Another yawner. Is this the first season where the performances get worse week after week? David C. won the night with the Aerosmith song, but even that was pretty standard stuff. I miss the “wow” moments of David A’s “Imagine,” or David C.'s “Billie Jean.”
Oh well, there’s always next week.
David C was much, much better than anyone else.
Went back and watched it again. Liked it better even than watching it live. I started out this season not really liking him or being particularly impressed by him, but I’ve become a convert.
I’ve also become decreasingly enchanted with David Archuleta, who, as has been noted, sounds like he’s singing the same song over and over. He also often sounds like he’s about to hyperventilate.
I hate the Aerosmith ballad, so it’s just as well I missed it. Aerosmith stopped being good about the time Reagan got elected president.
Is this the first time we’ve seen David Cook’s dad in the audience? His mom is always there but this is the first time I remember seeing his dad.
I just wanted to post the Jason Castro exit interview from American Idol Extra. It just solidifies in my mind that he’s a really cool guy.
part 1 (saying bye to the judges)
part 2 (his mom and brother)
part 3 (relief at leaving the show, how he got his dreads)
part 4 (more about the hair, talks about his girlfriend, talks about the group sings, wardrobe)
part 5 (vocal coach joins the interview, Jason talks about song choices)
I don’t think Syesha deserved all the flak she got from the judges.
She or David A. will leave this week and David C. will take it all next time.
I posted this on Dio’s “Papachuleta gets banned” thread a few days ago, but for those who haven’t seen it- the ultimate Jason photo (authentic and unaltered to the best of my knowledge).
Am I the only person anywhere who thinks Jason is boyishly cute AT BEST?
Boy needs a haircut, for real.
One stop links for those who haven’t seen the performances or wish to see them again (though if there’s another Fremantle Wednesday Morning Massacre they may not be available in a few hours). They’re posted by artist rather than by order sung.
DAVID ARCHULETA-
And So it Goes (chosen by Paula)
With You (chosen by Archuleta or his owner)
Longer (chosen by producers) Is it the shirt or is the kid sweaty in this one?
DAVID COOK
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face- Simon’s choice
Personally I thought he did a great job of, considering it’s totally not a song I think he’d ordinarily sing.
Dare You to Move- his choice
Surprisingly “meh” for me considering it was his own selection.
I Dont’ Wanna Miss a Thing - producer’s choice
I loved it, though I’m not familiar with the song. The remainder reminded me of (the original) Eleanor Rigby, which is a good thing- I loved the original.
SYESHA
If I Ain’t Got You - Randy’s choice
If I were a mad king ala Saul, she’s definitely one of the people I’d have brought to sing for me.
Fever - her choice
I agree with what others have said- good, but not memorable. I also wanted to slug Ryan for bringing up the chair and thus making her movements far more self conscious seeming. (Ryan, booby, you’re not a performer, stick to smiling and nodding and asking about their hair.)
Hit Me Up - producer’s choice
I’m totally hoping that Syesha wins the competition, though I don’t see it happening. Cook not only doesn’t need to win but it could hamper [del]our future together[/del] his career for the course of his contract. Archuleta will definitely get money and a contract out of this come what may. Syesha, however, is probably the least likely to get a record contract immediately and could probably benefit the most from the mentoring process and, more importantly, the nest egg. Plus I think she’s Broadway bound anyway (RENT’s about run it’s course or she’d be a good Mimi, but she’d be a great Shug in COLOR PURPLE or Nala in Lion King or Lady of the Lake in Spamalot or just about any other role that needs a great voice from a great looking woman).
I’m not crazy about dreads in general, especially for white guys (don’t mean anything racist by that, they just look too affected and “look at me being alternative”), but his in particularly bother me because they don’t look clean.
I think he’s pretty-ish in a very feminine way, and dread locks kind of gross me out (though he does look like long hair suits him). I don’t consider him hot to my personal tastes, but I can see why others would.
My recap of the, “THIS is the top three???” show.
Round 1
David Archuleta: “And So it Goes”. Paula says this will ‘totally exploit your voice’. Simon thinks, “just like your Dad.”
This is actually a pretty good performance. The acapella part was very nice, and for once his didn’t smear the melody with runs and big notes. And finally, I actually felt a little emotion in his performance. Maybe having Dad banned from backstage has loosened him up a bit.
Syesha - “If I Ain’t Got You”. I’m sorry. I’ve completely forgotten this song. Aren’t there about a million of these songs floating around out there, being sung exactly like this? It’s technically good, althought right at the end her high note run made my dog whimper. I’m pretty sure that means it was either bad, or the dog wanted some of my cheezies. But overall, this was competent and professional, if not exactly inspiring. I think.
David Cook: The first time ever I saw David Cook’s face, it was a attached to a giant baby head with a freakish combover. I tell you, American Idol’s song pickers may suck, their sound man may be a moron, and Randy Jackson may be a giant tool, but damn their makeup people should win an Oscar for this.
So, Simon picks Roberta Flack for DC. I can’t decide if this is the most moronic choice ever, or brilliant. And the performance is really good. He missed a couple of notes, but grading by degree of difficulty, who cares? I don’t know if he arranged that or found another version on the internet, but that was pretty good. He made it different enough that it sounded like a legitimate cover and not karaoke. And unbelievably, Paula made the most sense of anyone on the panel.
Round 2
David Archuleta: Man, he Fonzied himself right over the shark tank on that one. Boy can’t dance. He can’t enunciate. He doesn’t have much rhythm. No wonder he always picks ballads. He is the anti-Blake Lewis. What kind of career could he possibly have? I mean, how big can the Rick Astley impersonator circuit really be?
Syesha: Pretty good performance. Paula proves that her moment of lucidity in the last round was but the eye of the crazy storm by claiming that this song ‘didn’t show her who Syesha is as an artist’. The hell? This song is so Syesha. She’s already got her bags packed for Broadway.
David Cook: Some sort of modern rock song, crammed into a minute and a half. Whatever. Not my favorite performance of his.
Round 3
David Archuleta: Just the other day I was thinking, “Man, what I’d really like to listen to is someone like Dan Fogelberg, only with a little less edge.” Thank God David Archuleta was there to make that happen for me.
Syesha: What kind of crappy song is this? At least I know why it’s the producer’s choice - the cross-promotional tie-in with “Happy Feet” makes him all quivery with glee. Oh, and there’s some kind of music that comes with the deal. And if we can get the judges to mention the movie several times, they’ll give him a BMW…Mission accomplished!
David Cook: You know, I wouldn’t have minding missing a few things tonight. Like most of the performances. And I’ve never much liked this song, although Simon helpfully informed us that this is the best song ever written by an artist with a cross-promotional deal with 19 entertainment and who has a new album coming out on June 3.
And it was a weird arrangement. In the end, just okay.
Who I think is going: Syesha.
Who I want to go: Archie, just to see his Dad’s head explode. But on the other hand, I think Archie’s the only one who really needs the idol crown to build a career. So in a way I hope he wins the whole thing. He seems like a nice kid.
David Cook actually seems to want to win for some inexplicable reason. Maybe he’s giddy with the prospect of getting to sing this year’s version of “This is My Now” at shopping malls across the nation for the next year, coupled with scintillating interviews on local Fox affiliates, followed by a craptacular album of bizarre old showtunes and disco hits of the 70’s put together by the geniuses at 19 entertainment. I’ll bet he can hardly wait.
This.
I had somewhat noticed it in previous weeks, but this week was blatantly obvious. Shame on them. This is my first season of AI, and due to these pre-conceived reviews, I most likely will not watch next season.
That’s too bad, Polerius. This is probably the worst year of AI ever. The talent on prior seasons left these guys in the dust. I for one did see previous seasons and each week I was sitting on my couch anticipating the next duel of some really decent singers. This year was so dull and bad after the third week I only grabbed a quick look at DC’s performances on Youtube. The result held no interest for me.
Anyway, I wish you had seen some that had gone before so you could truly realize what we all missed this season.
I agree with everything up to the “and”. I think David should have left it acapella. The band added nothing and instead gave him the “freedom” to add some runs which have no business in that song. It was really good for thirty seconds then started rapidly downhill.
I pretty much agree with everything else you posted though and wanted to say that your recaps are a highlight of these threads for me.
I can’t wait to read the reviews on David A’s first album:
*"Bridging the gap between easy listening and 70's rock for a whole new generation"*
Of the 3, I thought Archuletta was actually the worst and should go home, but that isn’t going to happen. The funny thing is, he will have a huge audience of pre-teen girls, but his style is best suited for their grandmothers.
Kudos to Paula for giving a shout out to Diane Warren. Ridiculous amount of hits on her list.
And, “I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing” should forever be associated with “Blades of Glory”, not “Armageddon”.
This is the perfect review for that performance.