[QUOTE=Liberal]
BROOKE WHITE C-
Her worst performance yet. She tried, with some success, to mimic a country singer singing country. And then in the process, she completely disconnected from what she was singing. By the end, she seemed to be downright thankful that Jolene was fucking her over.
DAVID COOK C
I have no idea what was supposed to be original about his interpretation other than sucking out the song’s soul. This is the most haunting and minimal of songs, about a fragile creature who is banged and batted from point to point in its life, its kindnesses rewarded by treachery. Dolly’s version.
RAMIELE MALUBAY C-
She started things quite well, in full control of her voice and stage presence. But as she is so wont to do, when the chorus approached, she decided that she must make a mark with her volume. She struggled with this, taking almost a full measure to decide whether to start belting. She decided wrongly, and she will likely pay.
JASON CASTRO C+
Our minstrel gave us yet another performance in which we are to sit on our hands and listen to the folk singer while the band warms up de-amped just off-stage. His voice at the beginning was especially weak, almost inaudible. And his high registers are still fingernails-on-a-chalkboard squeaky. I promised two weeks in a row no more generosity for him. Next time, I mean it.
CARLY SMITHSON A-
Despite an outstanding vocal, her persona is distracting. It may be a cultural thing, but trash is not the new chic. It is a business in which looks matter, and I’m not talking about physical beauty. She needs some fucking clothes. I do realize that she isn’t shooting to be Barbara Streisand or anything, but a bit of glamor would go a long way in establishing her credibility.
DAVID ARCHULETA B+
Emotive and genuine with the usual beautiful voice, but he needs to fix two things: (1) just like Carly, he needs to begin dressing less like the high school slacker and more like the superstar performer, but (2) he also needs to ask the makeup and hair artists to help him shed his baby boy look insofar as that is possible. Which it is, as his spiky hair at his original audition will attest. He looked older then than he does now.
KRISTY LEE COOK C+
It is fortunate for her that she stole a bit of a fan base last week and that this week more people will like her than like Ramiele. The problem with Kristy is her Children of the Corn eyes. There is no feeling one can read anywhere in her face, other than the pain of stage fright. This may be the last week she survives.
SAYESHA MERCADO C
Sigh.
MICHAEL JOHNS A-
I feel like I’m grading on a curve a bit here, but I feel obligated to acknowledge his Queenless effort. The blues treatment almost, but not quite, went overboard. He did struggle in spots to keep the song afloat, but in the end he succeeded. I really can’t put my finger on it or describe it coherently at this point, but there’s something about Michael that deteriorates when he begins to sing.
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A review of last night’s performances brought me some insight. All of their performances were kinda amateurish, but the performances I didn’t like weren’t as bad as I originally thought and the ones I did like, weren’t as good as I thought. My bias were working overtime last night; today my ears without the “show”. Rami and Kristy has to go. You’d think Kristy would nail a country song and I can’t even recall what Rami sang. David needs to fall from the top spot to get him to sing a whole step better. I always thought, “Here You Come Again” was a song about being angry. Carly didn’t seem angry. Then again, neither did Brooke sound anguished and pained in “Jolene”. Dolly swinged in the “Travelin’ Thru” video. I personally think it should have won this year’s Oscar. I kind half-hoped Jason was gonna sing it Reggae style, at lleast. He kinda sang it straight, without that beat that made it interesting. While I actually liked this version of “Little Sparrow”, I presume time did not permit David to sing begin singing it slow and acapella.