American Idol 4/22 and 4/23

Cafe Society
101

SAYESHA MERCADO, A-

I think this may be the first time I’ve graded her above a B. But even though she chose exactly the right song for her, and even though she performed it quite well, she just still isnt that hit-it-out-of-the-park diva that I believe she wants to be. Her best yet, but just ever so slightly short of that pure A. She must learn to stop trying to shout the power.
JASON CASTRO, A-

I strongly disagree with the judges. I thought the song was charming, and I thought it flowed straight out of his heart. But in a way, I found him to be similar to Sayesha in that he hasn’t quite achieved what I believe he wants to be, and that’s a Dylan level balladeer. His only vocal strength is in the midrange, and he can carry a tune better than Dylan. But how good are the songs he’s written? If he’s a great songwriter, he can make it in the business. Otherwise, I don’t think he’ll make it selling CDs.
BROOKE WHITE, C-

No, Simon. It was endearing the first time, when it was an off-pitch a cappella opening. But this time, it was a blown lyric. Nervousness and stardom just do not go together. Even I can get on a stage and shiver with fright. Nobody’s going to pay for that. She is the current darling of VFTW, and tonight we saw why.
DAVID ARCHULETA, A

Okay, I was wrong about the unibrow, but still. The only thing that really bothers me consistently about David is his choice of song, in the sense that it’s always something unknown to wide audiences. Okay, not always, but still. The voice, though, was as usual a magic carpet floating on a euphonic breeze. And nevermind the advice about the eyes. Sing it how you feel it.
CARLY SMITHSON, A-

Sorry to tick her down from the pure A, but you can’t flub a lyric and get a free pass — especially when it’s a critical rhyming word and clashes with the backup singers who say the correct word. There were, in fact, several instances of lyrical license, but all less critical than the early chorus. All that said, she was clearly in her element and gave her best performance so far.
DAVID COOK, A+

Shockingly beautiful. I would have given him two plusses had he not ended with that quite unnecessary third-up. But everything before that was utterly enchanting. I think that, in terms of pure skill — especially in interpretation — David might be the best of the bunch. This night, he proved that he actually can vary from his grunge schtick. I was really blown away.

102

Just another “what the hell was Jason thinking?” Plus he’s as stupid as he is pretty, first with the “uhhhh” interview, then with the “I never knew it was sung by a cat” comment, and ignoring ALW’s diplomatic “don’t” advice, and then the song. Ugh. He never would have passed his audition with that, yet what’s with the hands in the air? Was he throwing out baggies before he started singing?

103

Brooke White You Must Love Me

David Archuleta Think of Me Fondly

Carly Smithson Jesus Christ Superstar

David Cook Music of the Night

104

YES. That’s exactly what I thought.

105

David Cook gave me the first tears-and-goosebumps moment of the whole season. He performance was… I’m wordless.

106

I have to add my agreement that ALW seems like a really cool person. Goofy looking as hell, but really cool :slight_smile:

107

I was eating dinner while watching, and when he sang that one higher note, I literally stopped the spoon in front of my open mouth. He can totally sing, and I’m glad he didn’t let the theme get him down. THAT is the way to step outside your box!

OK, so aside from my favorite, I liked Syesha and Carly tonight. I appreciated the fact that they went with big, theatrical songs tonight, and it paid off.

108
  1. Syesha
  2. David C.
  3. Carly
  4. David A.
  5. Brooke
  6. Jason

The only song I might be inclined to buy is David C.'s, but I agree with many of you that rocking out the final note (and only the final note) was a bad idea in an otherwise amazing performance, so Syesha nudges ahead with what, to me, was pretty much flawless.

Carly did better than she has in weeks and David A. did fine but oddly disappointing in a week where he had the chance to really blow the roof off, so they’re hanging on but not making headway.

Brooke and Jason were similarly beautiful and charming train wrecks - terrible song choices for both who could have done better. I think Brooke was less embarassing but Jason has a more loyal fan base. I think she’s going home.

Unless it’s Jason. :smiley:

109

My thoughts:

Syesha - that was fun and she looked great.
Jason - Randy had it spot on - that was a bit of a trainwreck. Youch. It seemed like it was too much for his range, too, no?
Brooke - oh dear. The re-start wasn’t good. The song didn’t do it for me.
David A - I love that song, and I kind of liked his take on it, although the middle verse was a bit much with the not-quite-right timing and pitch. I enjoyed listening to it, though.
Carly - also fun. The six year old voted for her.
David C - I was totally worried about what sort of disaster this was going to be for him, but I actually rather liked it. (Music of the Night is stalker-y, so I guess it fits with his theme, as folks around here see it.) Was glad to see him do something different than usual and show off his voice a bit.

And ALW(bb) was very cool! I liked that he made actually suggestions, rather than Mariah’s bland-ness as guest mentor.

110

Before I give my opinions on the night’s festivities, I have a confession to make.

I really hate to say this…but…

I like ‘Cats’. There. I said it. I feel better.

Understand, among the people I respect, liking Cats isn’t just a guilty musical pleasure - It’s more like putting a ball-gag in music’s mouth and beating it to death for fun, then going through its pockets for loose change. It’s that bad.

But damned if I don’t like every bit of it. I’ve seen it twice. I have the soundtrack. I have been known to drive down the road singing along to ‘Macavity’. He’s the mystery cat, don’t you know. He’s the hidden paw. You go, Macavity! You and that dastardly Rum-Tum-Tugger, what with the fancy tail and lady-cat killling ways. You’re all just so Jellicle!

Well, it feels good to get that off my chest. No, actually it doesn’t. Now I just feel dirty.

Anyway, back to the show…

Syesha - Show tunes are her thing. No doubt about it. Get her off the show and into an off-Broadway musical review, pronto. She lives for this stuff. That was a pretty good performance. She came in a little early, and there were a few off notes, but overall one of the best performances of the night.

Brooke - Oh, Brooke. You’re just not cut out for this. Any minute now you’re just going to explode into a big quivering mass of emotion, or perhaps spontaneously combust and turn into one of those jittery energy beings from Star Trek. I have a feeling your future belongs to piano gigs in the starlight room on Saturday nights, where the drunks can fall in love with you and you can sing sad, wistful songs about the future you never had. You just don’t have the brass it takes to stay in the big show. You’re in good company - there are lots of very talented people out there who just collapse when the lights get turned on them. You’re either going to have to nut up big time, or get out. And that choice may not be in your hands any more - tonight was a ‘send me home’ performance, I’m afraid.

Jason Castro - Dude. Put down the doobie and listen up - not every song can be sung like you’re hanging in front of a beach fire with your stoner buddies grooving to the island music. When you sings songs that suit you, it’s magic. When you sang this, it made me want to go to sleep. Good thing Brooke crashed and burned, because you might survive to redeem yourself.

David Archuleta - God, I’m getting tired of this pattern. David comes out and sings some song technically well, but with such powers of blandness that he’s able to suck the memory of the song out of my head while he’s singing it. There could be a future for him in the intelligence business. “Ve haf vays uf making you forget! Ve will let ze little annoying boy sing ze secrets back to you, unt you vill be totally unable to remember zem! And if you resist, ze little girls surrounding him vill beat you to death mit their vebkinds und Barbies!”

Carly Smithson - Okay, that was good. Very good. Better than most people here are giving her credit for, apparently. That song is really hard to sing. The timing is difficult, she had to drop from melody to counter-melody without losing the rhythm, and the range is large. I thought she nailed it. Best performance of the night. And she didn’t even come across as crazy-stalker-chick-who-will-totally-stab-you-if-you-don’t-vote-for-her, which she usually does. She saved herself this week.

David Cook - Yeah, good performance. Probably the second or third best of the night. One thing it showed is that the guy’s got a pretty wide range - his lower register actually sounded pretty good, with decent volume and tone (Looking at you, David Castro). But I hate the song.

Overall, I’d rate 'em like this:

Carly Smithson
Syesha Mercado
David Cook
David Archuleta (I think)
Jason Castro
Brooke White

I think Brooke’s going home tomorrow, unless the Vote for the Worst people come through for her.

111

The best thing about Lord Webber’s shows in the UK is that they play the Phantom music every time he’s introduced. It’s brilliant.

112

Syesha - She showed some personality for the first time tonight, and really looked like she was having as much fun as she’s kept saying she has all season.

Jason - I thought it was a good try, but he just doesn’t have the vocal range for the song, even if he can put it across emotionally. I enjoyed it in spite of myself.

Brooke - Simon was right. She threw herself totally off by forgetting the lyric, and then was just never able to get it back on track. She has the potential to be really good because she can really connect with people, but keeps shooting herself in the foot by making rookie mistakes.

David A - Way to turn a great stage song into a bland pop ballad there, kid. Two thumbs down.

Carly - Having listened to the original cast recording of Jesus Christ Superstar Every. Single. Day for months because it was all my sister listened to, I enjoyed parts of her version. But she definitely was working against the backup singers. Kind of a hit-or-miss performance.

David C - Total goosebumps. He has real vocal control, wonderful range, and knows how to use his voice better than everyone else put together. I’ve liked him up to now; tonight he just crossed over into WOW! territory for me.

Plus I realy enjoyed ALW. The caliber of mentors this season has improved about a thousand percent from the Barry Manilow/Donna Summer days, hasn’t it?

113

Sam Stone is becoming one of my favorite posters.
(no offense, everyone else!)

114

I didn’t hear Carly working against the backup singers - she was singing a counter-melody. It’s a fairly common technique where you let the backup singers take the melody, then you sing an alternate melody around it. That was the part that actually impressed me, because it takes good timing to pull that off when you’re using different notes and coming in on different beats.

115

I’d put David Cook and Carly Smithson in the top two this week, and Brooke and Jason in the bottom two. What more can I say about David Cook than I’ve already said? I’ve watched the Youtube video of his song a couple of times now, and I’m sorry, Sampiro, but he’s singing right to me. I’ll be buying this one off of iTunes, too, once the studio version comes out. I give him full props for stepping so far outside of his comfort zone, and then knocking it out of the park.

I think Carly picked just the right song and nailed it. David Cook gave me goosebumps, but Carly looked like she was having a blast.

116

It’s funny, but I thought David C. clearly butchered Music of the Night, but then again I am a musical theatre fan. I was reading the thread about tonight’s episode on BroadwayWorld and most everyone there agreed that his version of Music of the Night was the worst of the night, so it’s odd to come here and see it praised as one of the best. I’ve just heard so many other people sing that song who are much more talented that it’s hard to hear it by a gruffer more rockish voice. And come on, that last screamed note was awful.

117

Reposting the YouTube links for those who want a one stop OP, and my own final verdicts:

Syesha: I suppose it’s a latent racism that I’ve been seeing her as a so-so soul diva, when in fact she’s a more-than-so-so Broadway diva. Tonight’s the first time I think she could have a big future in front of an audience.

Jason Castro: Already spoken to the issue, but will just add that unless he comes out in a Speedo next week he can start packing for my part. He’s pleasant to look at, pleasant to listen to (not tonight, but generally), and has about as much chance of being a groundbreaking music superstar as I do.
Brooke White: I must admit to a prejudice in that I love that song- I associate it with a love affair I was having when the movie came out, so spoiling it may hit me harder than most ALW songs. However,
[Mike Brady]Brooke, when you get on a stage to sing in front of an audience, you’re not just a singer. You’re an actor. You’re playing a part, and the part you’re acting is of a professional singer. A professional singer may have learned the day before that she owes $4.5 million to the IRS due to embezzlement by her manager who just ran off with her husband and her ex-boyfriend just sold pictures of her riding naked on a dolphin to Larry Flynt all while she’s battling the worst split ends problem of her life, but when she comes onstage she’s going to sing that love ballad like she’s merry as Gidget at a gay wedding. When you break the song and start over, you’ve broken the fourth wall just the same as if you’re in a production of Sound of Music and stop “The Lonely Goatherd” to say 'But folks, the real heroes aren’t the von Trapps but the young men and women in the resistance and the Allies who stopped this crazy Hitler!" You’ve broken the spell.[/Mike Brady]
Short version: pack.

David Archuleta: Oh David, David, me boogie. I always thought it’d be Clemenza who betrayed me, not you on a show tune night. This had your name all over it, and there’s not a song from Joseph that you couldn’t have nailed. If you want to come out you don’t have to do it by pretending you’re a French ingenue girl. I like you kid, I do… but you need to learn to trust your feelings, cause once again I don’t think you chose that song. And if you did, then screw your feelings and find somebody you do trust. But you’re safe. You’d have to come onstage and kick a baby panda with a steel toes boots not to make it to the final two. (And it was so terribly painfully obvious that you were consciously avoiding closing your eyes.)

Carly Smithson She shouldn’t have worn sleeves as her tattoos are more interesting.

David Cook Tonight clinched it. While I’m sure tomorrow somebody will report that he stole an arrangement of this once sung by Dick Van Dyke’s illegitimate grandson Bucky in a Boca Raton New Age-Ska-Reggae band at a 1993 bar mitzvah, I loved it. What’s more is this: I vow right now that I am going to move to the midwest and bear his children. (I know, I know, I know… you’re all thinking- “Sampiro, you’re over 40 and you smoke! Pregnancy will be a risk!” But I’ll get healthy and drink lots of Ensure.)
Paula didn’t mention his package tonight, though she did say he had a beautiful instrument.

You. keep. your. claws. off. him… SKANK! He doesn’t love you! You wouldn’t believe the things he says about you when we’re alone in my fantasies when he’s naked on a dolphin…

OMG! He’s the Haitian from Heroes! (I guess they’ll just call him “The Mormon”- sounds more ominous anyway, and nobody expects a teenaged Mormon kid to have sinister powers.)

118

I completely agree. I’ve said it before, and tonight really proved it, but David Cook has a beautiful voice. He’s my pick to win this season.

And I loved what Carly did with Superstar. She changed it up and “made it her own”, actually making it sound almost contemporary rock instead of movie musical. Loved it.

Not sure why being a self-proclaimed musical theater fan makes a difference. I’ve grown up going to musical theater every week, every Summer since I was at least 5, which adds up to over 40 years of theater-going (our family has actually had the same seats since my mother was a little girl). I’ve seen numerous shows on their original Broadway stage. And my husband and I are currently season ticket holders to two different theaters. And I happen to think David Cook was utterly spine-tingling tonight, including that last note.

119

Eh, I just put that it as a qualifier because I know I am not their target audience. That’s all. But you guys like him so that’s cool. I just thought it was amusing how different the reactions were here than on a Broadway centered board.

Hey, I just think it’s cool that finally Broadway songs are getting time in the spotlight. I always found it rather insulting when in the audition rounds the judges would tell the lesser talented people, “You should be on Broadway,” as if that is something easy to do, and as if it’s so unworthy as to be just for pop star rejects.

120

Wow, Carly was terrific! And I still like Brooke, even though she’s been a mess recently. What happened? Jason should go this week. That’s an expression of preference, by the way, not prediction.