Here we go with the full performance review, a little bit later than usual. Last night the contestants sang songs from the year they were born. Seeing that most of the performers were born in the 1980's, it was basically '80's night all over again. Probably not the most stellar theme night in the history of the show (I know they've done it before), but it's better than a third week of Beatles songs (not that I'm bashing the Beatles now - it's just that I don't want to see the contestants mess up those classics anymore). Overall, I thought tonight's show averaged about a six out of ten for greatness. I thought there were really only two or three great performances while the rest were fairly mediocre. Results night will be very interesting as always because the least favorite and/or worst contestant hasn't been sent home the past two weeks. And that probably won't change this week, either. On with the review!Ramiele Malubay - singing "Alone" by Heart (1987). I think when anyone picks this song, whether it's in the auditions, Hollywood Week, or during the Top 12; it'll always be compared to Carrie Underwood's amazing rendition in season four. After hearing Ramiele's version, she is definitely not in the same league as Miss Underwood. It's funny, I heard the exact same arrangement of the song that Carrie Underwood sang and everything seemed so familiar about the performance except the singer. She was pitchy in certain areas of the song and she seemed to struggle with some of the higher notes. It would've been a good song choice for her if Carrie Underwood didn't completely hit a home run with it a few years back. Gina Glocksen made the same mistake last year; although I think she did a better job with the song than Ramiele. Now mind you, I didn't think Ramiele did terribly bad, but it still was not her best. And yes, nobody can truly do as well as possible when under the weather - as Ramiele was.
Jason Castro - singing "Fragile" by Sting (1987). So Jason is back on the guitar; usually when he does his best. He's not doing anything particularly special with the song. I still think it was a good song choice for him although I think he would bump himself up in the competition if he started taking a few small risks and took a detour off the beaten path. It's a nice mid-tempo song; more upbeat than "Hallelujiah" but less so than "Michelle" last week. But Jason did not wow too many with his performance and he got blasted by the judges for it. For me, it was better than last week. He stays original, consistent and true to himself. Yes, I think it was a particularly safe performance as Paula put it but usually it works for Jason (and most of the time gets props from the judges for it). But now I think they are beginning to find Jason a little stale when he does the same thing week in and week out.
Syesha Mercado - singing "If I Were Your Woman" by Stephanie Mills (1987). Forgive me for saying this, but Syesha is one of those contestants that seems forgettable. I have just not been able to jump on the Syesha bandwagon and I probably never will because she lacks a certain spark about her. Yes, she is a good singer but I think she only has a few weeks left in this. As for this performance, she goes the route of singing a ballad. I thought it was a decent song choice but I was not wowed by the performance again. Yes, she sang it well and she can hit the high notes with such relative ease. The ending was definitely good but I don't think it was as great as the judges said (this won't be the first time I disagreed with the judges tonight). Is she truly the dark-horse that could win the competition, as Paula put it? Absolutely not.
Chikezie - singing "If Only for One Night" by Luther Vandross (1985). The first time I heard Chikezie's performance, I thought it was really good and not as boring as the judges seemed to say. But after re-watching it again, it definitely was a touch on the boring side as my thoughts began to wonder to something else as the song neared completion. I completely agreed with Simon when he felt that it was cheezy, especially when Chikezie held the hands of audience members and sang passionately to them. This isn't a personal concert, now. I really do like him as a performer and he has grown on me in the past few weeks. He has an incredible range; from going really low to hitting some of those high notes. He's a singer with such a soulful vibe and he can really get into the heart and emotion of the song with such relative ease. The judges don't seem to think Chikezie is very interesting when he sings ballads which I tend to agree. But at least he's trying to diversify his song choices week after week.
Brooke White - singing "Every Breath You Take" by the Police (1983). Brooke starts off the song playing exclusively on the piano with no band accompaniment. She starts with a mistake and re-groups. It was a bit awkward but she regained her composure really well. I don't think this little hiccup will cost her. I still think Brooke is an amazing musician because she has to concentrate playing the piano and making sure she plays the right notes while focusing on the singing and not trying to screw that up, either. It's a risk she takes most of the time and usually excels at. I definitely thought it was better than last week as she's better being in a static position and not moving around all over the stage. I enjoyed it when the band came; but I too thought it could've been as good as "Let it Be" if she would've played the piano the whole time without the band. But I still found the performance to be quite enjoyable; the arrangement and all.
Michael Johns - singing "We are the Champions" by Queen (1978). Michael starts off the performance going all-rocker on us and not actually with "We are the Champions," but with "We Will Rock You." I wasn't exactly crazy about the whole rock bit as I don't believe that style suits Michael. But I did love when the performance transitioned into a slower tempo and "We are the Champions" started. He didn't attempt to hit the high note at one point in the song and dropped down an octave instead which was really smart. That could've been a disaster if he tried going falsetto at that moment. Definitely Micheal's best performance on the show for me in awhile, probably since Hollywood week where he sang another Queen song "Bohemian Rhapsody." He really seemed confident this week and in the moment. The audience definitely approved with all the screams. Wow.
Carly Smithson - singing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonne Tyler (1983). This is a big song for Carly to sing but I definitely think she can do it. I had wondered if being in last week's bottom three was going to motivate Carly, but I didn't sense any dramatic changes in her overall style. I think at the song's peak, she probably was trying a bit too much to nail the song and over-shouted. But she was still quite as consistent as she's been for weeks. Was it her best? Probably not; as certain parts of the song were better than others. But was it as bad as the judges felt? I didn't think so. They seemed to be all over the place with their comments tonight. I had to laugh to myself when Paula made the back-handed comment that she wasn't a particular fan of this song. And now it appears that it's Carly's turn to be scrutinized in the media as one website questioned if she was pregnant. We'll see if the rumors escalate any further than that.
David Archuleta - singing "You're the Voice" by David Foster with Jeff Pescetto (1990). Okay, so this is a song I was completely unfamiliar with so I did some searching and found a version of it on YouTube. From the very start, I thought it was a strange song and I questioned David's decision at choosing it. But seeing how exceptional of a singer David is, I thought he could do quite well with it regardless of how weird it sounded. After David's performance, I still thought it was an odd song choice. He did quite well singing it as I didn't notice any glaring flaws. He did mess up on one note towards the end of the song and it may have been too big of a song for David to sing. But I think the one thing that hurts him this week is the song choice because it's very unfamiliar to the general public and he didn't seem to nail the song as he could've. Now 1990 wasn't exactly a stellar year for hit songs, but personally, I thought he could've chose something better. Was it David's dad that chose the song for him instead, as Simon and the media have alluded to? More than likely a yes to that. Like I said, his singing was still on-par and pretty consistent to what he's been doing except for that blip in the radar a few weeks ago.
Kristy Lee Cook - singing "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood (1984). Alright, so Kristy Lee may not be the best singer left standing in the competition, but she is a very, VERY smart person when selecting a song like this one. Simon was 100% correct in his assessment and Kristy will win over the American pride vote this week which will keep her around until next week at least. I really loved this song choice for her not only because it's a song she can sing well, but for one that I've always enjoyed hearing. She definitely did encounter a few pitch problems here and there throughout the song, especially on the higher notes. But I don't think that is going to hurt her at all. This is probably her best performance so far in the entire competition, but there is still room for improvement in her vocal skills. Let's see how she can step it up even further next week.
David Cook - singing "Billy Jean" by Michael Jackson (1983). The song starts off very slowly; like a ballad. I thought it was a very strange arrangement and it sounded odd hearing it sung in this manner. But the tempo does start to pick up and David starts showing off his rocker skills. I tend to question the arrangement of the song when judging David's overall performance because I personally did not love it like the judges. Boy, they are really drinking the Kool-Aid regarding David Cook. Yes, he is an original artist when it comes to American Idol, but these are not original arrangements as other musicians have already done it first. The vocals were still very good and David remains consistent as he's done so since being crowned a spot in the top 12. But I just don't agree that he was as good as the judges said he was this week. I definitely was not sold.
With all that being said, here is this week's performance rankings. This is nothing official, as it's only my opinion as to how I thought the contestants performed this week. This is the updated rankings as I did make a few minor changes after listening to some of the contestants again a second time. So who will end up in this week's bottom three? Who is definitely safe? Here is what I thought:
#1: Michael Johns
#2: Carly Smithson
#3: David Archuleta
#4: David Cook
#5: Kristy Lee Cook
#6: Syesha Mercado (actual bottom three - 3/26/08)
#7: Brooke White
#8: Jason Castro - bottom three (actual bottom three - 3/26/08)
#9: Chikezie - bottom three (eliminated - 3/26/08)
#10: Ramiele Malubay - eliminated
So there you have it; my opinion on who may be sent home this week. So far I've been wrong every time on who goes home on results night so don't be surprised if it happens again (I wouldn't be shocked if Chikezie packs his bags). A couple of other minor comments before I officially log off the blog today. First of all, it makes me feel rather old when most of the contestants (all except one) are younger than me! There are a lot of younger contestants in American Idol this season, more so than ever before in the top 12, I think. Plus I am not getting any younger, either. Secondly, usually I post my review immediately after the show has concluded and most of the time what I write down as notes is usually how I ended up feeling about everyone's performance. It was rather different this week as I had to re-watch several of the performances to get a handle on my initial comments. So the late review this week wasn't necessarily a bad thing in that regard. And finally, if you want a good laugh, be sure to check the David Archuleta forums on the web. All of the young girls are heartbroken that young David "might" be taking the girl that was seated next to David's dad to his prom, if he even has a chance to attend his prom. My goodness, young hearts broke all across the world when she was shown and Ryan made that very subtle hint. And the thought that some young fans didn't vote for David just because this girl was shown in the audience is completely ludicrous. Honestly, what kind of fans are they? Those two are probably just friends more than anything else.
Those are my comments on American Idol for this week. Have a good one.
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