Still standing...
It’s rock and roll night tonight on American Idol. Look out for David Cook to rock your world. I’m definitely going to be watching in full surround sound today. The competition is going to come down to who can pick the best songs, best clothes, and NOT screw up. (Hey, Brooke, I’m talking to you.)
My pre-show predictions for the Top 2 performance predictions are David Cook and Syesha Mercado. I say performance predictions, though, because Syesha will be in the bottom two, as always.
It was a pretty mundane night on Idol, except for the judging. The singing was pretty blah, but the judging was spectacular. This was the first week of double songs, so it was jam-packed with 5 singers singing 10 songs in an hour. First, the judging issue:
After the singers sang their first songs, they stood in a row for a quick rundown of their performances. Randy made it really quick with 2-5 words per singer, and then the fun started with Paula.
She started with Jason Castro and said, “Your first song… blah blah, but your second song left me feeling empty.” The guys leaned in toward her and informed her that he’d only sung one song. She had this “deer in the headlights look” and started stammering that she thought he’d already done two songs. Them she made a lame excuse that she was looking at David Cook’s feedback and thought they were both for Jason.
It didn’t fly with me. Here’s what I think happened: Paula was smashed. A producer who sat in on the dress rehearsals gave her what to say so she could read them and make sense of things with the busy timetable. She got caught with her dress up or some clothing metaphor for a washed out pop singer.
On with my reviews, speed-style, just like the judges:
Jason Castro: Sucked. Doesn’t seem to care. Go home. 7.4
David Cook: Fabulous as usual. I didn’t like the songs, so I won’t be to iTunes, but he was great. 9.8
Brooke White: The first song was sooooo karioke, I can’t describe it. I really liked the second song. My average: 8.8
David Archuleta: Well, he is a prodigy. Neil Diamond said so himself. 9.8
Syesha Mercado: First song was so-so. I really liked her showmanship for the second. 9.5
Bottom Three: Jason Castro, Brooke White, Syesha Mercado
As I mentioned yesterday afternoon, last night’s show was Andrew Lloyd Weber Night on American Idol and it was HAWT! I knew it had the potential for being a big night for everyone with a big, Broadway voice, and I was not disappointed. In fact, someone’s screw up made me as giddy as a schoolboy, much to my wife’s dislike about my cheery disposition and rewinding the DVR twice to watch it again. /sigh… It’s the small things in life, I tell you. On with the review!
Syesha Mercado started the show off with some steam with a cherry red dress on top of the grand piano. She walked her way across the stage and generally acted like she owned the stage, the building, and the town and was letting you know she was the star of the night. Oh, and the singing wasn’t bad, either. She set the bar pretty high for the night. Let’s see how I think the others did following her act. I gave her a 10.0 for the night.
Ladies and gentlemen, Randy Jackson is in the house and has given his first standing O of the season! I thought it was an overall good show, for the guys, but the girls needed to step it up. They sang ‘alright,’ but it wasn’t hot when you compare it with the guys. With Michael Johns gone, the dudes stepped it up to show what they can do.
I thought… wait a second… let’s just get on with the reviews:
Leading off, David Archuleta did a dang good job with his song. We heard his falsetto for the first time, and I’ve gotta say, it was well-placed. You could say he brought down the house, but he was the first singer. All of the judges thought that he just threw down the gauntlets for the other contestants. I gave him a 9.9 for the night.
