Tuesday, March 25th, 2008
This week, the contestants perform a song from the year they were born.
Ramiele Malubay — I actually caught the show late, and for some reason my DVR didn’t pick up. So I missed her performance. From the tone of the judges, though, she was off-pitch and lost her voice.
Jason Castro — Sang “Fragile,” one of the few songs from Sting’s solo oeuvre that I like. I thought it was great, and a great choice for him. He’s not the most versatile contestant left, but when he stays in his groove, he does really, really well. I disagree with Simon. This guy’s vibe is laid-back. It’s also unique–he doesn’t sound like anyone else on the show. No use leaving that.
Syesha Mercado — Whoa. That baby cry is weird. Sang Gladys Knight’s “If I Was Your Woman.” She was fantastic, and I’m huge fan. That said, I didn’t particularly like the song. More I think because I’m not a fan of modern day R&B. I like the old school stuff. Nevertheless, she did well on a night when lots of other people sang well, too. She probably stay about where she was last week.
Chickezie — Sang “If Only for One Night,” by Luther Vandross. Another case where I’m a big fan of Chickezie, but not a big fan of the song. I’ve never liked the sprawling, over-produced R&B that took over after about 1985. His voice sounded good to me, but given that I’m not a fan of the genre, I’m probably not the best person to evaluate a song like this. He’ll probably battle Smithson for the bottom three, along with Cook and Malubay.
Brook White — Sang “Every Breath You Take,” the stalker song that couples weirdly often pick for their wedding song. I really liked the arrangement, though she probably should have moved it up a couple of keys. And I generally agree with the judges. Her voice is so unique and soulful and comforting, the less accompaniment she has, the better.
Michael Johns — Sang Queen’s “We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions.” A bit of a trite pick. I could go the rest of my life without hearing either of these songs again. That he said, he tore it up. It’s kind of interesting to hear a guy with no real falsetto pull off Freddy Mercury. He needed a big performance to avoid dipping into the bottom three this week. This should be more than enough.
Carly Smithson — Sang “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” I knew she’d end up singing this song at some point. And Randy’s nuts. This might be the perfect song for her driving, confident vocal. I thought she blew it away. But I seem to like her more than most people do. I was shocked that she was in the bottom three last week. And given that two of the three judges didn’t like her this week, she could back again tomorrow.
David Archuleta — Sang “You’re the Voice,” by John Farnham, a song I’ve never heard of, and that was annoyingly preachy. I don’t know, it feels a little presumptuous for a 17-year-old kid to be singing all of this socially-responsible stuff. And it’s even worse when it’s a song no one knows. He’ll be fine, of course. But he’s getting a little annoying.
Kristy Lee Cook — Sang “God Bless the USA.” Which means that she’ll inexplicably be safe for another week. Simon said it was a “clever” choice. It sure as hell was. It’ll probably win her an invite to Sean Hannity’s next God, war, and apple pie fest.
David Cook — Sang a Chris Cornell version of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” I thought it was the best song of the night. It’s also the strongest I’ve ever heard his voice. Very, very well done. He may have passed Archuleta tonight.
Rankings (where different, I’ve put where I’d rank them in parenthesis.)
10. Ramiele Malubay
09. Kristy Lee Cook
08. Chickezie
07. Carly Smithson (David Johns)
06. Syesha Mercado (Jason Castro)
05. David Johns (David Archuleta)
04. Brook White (Syesha Mercado)
03. Jason Castro (David Cook)
02. David Archuleta (Carly Smithson)
01. David Cook (Brook White)
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 at 9:45 pm by Radley Balko
and is filed under Uncategorized.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
TheAgitator.com
I forgot all about the Chris Cornell cover of Billie Jean. A little reminiscent of Daughtry doing Live cover versions, perhaps. That takes away the “original arrangement” factor that some people I know like so much about this David Cook cat. Personally I don’t like it. I think it’s pretty boring, predictable, and formulaic. Reminds me of Weird Al making everything a polka or Lounge Against the Machine- just a different genre-bend. I’ll take a straight Sting cover over that any day and I don’t really like Sting.
My wife and I both cringed at that POS Lee Greenwood song, but I realized right away it will help her with the “God& War” crowd. A terrible country chick who sings in front of the Confederate Flag and also sings “god Bless the USA”? She has that vote locked up.
Archuletta gets more annoying every week. I thought I heard Simon say something about him maybe not picking his own songs, but not sure. Maybe his stage dad is just very cheesy.
Pretty much agree on the rest. I like Chickezie but he’s just not getting it done with song selection. Smithson should not be anywhere near the bottom 3.
“Sang Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions.’ A bit of a trite pick. I could go the rest of my life without hearing either of these songs again.”
I just lost so much respect for you.
Anyway, I like Michael Johns a bit more than you do, but otherwise I largely agree on your rankings. I do like Cook more than White, though. Lee Cook and Malubay just need to go.
My wife said there is a controversy brewing about Archuletta’s dad picking his songs, and that is what Simon was referring to. I mean really, what 17 year old boy with every teenage girl in the country drooling over him would pick that song? I don’t buy it.
Archuleta’s dad is a psycho stage dad who once tried to intimidate a “Star Search” contestant (David’s competitor) into drinking milk before she sang, to ruin her voice. She didn’t; he lost.
And apparently David flubbed the lyrics a few weeks ago because his dad had screamed at him before the show, bringing him to tears.
And some are whispering that David’s dad has some previous American Idol ties (i.e., dad’s music company works with Idol contestants).
Radley, why don’t you set aside death penalty cases and police abuse for a little while, and focus your investigative powers on something that really matters, like busting Archuleta’s dad?
This is really surprising to me, but I do not believe that the song “Every Breath You Take” is about stalking. It is surprising to me that Radley thinks so, because I believe it is about the “Big Brother” government watching our every move. I may be wrong, but that is what that song is about.
Just to back up what I said before here is a quote from Sting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Every_Breath_You_Take
“I woke up in the middle of the night with that line in my head, sat down at the piano and had written it in half an hour. The tune itself is generic, an aggregate of hundreds of others, but the words are interesting. It sounds like a comforting love song. I didn’t realise at the time how sinister it is. I think I was thinking of Big Brother, surveillance and control.”
—Sting
“I’ve never liked the sprawling, over-produced R&B that took over after about 1985″
Well said, and AMEN brother.
Kristy Lee Cook nailed the song choice. I felt like I was at a rodeo. She could very well not even be in the bottom three tonight. I almost expected John McCain to blunder out there and shake her hand.
When I heard Ramiele Malubay say that she was born in Saudi Arabia I knew that it was the end of the road for her no matter what she sang or how she sung it. But in my opinion she should be the one axed tonight.
I think David Cook was the very best of the night.
I liked Chickezie. He should stick around for awhile longer. He ought to do some Al Green before he leaves.
I think Jason Castro is hilarious. I like his style and I like his performances and I like his song choices. I like his attitude. He knows that win or lose the world is not going to come to an end and he also seems to know that Simon was not sent by the Gods to be the final decider on who needs to sing what.
David Archuleta can sing but Simon was dead on with his analysis. I expected the Beauty and the Beast to waltz across the stage about halfway through his performance. And Simon was definitely gouging his Dad with his comments about who chose the song.
Not impressed with Michael Johns at all. I felt like he was a bit shouty and shrieky. I can tolerate Queen but I have never heard anybody try to do their stuff sound worth a damn in the attempt.
All were good enough to stick around for another week except for Malubay. She is a goner tonight.
Should go: Malubay or KLC
That said, I hope a weak night from Archuleta is enough to send him packing. That kid wants to be Bono without first proving he has any artistic merit.
I’m giving Chickezie a pass this week based on how awesome he was in both Beatles weeks. He and Castro are the two I look most forward to seeing.
David Cook going for +240:
http://www.pinnaclesports.com/ContestCategory/American+Idol/101~2A~Odds+to+Win+Season+7/Odds+to+Win/Lines.aspx
10. Ramiele Malubay
09. Kristy Lee Cook
08. Chickezie
07. Carly Smithson (David Johns)
06. Syesha Mercado (Jason Castro)
05. David Johns (David Archuleta)
04. Brook White (Syesha Mercado)
03. Jason Castro (David Cook)
02. David Archuleta (Carly Smithson)
01. David Cook (Brook White)
Who is David Johns? ;)
Archuletta’s song was released in 1986, not 90. Heart had a version of it I think, but that was 91 ish. Whats the deal?
David A was horrible, Malubay couldn’t hit her pitches, and KLC sang one of the hokiest songs ever written. Its a pick’em for the top 7, but those are the bottom three. Expect Malubay to finally get voted off.
I can’t stand Archuletta, but the Mrs. keeps harping on the fact that he’s the only young white male left, AND he’s cute, so he’ll be top 4 no matter how many lyrics he forgets. That’s what happens when you’re strong in the “13-year old girl who likes to vote for a total tool” demographic.
Malubay and KLC need to go.
The other 7 are all at least interesting. I agree with you, Balko. My wife and I both liked Carly before this week and thought that she reeked of untapped (or unshown) potential. Her previous song choices were fine for an album, but valueless for a singing competition. When I figured out it was “Total Eclipse”, I got very, very excited: This would be her breakthrough week! The payoff for our patience! Then she took that fat pitch and… sorta hit a texas league single. I didn’t think she nailed like she could/should have. But it was fine. But it was 100% what she should have been singing.
David Cook’s performance of Billie Jean was pretty impressive, even more so b/c I’m a big Chris Cornell fan and it didn’t seem like he was trying to completely imitate Cornell. It helps that their voices aren’t very similar, but after comparing the songs back to back, I’d still give Cook credit for this performance, b/c it’s not an exact copy of the Cornell version.
Of course, you should take my comments with a grain of salt, b/c my wife is the big Idol fan, and while I watch most of the time with her, I usually get annoyed during the show and find something more interesting to do, like loading the dishwasher or taking out the trash.