – “Hero”

She gets the next interview, which gives Ryan the chance to ask her about her sister’s wedding. Brooke says she cried about missing the event and ruins Ryan story about her family using a cardboard cutout of Brooke at the wedding – they weren’t able to get one in time. Mariah wrote this song for Gloria Estefan originally. Mariah seems again to be actually giving advice to an Idol. Who does she think she is Barry Manilow? Mariah hopes people will not compare Brooke to Mariah’s version. Translation – this girl doesn’t have a very big voice and can’t really sing this song like me so don’t kill her for simplifying things. Uh oh Brooke is at the piano. She sounds like she is going to actually play a lot of notes but then falls into her normal simple piano playing. Since Brooke cannot sing ‘big,’ she has the right idea turning the song into a piano ballad. This song is clearly too big for her voice but she is emoting with every ounce of her 100 pounds. She is at least playing the piano better than last time, actually playing pretty well halfway through the song. I think she loses the tempo of the song a little near the end, rushing to the conclusion like someone was screaming ‘wrap it up.’ I don’t think the speeding up is intentional. Her husky voice sounds pretty good on this and she is not even trying to do Mariah, which should help her as compared to Syesha and Carly who both displayed this big voices. I’m a little ambivalent about this performance, but I’m pretty sure I like it, even though he voice feels sooo small tonight. It’s like Mariah is an aircraft carrier and Brooke is a little tug boat. Brooke puts her shoes back on when she is done at the piano. Randy likes that they brought a singer songwriter vibe to the song but was down on things at the bridge because vocally this is tough for her. She agree that this song is hard. Paula says every ounce of Brooke is authentic and she thinks the song’s unplugged nature was really brave and sounded really good, but says she shouldn’t let her struggles speed her up. Simon chimes in he’d like to speed Paula up after hearing her comment. Simon says he doesn’t think Brooke had much choice but to do what she did, but it was a bit like ordering a hamburger and only getting the bun. In other words, the vital ingredient, the important part, was missing. He doesn’t think he voice is big enough to carry this song. Ryan plays up the food metaphors and says if we want to order take out call Brooke’s number.

The Female Bucky (Kristy Lee) – “Forever”

Mariah really enjoyed Kristy doing this song because a lot of people haven’t heard it before. Mariah says she got goose bumps when Kristy was singing. Mariah didn’t seem to give her any advice like she did some others. I wonder if that is a good sign or bad sing. Kristy starts off so low you can hardly hear her enunciations. Her voice sounds better when the song goes a little higher. The second time around she handles the low notes a little better. She hits a lot of big notes near the end and actually sounds pretty good doing it. Other than a few maybe flat notes on the lower parts, she is sounding really good, even adding a little country twang. This is at least as good as several other performers tonight, but will the judges give her any credit? Randy says he has to tell her that even though it wasn’t amazing because of a couple pitchy notes at the beginning but she really stepped it up at the end. Paula thinks she is really smart and is blown away by Kristy. She loves how the arrangement was done and thinks she could have a country hit with this song. Simon says she probably wasn’t jumping up and down when she heard this week’s theme. He says she didn’t give him chills because it was a little whinny at times, but he thinks she was quite smart. It just wasn’t great he says. Kristy looks sad. I think she mistakenly believed the judges might actually like her singing.

David Cook – “Always be my Baby”

Ryan borrows some guys hat while sitting next to Ramiele and selling itunes. Wait a minute, that’s Ramiele! Couldn’t they have given her better seats? Mariah was surprised David picked this song since she didn’t know what he was going to do with it. Mariah was proud as a songwriter that he was able to change it around to fit a male perspective. Mariah thinks this could be a hit for him. David is guitar less behind a mic stand. He is singing in his lower register, but not the crazy low one he tried last week. This is a realllllly different version of the original. I like it and wonder if he came up with this himself. As the song picks up David enters rock god mode. But unlike earlier in the season when it annoyed me, I know respect him so I enjoy his preening for the camera. He sounds really good on the soaring notes and I’m amazed he turned this pop song into a full on rock song. Wow, David is all the way back and the best of the night BY A MILE. Randy says yo yo he thinks more than anyone on the show David is ready to make an album. Randy stands up for the first time this season calling David brilliant. Paula says this song could be in a movie soundtrack right now and calls him the whole package. Simon says it was like coming out of Karyoke hell into a breath of fresh air because that was original, daring, and stood out by a mile. He says this is the sign of a great potential artist – someone that takes risks. David is so happy I think he is crying, yup he is crying. His brother is very sick and they show him in the audience – this is why David is so emotional tonight.

Duuuuude (Jason Castro) – “I Don’t Wanna Cry”

Someone in the audience is holding up a ‘Simon for President’ sign that Simon notices and suggests they hold it up a little higher. Ryan runs over, grabs the sign, and rips it in half. The girl holding the sign has a classic ‘oh my god’ look on her face, which means she is either a really good actress, or this was not actually planned. Mariah thought Jason’s song choice was really different and interesting. With someone like Jason, Mariah thinks it’s all about connecting to people’s hearts. Translation – this kid doesn’t have the voice to sing my songs so he has to emotionally connect or fail miserably. She gave Jason some advice on the melody and is curious if he will use her ideas. Jason is on the serious stool with a percussionist and two guitarists joining him on stage. He starts the song in falsetto and settles into his normal singing voice. Wisely, he incorporates Mariah’s suggestion into the song. If he didn’t know you know the judges, especially Randy would rip him to shreds. He actually sounds really good doing a Mariah song. I think, like David he benefits from no comparisons to Mariah since the song is so different, but it takes a lot of guts to totally alter a song and make it your own. He does not hit any bad notes and gives much better performance than I would have guessed. He might be my second favorite of the night. Randy says for him he didn’t love it – he felt like he was in a weird beach luau. Paula would love to be at that luau listening all night long. She loves that Jason is getting so confident. Simon has to agree with Paula. He thought that wasn’t the best vocal but it was identified with him and a cool version. He says the guys completely won the night.

Final Thoughts

David still sounds doesn’t sound as good as they say I think he should sound. Carly is still not Mariah but better than they said. Syesha still sounds better than David and Carly. Brooke still sounds like the song is swallowing her alive. Kristy still sounds like a future country star. Hey if Bucky can do it…David Cook still sounds like the winner of American Idol Season 7. Jason still sounds like and indie star. Conspiracy theorists will no doubt notice Ryan is standing in front of David A. while finishing up the show. It’s almost like they are reminding people to vote early and often for the young one. Bottom 3. The two Davids are totally safe, along with Jason Castro. After last week, every Idol’s fan base will be voting non stop, so the person that goes home will be the person with the smallest fan base. I think that person is Syesha. At least Ramiele will be there to give her a big hug.

Fox is Inspired to Make Money!

Unfortunately Idol decided the whole give millions to the poor people of the world thing was a good idea so we get another installment of Idol Gives Back this week. It’s not that I’m against helping the impoverished, but Idol is not a Jerry Lewis telethon. Idol is all about escapism; forget the busy life around you and have a good time living vicariously through the judges for a couple hours. This model worked fine for half a decade and then suddenly they decided they wanted to ‘give back.’ Last year they raised over 70 million dollars, which is impressive, but how much money are they going to make on the commercials during Idol Gives Back? How much extra money are they getting from the extra Idol show on Thursday? I have no actual proof to back up my theory, but I’m fairly certain the Idol Gives Back show is nothing more than a surreptitious money making opportunity. But hey, if some African kids get to meet Carrie Underwood out of the show I guess it’s worthwhile right? Besides the whole self-indulgent nature of the show, I am also bothered by the fact NONE of the performances will be live. Ok maybe some will, but for the most part the show is filmed and waiting to be aired. Part of what makes something like Live 8 or the Grammys so amazing is the tremendous amount of talent gathered in one place at the same time. Idol Gives Back will probably try to fool people into thinking that’s what they pulled off for their charitable effort, but we know the truth. Anyway, back to tonight’s show. Inspirational music is the theme, which means the Idols can pretty much select any song they want as long as it inspires someone somewhere. However, with such a broad theme at least, probably two, Idols will overreach and sing a song that inspires few if any votes. I wonder if they will let Kristy do her favorite ‘song ever of all time in the known universe,’ Amazing Grace. I think she sang this song at every round until she reached the top 24. It’s an inspirational song right? And since they let Kimberly Locke sing ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ about 20 times during season 2 I think Kristy is due for another grace that is amazing.

All the Idols are on the stage as Ryan introduces the show. I wonder if he ever says “This is American Idol’ without the pause during rehearsals. There are so few Idols left they can walk out right away when the stage opens. During the top 12 they had to wait a good 10 seconds before they could walk out, lest one of them walk right into a moving door.

Michael Johns – Dream On

He considers dreaming on until your dreams come true a universal truth. He came to this country to follow his dream and he is finally living it on American Idol. Listen to Michael kids, if you dream it and are willing to work, you too can make it happen. This is a realllly big song near the end that seemingly only Steve Tyler can sing properly, so Michael may be too aggressive on his serve and volley. He sounds good on the first line but maybe runs into a little trouble transitioning into the next phrase. I am convinced the band loves him and David Cook the most; let’s face it playing rock music is a lot more fun than giving Brooke White and David A. backing music. Michael is not moving at all. I think a little movement around the stage would do him so good. He is building up momentum as the song nears the end. Will he attempt the screaming vocals? Yes he will, he sounds pretty good during the first part, but cannot quite complete the entire scream fest. The last part of the song is much better than I was expecting, even though he does run out of steam at the very end. If the judges compare him to Steve Tyler they will not like it, but if they judge him on his own merits he deserves a trip to the dawg pound. Randy says he really believes this week is important because the Idols are telling us who they really are. He likes the song choice, but takes issues with some of the pitch problems. He just doesn’t buy Michael as a rock star. Michael says he had to sing this song because his living in American is proof dreams come true. So, since he was dreaming to come to America and leave his native country, doesn’t that make him a traitor? Also, if he makes the top 3 and they visit his hometown, which one will they visit? The place he lives in America or will they travel all the way down under. Paula disagrees with Randy because this was a perfect song choice. She gets a little weird when she says her Chihuahuas are the only ones that could hear Michael’s high notes. Simon echoes Randy’s point about Michael not really being a rock star, but he does call it a good performance. Simon didn’t like Michael as much as he did last week and thinks there was a wannabbe quality to the performance. Michael says he sang the song because dreams are coming true every night on Idol. You mean like last week when they kicked Ramiele off? Was that a dream coming true Michael? Actually, it was a dream come true for 8 people, which means miracles do come true!

Syesha – Believe

She gets one of the coveted sit downs with Ryan. She says Ramiele was her former roommate and they still keep in touch. She is singing a Fantasia song because she loves its message – if you believe in yourself anything is possible. For her this week is all about giving back, and she gives back through music. Music huh? Last time I checked music doesn’t feed the homeless or educate those poor children in third world countries, but it does make a lot of money for itunes. This song is not exactly a ‘classic,’ so for her to successfully pull this off she will need to pour a ton of emotion into her voice. She definitely sounds good, but I’m missing an emotional connection. Consider, when Fantasia sang this song there were fireworks going off all around her and she was just crowned the winner of American Idol. Her intensity and fire made the song work. Syesha is just not able to add her own willpower to the song to force it into our hearts like Fantasia. For some reason they added a male back up singer this week. He is really singing loud on this arrangement, almost like this is a duet. Maybe we’ll get a separate number to vote for him as well. Although she has a pretty and strong voice, she just lacks the raw power this song requires. Syesha must believe in moving and singing at the same time because she moves less than a slug the entire time. She misses the pitch during one of the final runs, but makes up for it with a really spectacular high note. Randy gives her credit for taking on another tough artist, but he didn’t feel a connection with her like he did with Fantasia. Syesha asks for an explanation. She asks him if he believes she personally connected. Paula says not many people can take on songs like that (does she mean songs that just aren’t that good). She believes Syesha made the song all her own and hands down this is one of Syesha’s most shiny nights. Simon says of course they will compare her to Fantasia. He thinks she sang it well technically, but he wanted more emotion. He wants her to share with them who she really is in the upcoming weeks. Hey at least she resists the temptation to break into the baby cry while they are saying she isn’t as good as Fantasia. Ryan again reminds us that the numbers are not of the 1-800 variety. Just once I want the courage to call the 1-800 version, but since he keeps warning us not to call it I’m afraid I’ll have a 10 dollar charge appear on my phone bill. Next time I’m watching Idol at someone else’s house, I’m so calling the 800 number.

Jason Castro – Somewhere Over Hawaii

He is singing a non-traditional version of the song by a guy from Hawaii. But if he really wants to get votes I say he comes out wearing a dress and carrying a little dog in a basket. For Jason the song is all about hope and dreams coming true. This is perhaps his most coherent explanation of a song choice this season. Maybe he is finally getting comfortable during interviews. Will he play the ukulele himself? I’m guessing no way, and I am totally wrong. I am already impressed. I have no idea if it’s hard to play the ukulele compared to the guitar, but how cares, HE IS PLAYING THE UKULELE! He sounds amazing tonight. His voice is not the biggest, but it’s one of the purest. I’ve heard the original version by the Hawaiian guy and this is not just a copy. Jason is adding his own interpretation. He is hitting every note and pausing just enough to pull you into the song wondering where it will go next. Unlike a few previous times, his falsetto tonight is perfect. The audience is thankfully not swaying their hands, instead they are all transfixed on Jason lost in the moment. This is the best so far and barring a “Billie Jean” moment, it will be the best of the night. The crowd erupts when the song is over and gives Jason a standing ovation. Of course this is American Idol and you get a standing ovation just about every time you perform, but still, it’s pretty cool. None of the other males on the show can deliver such a subtle performance. Randy says Jason is back in the hunt and he was the hottest of the night, in fact he was blazing molten hot. Paula things he has the most definitive sound and picked the perfect song. He did a great job she says. Simon says the first time he heard the version he wasn’t sure, second time he loved it, and third time was FANTASTIC. Last night on Larry King Live all the judges said Jason would be gone soon and had no chance to win the whole thing – I think they might take that back now.

Kristy Lee Cook – Anyway

Ryan gives us our first itunes plug of the night and introduces Kristy as the girl determined to stay out of the bottom three. The song means a lot to her because of a verse that says pour out your soul and give everything you have and if people don’t like it just do it anyway because you are doing it because it is right, which tells her not to give up and give it her best shot no matter happens and things will work out. Translation – you cannot kill me American I’m going to keep singing songs you do not like because she is right! Surprisingly, despite several trips into the bottom three, Kristy is still not slutting it up. She gets a lot of respect from me for ‘keeping it real.’ The song starts off in her lower register and starts to build until she hits a pretty good big note. She is sounding really good. She is at her best on the big power notes. I think for the first time this season Kristy is really emoting during a song. She is probably thinking about all the times she has fallen into the torture that is the bottom three. Paula likes the song so much we can see her stand up in the middle and start dancing. Since Paula escapes the midget classification by only 3 inches, it’s hard to tell if she is standing up, but once she starts dancing too there can be no mistake. This is without a doubt the best Kristy performance this season. And she didn’t even have to sing Amazing Grace. Randy says despite some pitch problems he really liked it. Paula thinks Kristy delivered her best performance by far. Simon jokes as though he is going to be critical of her, but segues into a compliment saying she was very good indeed. He adds, that she looks like a star tonight. Paula almost ruins Kristy’s moment by saying she sang unbelievably well tonight and Simon corrects her saying it was really good but not unbelievable. Ryan quickly and wisely gets them off the subject before Simon reconsiders his suddenly positive disposition towards Kristy.

David Cook – Innocent

When they come back from the break there is a random person sitting in Simon’s lap. Ryan tells us he is the one that hired them all and Simon calls him the real dark lord of Fox. The message of the song is that everyone has a good side but you have to embrace it to be comfortable in your own skin. He really likes what the song is trying to convey – everyone has a good heart at the end of the day. He starts the song in his really low voice. I am not sure we’ve heard this from him yet. Unfortunately in the lower register David has a hard time enunciating. He sounds much better when the song shifts into the higher section, however he has issues there as well when he goes into his limited falsetto. The song picks up momentum when it reaches the chorus. The song is less than two minutes long, and he wastes half of it getting to the good stuff. He sounds good once he starts belting out notes. He stands in front of the judges and Paula cannot help herself, she just has to dance. On the final verse of the song he returns into his lower voice and this time sounds excellent. You can clearly hear every word, which means he must have messed up a little at the start. In the cleverest use of a pen in Idol history David wrote “Give Back” on his palm and holds it up in front of the camera when he finishes the song. Randy is a huge fan of David, but he isn’t sure this is one of his strongest weeks. He didn’t quite get it tonight. Paula disagrees saying David is the whole package. Simon did not like this performance very much at all. He thinks it was a big pompous; he is not a fan of white jackets. Simon says the primary criteria for judging performances are 1) originality, 2) choice of songs, 3) and something you are going to remember after two or three days. So Sanjaya had one out of three. Simon doesn’t say David was bad tonight, just nowhere near as good as the last couple weeks. Paula, who is usually incoherent, is the only judge that noticed the writing on David’s hand. Simon and Randy both call David’s gesture a nice thing to do.

Carly – Show Must Go On

For her the lyrics of the song are inspirational because life must go on and you must make every moment of your life count. She watched Freddie Mercury on Live Aid and never imagined herself singing in this type of environment. I bet at the time she also didn’t think she’d have a massive tattoo on her arm/shoulder and be married to a guy that looks like he is currently serving a ten year sentence for assault and battery. She sounds pretty good at the start of the song. But this is the easy part, how will she handle the big section? She looks like she is about to kill someone while she is singing. She goes completely off pitch in the middle. Throughout the entire song it feels like she doesn’t know where she wants to take us, perhaps it’s because of the errant pitches. This song feels disjointed and is a huge let down. Maybe she should have had a male back up singer like Syesha. Once the song got big it swalloed her up. Randy says it started good, got pitchy on the high notes, and ended up just ok for him; it was disconnected for him. Paula actually agrees with Randy a little. She compliments Carly’s voice but didn’t feel the connection with Carly. Simon starts off by complimenting Carly’s clothing selection. He thinks she picked an unusual song for the theme, and he is right. The ‘Show Must Go On’ is one of the most powerful Queen songs, but it’s story of dogged determination is more tragic than inspiring. It includes the lyrics, “Another heartache another failed romance. On and On. Does anybody know what we are living for? Outside the dawn is breaking. But inside in the dark I’m aching to be free.” Yeah that’s inspiring all right. Queen released this song just six weeks before Freddie died and it’s in large part about his struggle with AIDs and his will to carry on despite his failing health. Certainly his struggle is inspiring, but this is just not the right song choice for Idol Gives Back. If she was going to sing this song at least give us a little emotion instead of just screaming out big power notes. Back to tonight. Simon says she lost control of the song halfway through and was perplexed why she looked so angry while she was singing. Ryan asks her how she felt about her performance and Carly says fell apart a little because she looked at Simon while she was singing. I cannot imagine millions of people having the inspiration to vote for Carly after this performance.

David A. – Angels

David gets another sit down with Ryan. He asks him what this week has been like. David says it’s been a blast and he has had to practice at odd hours of the night and morning. He wasn’t sure which song to pick because there were so many, but he really connected with Angels and the message contained within – there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. He fails to mention he has been performing this song in public for at least two years, which would give him an obvious advantage over something singing a song they just heard a few days prior. You know I think David has some type of condition that prevents the proper regulation of heat in his body. I say this because every time they show him he seems to be wearing a jacket. Wow he is sitting behind the piano. I wonder how long until he gets up to belt out the power notes. He sounds good at the start of the song – his voice not his piano playing. Let’s face it you can get better piano playing from the weird guy in the mall that likes to play the keyboards they have on display inside the Yamaha store. He insists on placing runs that aren’t originally included in the song. Although he sounds good and is on pitch, his voice lacks a certain timbre. Maybe puberty could correct this; he should be there in another 5 or 6 years? If you are going to play the piano so poorly why even bother? Just let the guys upstairs play your music. I kind of like the blues run near the end of the song, but for me David is like a typical back up singer. Nice, in tune voice, but lacking that special something that makes a voice unique. I am not a big fan of the chosen one, but this is a pretty good rendition of a great song and I find myself liking more than any other week so far. Get ready the judges are about to genuflect. They show his abusive dad in the audience and he is finally wearing a dress hat, not one of them trucker ones he normally sports. Randy says he loves the little refrain at the end because that’s the David A. dude that loves and it was his hottest moment of the season. It was crazy crazy hot. Paula says ditto. Simon says best song choice of the night and wonders why this song never became a huge hit in America. However, he doesn’t say it was David’s best vocal because it was nasally, but he ensures David he will sail through to the next round. David is known for licking his lips a lot so one of his 12 year old fans is holding a sign in the audience that says “Lick those Lips.” I think it would be great if during a baseball game the fans signal out a player that has a penchant for adjusting his cup with a sign saying “Touch that crotch.”
Thankfully during the judges’ praising he doesn’t have the OMG OMG OMG look on his face. Instead, he looked a little scared half the time. I wonder if Idol is taking its toll on young David.

Brooke White – You’ve got a Friend

This seems like an odd choice to close the show as Brooke rarely gets everyone on their feet, but maybe she can deliver a really heart warming performance. Ryan is standing in the crowd surrounded by female security. An older lady is terrified being on camera and cannot even get out the word yes when Ryan asks her if they have plans this weekend. Ryan also gives us out second itunes advertisement of the night. The album Tapestry helped inspire Brooke to do music. UNLIKE DAVID, she mentions she sang this song before. She sang it with a few friends and she considers a feel good song that makes people feel happy. I love how during her introduction video, and almost every other Idol, they manage to show them listening to an ipod. Nobody does product placement like American Idol. If this is such a feel good song, why does Brooke look like she just found out there is no Easter Bunny? She sounds ok but shouldn’t look a little happier? She looks scared I think. Has David’s dad been abusing her too? As with every song she sings the upper notes always feel like they are at the very limit of her vocal range, but she manages to hit them every time. She wisely didn’t try playing the piano tonight; she is no Elton or Billy but she is at least better than David A. She is singing this song just ok; there is nothing that is amazing about it and her scared expression kills any chance for an emotional connection. I really have no idea why they put her in the pimp spot. She looks like she is crying when she finishes. Her dad, brother, and piano teacher are among her family and friends. Randy says it wasn’t her best performance; he wasn’t jumping up and down but he wasn’t mad at her either. So now we know ‘ok’ is somewhere between calisthenics and rage. Paula reminisces about her sister constantly playing this song. She says Brooke is very definitive and she loves her. Simon describes it as a pleasant walk in the park. It was nice if not original. Brooke continues her Sophie’s Choice moment demeanor and Ryan asks her if she is doing ok and she manages to get out a muted yes, even though she is shaking. Someone needs to get this girl some Prozac before she has a never breakdown.

Final Thoughts

Michael is still not Steven Tyler. Syesha still needs to have a child out of wedlock to sing this song. Jason is still amazing. Kristy is still better than the judges think. David is still using the creepy lower voice. Carly is still not going on with the show. David is still not as good as the judges think. Brooke is still terrified. Tonight was a pretty good night of performances, but three must end up at the bottom. We know it will not be Jason or David A. because they were both really good tonight. Brooke had a scare in the bottom three so she will have a lot of friends voting her into safety. David Cook and Michael were great last week and pretty good this week, so they should also be safe. That leaves Carly, Syesha, and Kristy in the bottom three. Kristy certain does not belong down there, but based on her track record I’d be foolish to think she will escape it’s grasp in two successive weeks. Based on just tonight, Carly should be going home, however, I have to believe her fan base is larger than Syesha. Further, a lot of people might not like the way she sang the song compared to Fantasia, which could cause a hemorrhaging of her vote total. Therefore, I’m predicting that Syesha did not inspire belief in the voting public and will be joining Ramiele as her roommate very soon.

Country music? More like country noise! At least it's only one week a season!

On the top 10 list of America Idol Themes, Dolly Parton night ranks right in front of mime night. I barely like country music, and the music I do like tends to be the new pop-like country, like Carrie Underwood and Faith Hill, not the old school stylings of Ms. Parton. Sure she is a legend, but so is John Adams, doesn’t mean I want to hear people sing either of their songs (assuming Mr. Adams ever expressed himself through song). Yet, I will go into the show tonight with an open mind hopeful someone surprises me with his or her ability to sing a country song. I am curious how many Idols sing a country version of their song and how many change the song to fit their genre. Yes David Cook I’m talking to you! I finally grew to like David C. last week, but if he rocks out a Dolly song hiding behind a guitar he will lose all his good will and become nothing more than the only guy named David on Idol that isn’t terrified of his father. Kristy, if anyone, has a built in advantage tonight, however, often times the person most likely to succeed does not give the best performance during a theme night. For example, two seasons ago during Stevie Wonder week, Elliot Yamin was the natural choice to ‘rock it dawg.’ Yet, Taylor living in the city Hicks stole the show. I worry Kristy will put too much pressure on herself and fall flat, opening the door for another Idol as the country champion. Who will that be? I don’t know, but I do know it will not be Ramiele. Time to find out.

Since it’s April Fool’s day Ryan plays one on America. He says that due industrial action form by the League of America Vocal Coaches tonight’s show has been preempted, replaced with a celebrity version of Moment of Truth staring their very own Simon Cowell. I really hope no one out there fell for this, if they did thought, I’m guessing there is a good chance they will be voting for Ramiele later tonight. Not too shabby Ryan. He got to have a little fun and also advertise the show Moment of Truth. No one can sell stuff like Ryan. He welcomes us to our Tuesday night fix of American Idol – yes Idol is really like a drug. Dolly has penned over 3,000 songs, which means nothing but Dolly songs the rest of Season 7! Dolly has no children so she considers her songs her offspring. Does that mean when she decides a song is not good enough to include on an album she considers its exclusion as an abortion? She breaks into song with the Idols (9-5) and they all seem to know the words. I’m guessing this foreshadows a group number of 9-5 tomorrow. Either that are or they are all just HUGE Dabney Coleman fans.

Brooke White - Jolene

Uh oh, fan favorite Brooke White gets the dreaded ‘spot of death’ tonight. I guess they cannot put Ramiele in the beginning every night, but if she survives this week look for her to return as the opening act. Brooke brings her guitar to the reherseal and Dolly seems to enjoy Brooke. Brooke, who made the brilliant ‘beatuy school drop out’ pun a few weeks ago does it again with an observation about Dolly’s career, saying, “she is huge.” That’s two pun of the week awards for Brooke, but this time I don’t think it was intentional. Dolly thinks Brooke was really good and had a sweet warm way about her. Dolly also likes Brooke’s honesty when she sings and likes her song choice. Brooke starts the song sitting down strumming her guitar with her hair pulled back. She is accompanied on stage with a fiddle, a back up singer, and a percussionist. When she said before she would not move and sing again she was serious. She sounds good, but can I really believe she is complaining about this Jolene girl. I bet Jolene watched R rated movies. She needs nary a bad note, but this is a pretty boring way to start off the show. As with every other song they will sing tonight, I am unfamiliar with the original, but this sounds like a 3 note song, which is perfect for Brooke’s limited voice. Even though I still find Brooke charming and enjoyable tonight I cannot justify giving this performance anything higher than an ‘ok.’ She high fives everyone on stage when she finishes the song. Randy asks her to check out the fact he doesn’t think the song was stellar, but it was alright despite some pitch problems. Paula says Brooke is consistent and she is what she is and has an emotional connection with each song she picks. Paula says, “You are Brooke White.” Wow Paula insightful commentary. Simon says he felt the song didn’t have any emotion and the ensemble on stage looked a little odd. Way to insult the band Simon, they are sooooo not playing your wedding anymore. Simon finishes by saying it was not one of her best performances.

David Cook – Little Sparrow

He gets the first sit down interview of the night. Ryan asks him about his song selection and how he selects his arrangements. David says he finds them online and figures out which ones work best for his voice. He also finally gives credit to Doxology for their arrangement he stole, I mean borrowed during the first Beatles week. Congrats Doxology, more people just heard your name than ever will again. I wonder if this will stop the forthcoming ‘give us credit’ lawsuit. But, all that copying is over, because David is doing his own arrangement tonight. You have to love how Idol handles a controversy. They do not address explain why they are talking about something; instead they simply address it and move along. The brilliance lies in the dual nature of the explanation. Idol is able to hopefully quell any discontent among loyal followers of the bands whose arrangements have been used, yet do so in a way that doesn’t let anyone who might not read internet blogs know that there is any controversy brewing. David picked one of Dolly’s favorite children. She says he seems secure and certain in himself. She loves his beautiful voice. David was thrilled to get a compliment from Dolly, but what he really wants is two free passes to Dollywood. David has an acoustic guitar and dear god, he is not ‘rocking out.’ I think he clashes a little bit with the back up singers in the middle of the song, but this is the most ‘singing’ he has done all season. His voice falls apart near the end when he tries to hit a higher note, but overall this is the most nuanced performance from David all season long. His decision to not add an electric guitar to the song is impressive and he is earning more respect each week. This is certainly not his best performance, but it is much better than I expected. Randy likes his arrangement and says it was another hot one. Paula likes his hair cut and has never heard a guy sing this song. She loves how well rounded David is as an artist. Simon says it wasn’t as good as last week, but congratulates him for making a song about Sparrows good.

Ramiele – Do I Ever Cross Your Mind

Dolly welcomes Ramiele, the only contestant that makes Dolly look tall. Dolly thinks Ramiele has the spunk to sing this song. At least Ramiele doesn’t look like a little doll this week. She is barely audible over the band, and the band ain’t exactly playing really loud right now. Her voice gets bigger as the song moves along, which gives us our first chance to hear Ramiele miss the right pitches. This is simply not good enough for American Idol. Heck this isn’t good enough for Cleveland Idol. Like any contestant in a high school talent show, she doesn’t sound horrible, she obviously has talent, but there is nothing about her that screams ‘I am the next American Idol.’ In fact there is nothing about her that whispers ‘I am the next American Idol.’ There isn’t even anything about her that signs ‘I am the next American Idol.’ If the judges like this I think I give up for this season having a happy outcome. Randy wasn’t jumping up and down but he wasn’t mad at Ramiele either. He gives it 6.5 out of 10. Paula is proud of her and thinks Ramiele had a great minute and 30 seconds and had fun. Simon says no one will remember this performance and it was reminiscent of something you would see and hear on a cruise ship. Ryan asks Ramiele how hard it was to sing in front of Dolly and she says she was freaking out a little bit. I would too if I had to sing in front of Dolly and I sounded like Ramiele.

Jason Castro – Traveling Through

Jason gets the second interview of the night and Ryan asks him about viewer fan mail. But he does not actually ask Jason any questions, which is good since he sounds like Rainman when he tries to speak during an interview. Ryan shows Jason all the mail he has been getting from one girl; congrats Jason you now have a stalker. What Ryan doesn’t tell Jason is the letters are all from Barbara Bush. Dolly takes the title of pun maker from Brooke when she tells Jason she would dread to have to do those locks. That’s some pretty good stuff Dolly. Jason is not intimidated by Dolly, probably because he never heard of her until right before she walked into the room. Dolly says Jason is funky, so this song should be a perfect choice. Jason has his guitar; unlike last week he looks like he actually practiced a little this week. He sounds ok, he did pick the right song for his voice, and he is hitting the right notes, yet I am completely bored with this performance. Jason is giving me no reason to stop and listen; I feel like I should be pressing a button with a floor number on it right now. The end of the song gives him a chance to display a little more range than he normally does and he sounds pretty good. The last part of the song salvaged this performance from the ‘just ok’ pile into the a little better than ok category. Randy thought the song started a little rough but thought it was eventually cool and had a singer songwriter vibe. For Paula, this is one of his best performances; she loved it. Simon says this is the point when he loses his season pass to Dollywood. He doesn’t think Jason sang the song well and doesn’t think the music fits him very well. If this was the first time he saw Jason perform Simon doesn’t think “he would get it.”

Carly – Here You Come Again

She picked out like the one song Dolly didn’t actually write herself. CARLY HAD 3,000 SONGS TO SELECT AND SHE COULDN’T FIND ONE DOLLY WROTE TO SING? SERIOUSLY? You have to figure Dolly was like ‘what the heck.’ Carly is thrilled she gets to sing the song to Dolly; a song Dolly thinks is a great choice. Carly is standing, but there is an acoustic guitar player sitting on the stage. She only gets on person on stage, but Brooke gets three! Big surprise, this is another boring song. Is Dolly night over yet? Carly has a really nice voice, even when she isn’t belting out a power ballad. Carly picks up some steam near the end of the song and hits her longest Idol note so far. On the parts I was not sleeping through, Carly sounds in control and the richness of her voice is evident. I think Carly is topped by maybe only David Cook so far tonight; she did a really good job picking her song. Randy believes that Carly gave one of the better performances of the night. Paula thinks Carly is glorious and looks great and then blurts out “oh my god.” Carly is so proud of herself for smiling. Paula tries to get Randy to admit he was wrong last week when he said Carly was off pitch, but he is sticking to his previous comments. Simon says she was good but not great and suggest she has a word with whoever is dressing her backstage. He wants her to look more like a star and hasn’t seen that progression so far. Ryan asks Simon why he is so grumpy tonight. Simon says he is only saying what the people at home are thinking and he doesn’t think Carly gave an amazing performance. He also claims he really likes country music. Right Simon, that’s why you are always miserable during country week every season.

David “Please save me from my Father” Archuletta – Smokey Mountain Memories

Ryan is in the audience again, this time selling itunes. I wonder if they have an emergency plan if someone next to Ryan hits him with a stun gun. I mean come one, that’s entertaining television. David says this song reminds him of his home and his family. So I guess this song is about a stage father that belittles his son to the point the son becomes terrified of being less than perfect and forgets his words during the first Beatles night. Dolly almost cries when David is singing. She believes he has the potential to become a great singer. He is a real man and is on the stage by himself. Hear that Brooke, he doesn’t need three people sharing the spotlight with him! This is a good song for David. It is slow and gives him several big note moments. His voice disappears just a little every time he goes low, but he sounds great on the higher soaring notes. He attempts to add a little something extra to his voice and really misses the mark. I do not think that is what he expected it to sound like. His last note is excellent and features at least four different notes before he settles on the final pitch. This is right up there with Carly and David for best of the night. However, David was a little more boring than either of them and this song sounds odd coming from a 12 year old. David’s abusive hat wearing dad is in the audience. Randy says David is back and had the best performance of the night. Paula says his voice is strong and he has a beautiful aura around him. Simon says this week the song choice was absolutely on the money. The ‘suck up to David A.’ show is back everyone! Did they forget he wasn’t supposed to be boring?

Kristy Lee – Coat of Many Colors

Dolly thinks Kristy can identify with the song and even made it her own; she thinks Kristy’s mom will be impressed. Kristy doesn’t care about her mom’s approval, she wants some Dolly love. Kristy is the first Idol tonight actually singing the song country. She is sitting on the stage with her hair up, which is good, since she cannot do the weird movement she usually does while she sings; the rocking back and forth thing. She sounds good singing her genre. Dare I say, at certain points she actually sounds like Carrie Underwood. These songs aren’t necessarily boring, but when the Idols sing them without the normal country flair, they just sit there rotting like a dead fish. Kristy brings that flair and style and I think gives the best vocals of the night by far. But, the judges usually hate this girl, so they are probably about to tell her everything she did wrong. Randy says country music is her wheel house and this is her week. Paula thinks Kristy looks stunning and gave a beautiful performance. Simon totally disagrees; he thinks last week was her best performance. He suggest this was pleasant but forgettable. Forgettable? I could not tell you what David A. sang if you gave me 10,000,000 dollars. So I guess that was memorable? No it was boring and forgettable, far more so than Kristy’s song. Once Simon decides someone should leave the show they can discover fire and he still will not give them the credit they deserve.

Syesha – The Worst Song Choice in the History of Idol

Ryan is walking around the audience and he walks by Vanna White, but where is Pat Sayjak? Dolly likes the simplicity of Syesha’s song choice; she isn’t doing the straight Whitney version, instead she is doing elements of both Whitney’s and Dolly’s versions. Syesha begins by sitting on the piano. Why do people always want to sit down when they start songs? Does this somehow make it more dramatic when the person stands up? Syesha sounds good and pleasantly reserved. She is not screaming out the big notes to start the song, but in an I cannot control myself diva moment she feels the need to morph herself into Whitney and power out the end of the song. Her voice sounds too small when she first gets going, but then she recovers and sounds pretty good on the last few notes. Of course, she does not sound as good as Mrs. Bobby Brown, so the judges, if they are consistent, will point out the fact you do not sing Whitney unless you are better than her or completely change the song. The good outweighs the bad and this is a pretty good performance. But, I would have enjoyed it more if she did the Dolly version and stayed away from the Whitney copying. Randy says she took on the biggest tiger of the night and did alright. Paula loves the color of Syesha’s dress and thinks Syesha has a great voice and is connecting with the audience more. Simon almost wishes she did not get this song. The first part was good, but, as he feared, the second part of the song paled in comparison to the Whitney version. It was a good, but not great version of the song he continues.

Michael Johns – It’s all Wrong, But It’s All Right

Ryan sells itunes for the second time tonight. Come on Ryan, just once, sell us itunes three times in one hour! Michael tells Dolly she was his first concert in 1986 and she mistakenly believes Michael was a baby – she doesn’t know is he was already married with 4 children back then. Dolly says she could tell Michael was really nervous and it was obvious he is a big fan. Dolly thinks he can make some good records with song she wrote! Michael has a pianist and Rickey Minor on the stage behind him. He sounds pretty good; this song’s melody is one of the better ones tonight. I love the scaled back arrangement. He sounds really great by midway through the song and you can really hear the texture of his voice; his voice is not vanilla like young David’s. He shows off his falsetto at the end and finishes with a great emotive note. This is BY FAR the best performance of the night. I actually have no complaints about anything he did. Randy says he keeps on bringing it up every week and calls him blazing hot. Paula, talking fast, says that the songs are amazing and Michael is a blues/rock star. Simon says tonight was interesting, and he thinks Michael was the best he has ever heard him sing tonight. They are running super late on time apparently. How much you wanna bet Michael is thinking “great the night I have my moment I can’t even hear the judges rave about me because there is no time but I bet the one night I really suck they will spent 5 minutes telling me how I am horrible and sounded like I just competed in a talent show while taking a journey on a cruise ship sponsored by a theme park that also has a lot of weddings onboard dawg.” Turns out Michael is more of a blues singer than a rocker. Ryan must have taken some crack cocaine to help himself power through Michael’s numbers so fast.

Final Thoughts

Brooke still hates this Jolene girl. David still sounds good. Ramiele still sounds bad. Jason still sounds pleasant but boring. Carly’s voice still sounds richer than any of the other girls. David is still frightened of his father. Kristy still sounds better than the judges said. Syesha is still not Whitney Houston. She also isn’t Whitney Dallas. Michael still sounds like a star. They are all leaning on the piano as Ryan throws us into Hell’s Kitchen. If someone had watched this show for the first time tonight, they would think Michael was the favorite to win it all; he was that much better than everyone else. After Michael I enjoyed Kristy and David Cook the most. Who ends up drowning next to the islands in the stream tomorrow? Ramiele has to be in the bottom three – right? If she isn’t I hope congress holds hearing and investigates the Idol vote counting. Joining her will be Syesha. If you sing Whitney, you deserve to go home. I mean how cliché can you be Syesha? Everyone knew you were going to sing that song the second we heard Dolly was coming on the show. Everyone! I will go out on a very flimsy bridge and suggest Kristy will be safe; the country folk have to stick together and should vote and vote for America’s favorite Boy named Tom. Jason’s fans were scared last week, so they should have voted early and often for their boy. Therefore, in a shocker, I’m predicting Brooke White ends up in the bottom three before Ryan saves her from the misery that is the bottom two. Ramiele should be the one going home. If it is anyone else besides her we lose next week, because it means we have to hear Ramiele try to sing again. Instead of Idol Gives Back, how about you just kick her off the show – that will do as much good.