It's a new week which brings us to the latest American Idol recap from me! It's another week of songs by the Beatles (but it appears they expanded the songbook to include Ringo and George this week). So there's definitely some good songs left for the contestants to choose from in the vast array of #1's the Beatles had. I will say this, though; even though I absolutely love the songs by the Beatles, maybe two weeks in a row is a bit much. I don't care how much positive feedback they've heard from the fans of the show about it. It's just something that can get stale fast. We'll see how the contestants handle another week of songs by the Beatles. Let's get this show on the road!
Amanda Overmyer - singing "Back in the USSR": Amanda's up first tonight - usually not the place any contestant wants to be placed in. Another rock song for Amanda (yawn). Okay, so it's not that bad, but as Simon mentioned tonight, it was pretty predictable. She keeps doing the same rock performance week in and week out and it's beginning to seem like a broken record. She's a good performer and is very consistent. She knows how to pick songs that fit her mold but it may be starting to get a bit old for the fans. You can definitely say one thing about Amanda, however; she knows how to have a good time on stage.
Kristy Lee Cook - singing "You've got to Hide Your Love Away": This is such a great Beatles tune; one of my favorites, in fact. I did not care for the arrangement with Kristy's version, however. It was actually really odd and seemed to have more of a rock-edge with it. Eddie Vedder re-made the song and knew enough not to mess with something great. Kristy tried messing with the arrangement and it just didn't work. Overall I thought she did a decent job with the song but the problem I am having with her is that she's rather forgettable. The last note of the song that Kristy sang was nice, but that was about all that was memorable with it. She could've done a lot better with the song, that's for sure.
David Archuleta - singing "The Long and Winding Road": With last weeks performance clearly in the back of my mind, I was pretty nervous for David A. I really wanted him to have a great week. And I am happy to say, he delivered. Now this is the David we all remember from week's past. This was a great song choice for him as I believe he does his best when singing the slower tempo songs which allows him to concetrate on the lyrics better. He remembered his lyrics this time around, he was on pitch the whole time and it was very enjoyable to listen to. He even received across-the-board praise from the judges with Simon even calling it "master class." Clearly it was the best performance of the night out of all the contestants. If he stays consistent with performances like tonight, he'll definitely be one of the final two contestants left standing when all is said and done (if not the eventual American Idol winner).
Michael Johns - singing "A Day in the Life": I don't know what's going on with Michael as of late, but he definitely hasn't been living up to the expectations that he brought with him during Hollywood week. His version of Bohemian Rhapsody was so great that I often look it up on YouTube just to hear it again. Tonight's peformance was very lackluster right from the start. With his first attempt at a higher note, he went way off pitch. After that, he really couldn't recover. I thought he performed the song like the Beatles sang it and didn't really do much different with it. The pace of the song was pretty slow, then picked up briefly, but went back to being slow. I thought the song was going to suit him well but it certainly ended up being not his best. There were definite arrangement issues with the song and he really needs to start raising his game up pretty fast.
Brooke White - singing "Here Comes the Sun": Another performance where Brooke doesn't perform an instrument. It worked the other time when she just sang; will it work this time? Well, not as well, according to the judges. She probably wasn't quite as connected with the song as she was with "Let it Be." It appeared she was having the time of her life up on stage; moving and dancing around pretty freely. Certainly a very upbeat song for Brooke; something we hadn't yet seen from her (something like tonight's performance, anyways). Yet, she seemed out of her element in some way. Overall it was rather safe, vocally; but performance-wise she did try some new things. I have a pretty good suspicion that'll she'll go back to being behind a guitar or piano next week.
David Cook - singing "Day Tripper": And here we have David going back to what he does best; playing the guitar. He stays true to his roots which is rather nice. And unlike Amanda, David isn't afraid to try different things even though he's mainly a rocker. All of the risks that David has taken thus far have paid off. I did like the Peter Frampton-esque use of the voice box; it was certainly different and the first time used in an "Idol" performance. He did a great job with the song that had the audience into it and even Paula up on her feet. I like the fact that each and every single week, he seems to try something different and it hasn't yet hurt him. I had to disagree with Simon when he said it was predictable. Now Amanda, yes; she was predictable. David Cook was not.
Carly Smithson - singing "Blackbird": A much slower paced song for Carly; going in a different direction tonight. I didn't think it was her best as I perfer the more up-beat songs from her. But the vocals were spot-on as usual. I liked the performance the best when she started hitting the higher notes which showed off her vocal skills. I wouldn't say it was my favorite of hers in the competition but it was still an enjoyable performance. I thought it was definitely better in the end than it was in the beginning. It was a very controlled song for Carly with superb vocals and a deep connection with the song. Carly definitely knows what she's doing and I believe she'll be around for a long time.
Jason Castro - singing "Michelle": So Jason goes without the guitar tonight which worked before when he sang "Halleljah." He seemed to do a fairly decent job with the song, but he appeared out of touch at times. I have a feeling, though, that he wasn't really taking the performance all that seriously. In fact, I thought at one point he almost lost control and started laughing. Maybe it was the audience that threw him off but he certainly did not seem as connected to the song. I thought it was a good song choice for him if only he took the performance seriously. I hope he didn't think it was a big joke because his fans could turn on him pretty fast. I don't really believe that's going to happen, but he really needs to be more careful in the future.
Syesha Mercado - singing "Yesterday": Out of all the Beatles songs, this is probably one of my all-time favorites (including Let it Be, Hey Jude, Penny Lane, and You've Got to Hide Your Love Away). Syesha starts things off kind of boring and I am beginning to question whether this is really a good choice of song for her, whether or not she had a connection with it in the past. But she definitely worked it out in the end and think she did an admiral job with it. The problem with Syesha, however, is that she's a pretty forgettable performer. Yes, this week was much better than last, but I just don't see her sticking around for very long. She just doesn't appear to be all that interesting and that is what really hurts her. She's got to do something that's going to wow the audience and make us remember her for a very long time. So far, that has yet to happen.
Chikezie - singing "I've Just Seen a Face": This is an unfamiliar Beatle tune for me. It appears that Chikezie turns back to performing a ballad which tends to suit him more. The pace starts off rather slow but then really picks up. In fact, I thought the pace was much too fast and it reminded me a lot of Kristy Lee's version of "Eight Days a Week" from last week. The last part of the song had that country/blue grass feel to it which wasn't necessarily a good thing, in my opinion. I thought Chikezie tried capitalizing on last week's success and it didn't quite work as well. It was still a decent performance yet it wasn't as good as last week. It was sort of all over the place like the judges mentioned, harmonica and all.
Ramiele Malubay - singing "I Should've Known Better": The performance started off pretty weak and somewhat pitchy for me. I do think this is a great song choice for Ramiele, however. It doesn't start off all that great, though and she seems to be having some difficulty projecting her voice. She has a great voice and can hit some pretty incredible notes. We haven't seen anything like that in awhile from her, though. She did finally hit a couple of high notes towards the end of the performance but it wasn't enough for me. She did have better vocals tonight but I definitely think she needs to be more assertive and confident with her songs. Ramiele has been lacking consistency for some time and pretty soon it will end up hurting her.
Now it's time for this week's Idol Rankings. Remember, these are based on tonight's performances and they are not cumulative from week to week. I think most of the contestants will be relieved to see the songs of the Beatles go away next week. In addition, Simon only gave favorable reviews to David Archuleta and Syesha (even though he told Syesha that Brooke should've sang "Yesterday"). And did anyone else notice how some of the contestants were wearing ear pieces while others didn't? This probably helped David A. out quite considerably compared to last week where he didn't wear one. I think with the audience standing up and cheering like in a concert setting, it tends to throw the contestants off especially for those not used to concerts. So this is probably a good thing for everyone involved. Anyways, here are the rankings from tonight:
#1: David Archuleta
#2: David Cook
#3: Carly Smithson (actual bottom three - 3/19/08)
#4: Syesha Mercado - bottom three
#5: Jason Castro
#6: Brooke White
#7: Amanda Overmyer (officially eliminated - 3/19/08)
#8: Ramiele Malubay
#9: Chikezie
#10: Michael Johns - bottom three
#11: Kristy Lee Cook - eliminated (actual bottom three - 3/19/08)
All in all, I still believe it's Kristy Lee's time to go. Even though this week was better than last, it still doesn't compare with the rest of the group. I thought she was pretty fortunate to stick around instead of David Hernandez because she was really awful last week. We'll see if she maintains the same luck this time around. I also believe that Syesha remains a pretty forgettable figure on the show and despite a decent performance this week; she'll wind up in this week's bottom three again. It just doesn't seem like she has an avid fanbase like the rest of the contestants and one of these weeks, it's going to cost her.
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