# American Idol, 5/6 & 5/7 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 6, 2008, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-6-5-7/448276 "2008-05-06T12:23:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-6-5-7/448276/1 "2008-05-06T12:23:01Z")
The theme is Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and for what seems to be the first time all season, the kids have a very diverse and very long song list to choose from. [500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll](http://www.rockhall.com/exhibithighlights/500-songs/) I don’t have spoilers yet, but may have them later this evening. Until then, I figured it might be fun to speculate what they might pick. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-6-5-7/448276/2 "2008-05-06T12:48:57Z")
That really is a great selection pool! The last time they had anything even approaching that breadth was when they did the year they were born. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-6-5-7/448276/3 "2008-05-06T13:01:18Z")
My picks for them would be: **Jason:** The Times They Are A-Changin’ - Bob Dylan **David C:** London Calling - The Clash **David A:** California Girls - The Beach Boys **Syesha:** Aretha Franklin - Respect ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-6-5-7/448276/4 "2008-05-06T18:04:51Z")
Gah! Too many songs to choose from! ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-6-5-7/448276/5 "2008-05-06T18:21:20Z")
… ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-6-5-7/448276/6 "2008-05-06T18:24:00Z")
My picks for songs that would be good for each candidate: Cook: Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), Moondance, American Girl, Pride (In The Name of Love) Castro: Any Bob Dylan, “The Weight” by the Band, Legalize It (hee), Syesha: Chain of Fools, Something To Talk About, We Are Family Archuleta: Just The Way You Are, Living For The City, Maybe I’m Amazed, You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling, Bridge Over Troubled Water Aaaaaaand, my first spoilers are in. Castro is rumored to be singing… “I Shot the Sheriff” and “Mr. Tambourine Man” ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-6-5-7/448276/7 "2008-05-06T18:31:33Z")
It would be so awesome if someone sang “Highway to Hell.” Not gonna happen, though. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-6-5-7/448276/8 "2008-05-06T19:38:01Z")
[QUOTE=Drain Bead] Archuleta: … Bridge Over Troubled Water [/QUOTE] Holy cow, what a great selection that would be for him. In fact, all your selections were excellent. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-6-5-7/448276/9 "2008-05-06T21:29:11Z")
I hope Syesha doesn’t try Respect. It’s not one of my favorite songs anyway, even when Aretha does it. But I don’t want her to do Chain of Fools or Natural Woman or Think either. Is Baby I Love You eligible this week? Syesha could do a good job with that, I think. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-6-5-7/448276/10 "2008-05-06T21:37:50Z")
[QUOTE=Drain Bead] Archuleta: Just The Way You Are, Living For The City, Maybe I’m Amazed, You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling, Bridge Over Troubled Water [/QUOTE] I don’t think Archuleta could pull off “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling”. He doesn’t have the soulfulness (or rock shoutiness, if you prefer) necessary for the middle section. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-6-5-7/448276/11 "2008-05-06T21:56:08Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] Is Baby I Love You eligible this week? Syesha could do a good job with that, I think. [/QUOTE] No, unfortunately. Neither is Unchained Melody, though I don’t know whether any of them could sing that. Maybe — just maybe — David A. But while I was looking yours up, I spotted a good one for David C: Bang A Gong (Get It On) by T. Rex. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-6-5-7/448276/12 "2008-05-06T22:43:01Z")
Full spoilers… \* Jason Castro - “I Shot the Sherrif” by Bob Marley/Eric Clapton and “Mr. Tambourine Man” By Bob Dylan/Byrds. \* David Archuleta - “Stand By Me” By Ben E. King and “Love Me Tender” (Norah Jones version) - this has turned into a pretty pervasive rumor with supposed reliable source, but I can’t vouch for it. \* Syesha Mercado - “Proud Mary” by Ike and Tina Turner, “A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke \* David Cook - “Hungry Like the Wolf” by Duran Duran and “Baba O’Reilly” by the Who. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-6-5-7/448276/13 "2008-05-06T22:55:11Z")
Uh oh. I think Proud Mary is a bad choice for Syesha, what with her tendency to overplay a song too early into it. It’s why she ends up screeching the ending. Her crescendo begins loud and goes on a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-6-5-7/448276/14 "2008-05-07T00:01:38Z")
I wonder which 3 were the top vote-getters? My educated guess based on Dial Idol is that Castro is the odd man out. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-6-5-7/448276/15 "2008-05-07T00:07:16Z")
Hmm, I’m not liking David’s Hungry Like The Wolf. Too grungy maybe? Perhaps he was just eager to get back into his rock mode after the last few weeks, but it was kinda boring. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-6-5-7/448276/16 "2008-05-07T00:07:38Z")
The whole Rock and Roll Hall of fame to choose from and he chooses fucking Duran duran? he kind of punked it out a little, but he could have just as easily chosen a song that had some balls to begin with. I hope they don’t all sing emasculated crap all night, but they probably will. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-6-5-7/448276/17 "2008-05-07T00:09:56Z")
I hate that song under the best of circumstances. All I can say is that Cook’s version was better than the original, but that’s not saying much. It certainly wasn’t a show-stopper. His pre-song interview made it sound like he didn’t choose that song himself. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-6-5-7/448276/18 "2008-05-07T00:14:18Z")
I like the Duran Duran song. It’s actually a great song. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-6-5-7/448276/19 "2008-05-07T00:15:23Z")
Great song, which makes it a pretty gutsy choice. Kinda shouty, though. Syesha’s Proud Mary, that is. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2008, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-6-5-7/448276/20 "2008-05-07T00:15:37Z")
Syesha doing “Proud Mary.” Didn’t care for the slow start but liked it better after the tempo picked up. She did look sexy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-6-5-7/448276.md?page=2)