American Idol - Season 7 (1 Viewer)

[Yee-Ming]

Absolutely agree. Given that the original Billie Jean is so famous, whilst the Cornell version is hardly known (I'd never heard it before Cook did his version of it), doing an 'alternative' version is risky. And since any 'standard' version of doing a song is unoriginal anyway, why the critique of Cook doing something similar to an 'alternative' version of the song?

Brooke's comments on the two different ways of doing Every Breath was telling: she admitted she had no formal training and plays piano intuitively (damn, she's good for someone with no formal training!), she tried it out both ways in practice and preferred adding the band -- obviously the arrangements were offered or suggested to her, but it was her call at the end.

Ramiele has certainly faded badly since Hollywood and the early elimination rounds. I was certainly expecting her to be bottom 3, and possibly going home, but it looks like she might be this season's Jasmine Trias. Except that she actually does have a voice somewhere lost in that overwhelmed little girl that seems to be struggling each week to keep up. I like her, I hope she finds some form soon, but otherwise she's joining her BFF Danny Noriega in the audience (anyone else notice him, Amy Davis and David H behind the judges?)

Simon was spot-on when saying Kristy got the right song choice, indeed the 'best' choice in 7 years. Indeed, she didn't even make bottom 3. And with Dolly next week, more country means she might survive another week, unless the Simon "best yet" kiss-of-death seals her fate?

If Paul Rogers doesn't work out or quits, maybe May and Deacon might like to audition Michael Johns? OK, just kidding, he's not that good, but he wasn't bad I must say. Queen songs are always a tough ask, and he pulled it off. Without ever being as creepy as Constantine Maroulis (who was also in the audience either this time or last week, I forget though).

I was slightly surprised to see Chikezie go. He sang well, but as already commented, the song itself was rather bland. Oops.

 

[Mikah Cerucco]

Constantine is a co-host for American Idol Extra, so he's there every week. I'm pretty sure you can't see him in the audience every week, though, so I don't know when that was.

 

[mylan]

Michael Johns totally nailed that one, I forgot (mostly) everyone else. I'm surprised Paula wasn't smoking a cigarette afterwards.

 

[Howard Glenn]

I agree Michael Johns did a terrific job but David Archuletta was still tops...his best performance since the first Beatles week.

It's time for Ramiele to go...she definitely has a future selling sleep aids.

 

[mylan]

David A. did way better than last week, I have been a fan of his since Imagine but he has shown his limitations the past few weeks, tonight he was in the top three. It was a beautiful song and a great song choice.
My top three in no particular order are:
Michael Johns, that was one sexy song, my wife has played it back thr..four times already, maybe she's warming up
David Archuletta, from the heart, great vocals
Carly Smithson, that was her best performance.Simon was beyond rude, his comments were even beyond the scope of criticism for the shows purposes. We just watched it back and the look on her face told way more than she could ever say, to even stand there and take that took courage, contrary to what you've just read, i'm speechless.

 

[Greg_S_H]

I thought Brooke was strong and was surprised by the lukewarm reviews. Maybe they didn't know the song, but I thought she nailed it.

Ramiele would have been a lock for the leave, but I think it's Kristy. She gave a bottom-three-but-safe performance, but her snottiness towards Simon at the end was a big miscalculation.

The rest was pretty strong across the board. I thought Syesha was better than her reviews, mainly because she pulled back from the overwrought Whitney version. Dolly has publically criticized the Whiney version (granted, Syesha probably doesn't know Dolly did that), so it was a good choice to step away from all of the runs in her presence.

 

[Carl Miller]

I thought David Cook's performance was the best of the night....followed by Michael John's and that was really the first performance of John's that I actually liked.

David A was good...the kid has such a great voice. First performance by Carly that I thought was good, maybe because she didn't shriek.

The rest of them are in full one trick pony mode.

Again, Ramiele should go..she is clearly, week after week, the weakest of the group. But I think she'll manage to hang on another week and Kristy will be voted off instead.

 

[todd stone]

david cook is one cocky SOB.

Michael Johns is a spitting image of Michael Hutchens and I think it's great!

 

[Patrick Sun]

Brooke White - "Jolene" A decent rendition, but it didn't really go anywhere vocally. It was a safe performance.

David Cook - "Little Sparrow" A nice performance of a song I've barely heard of, but he appeared to have updated it for today's musical climate, and imparted a nice catchy melody for the chorus. He almost sounded like the lead singer of "Mr. Mister" in spots.

Ramiele Malubay - "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind" Showed more life in her performance, but still more karoake than a sincere effort. It didn't showcase her vocal range at all, a far too safe of a choice.

Jason Castro - "Traveling Through" A decent street corner performance by the dreaded one, but it didn't separate him from the pack. His vocals stayed in too narrow of a range, and it sounded quick, but monotonous.

Carly Smithson - "Here You Come Again" I liked about 80 seconds of that song, but good grief, yet another long-winded note at the end from Carly. If she could just not go for the big notes (they just don't sound good from her), and give into the melody of the song, it would make for a smoother performance.

David Archuleta - "Smokey Mountain Memories" That song was back in his wheel house, and he made the most of it, though in a few spots, he had to scoop a note or two, but overall a strong performance.

Kristy Lee Cook - "Coat of Many Colors" I think her eyes were closed for over half the song, and she seemed a little bored by the middle of the song. She gets bonus points for singing barefoot, though.

Syesha Mercado - "I Will Always Love You" It was pretty slow and drawn out for most of the song (I almost looked at my watch to see if her 90 seconds were up yet), but the last note was was solid (again, Carly, are you listening? that's how you do a long, powerful note at the end).

Michael Johns - "It's All Wrong" A very solid performance, carried by strong vocals that seared through the lyrics and got to the grit of the emotional thrust of the song. Best of the night.


-------------

Rankings

Enjoyable
Michael Johns
David Archuleta
David Cook

Solid but could have been better
Syesha Mercado
Carly Smithson

Under-performed
Brooke White
Kristy Lee Cook

Once was enough
Jason Castro
Ramiele Malubay


I think Ramiele or Jason is going home.

 

[Jeremiah]

Simon might of been a prick for ripping on Carly's outfits but he is right, her outfits have been hideous. The last few weeks I couldn't stand to look at her cause she looked so bad. If she listens to him it will help.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Which comments? He was spot on about her wardrobe. Some of her outfits have been really wacky (today's was actually nowhere near the worst).

 

[Mike Williams]

the "overwrought" Whitney version is only overwrought when someone else attempts it. Whitney made it one of the biggest pop songs of all time. When Dolly sang it, it was the B-side of another song, and ended up as a montage in "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" where Dolly thought she could give the song a second chance. And I've never heard anything but praise from Dolly over Whitney's version of the song. Whitney doing that song made Dolly a rich woman (as if she wasn't already). Whitney's version is iconic and no one will ever come close to reaching what she did. That's why -- as Simon pointed out -- it's such a dangerous song to do.

 

[Spero D]

Michael Johns- Hands down for me best singer of the night.

 

[Gwon Chang]

Carly's wardrobe problem can be boiled down to the fact that she has this odd need for us to see her tattoo every week. We get that you have tats. We understand your husband is the illustrated man. Get over yourself.

And Syesha's long note? I thought it was lame and tacky. Totally unnecessary and self-serving.

Michael J. was the best of the night, by far. Sang with conviction and commanded the stage. He got into the feel of the song. Someone else sang a jilted lover type song and she was smiling like it was a fun song (Carly, maybe?). MJ's look and attitude were totally appropriate for what he sang.

All IMO, of course.

 

[Hanson]

Say, Dolly looks pretty good for someone who’s 70. Mentors past like Priscilla Presley, Barry Mannilow, and Dolly’s old duet partner Kenny Rogers should get the name of her plastic surgeon, because she came out much better than the other three plastic surgery disasters I mentioned. Priscilla looks like the Joker, Kenny looks like a naked mole rat, and Barry looks like the Crypt Keeper.

No bad songs choices tonight, per se, although frankly, I didn’t know most of the songs. It actually turned out better than these “country nights” usually do, but I’d like to see them do away with these theme nights. I’m not sure who they’re serving, but the bottom line is, if the singers aren’t going to sing well because they’re stuck with a certain song, it doesn’t do diddly squat for the audience. The producers should take off the shackles and let the audience actually be entertained.

Brooke – With her voice, Brooke could have really nailed a tearjerker like Jolene. But several missteps screwed up her chance at gaining some momentum – for starters, playing the guitar was a mistake, as it appeared that she was concentrating too much on strumming in rhythm to really get into the song vocally. It felt rushed, and the tempo made the song boppy instead of melancholy. She also kept smiling throughout the song, which was also at odds with lyrics like, “please don’t take my man”, and in the second half, she started with the spastic shoulder shrugging. A real wasted opportunity.

David – Cook had to begin the night by crediting the actual musicians who had created the arrangements for all of the songs in the past three weeks. This was, of course, due to the perception that he was stealing other people’s work and taking credit for it. To be fair, he did credit Whitesnake for Day Tripper and Ryan (barely) credited Chris Cornell for last weeks Billy Jean version that so many people were drooling over. The issue for me isn’t that he cribbed other people’s work – I mean, that’s the essence of the show, really – it’s that when the judges rave about how original he is and how great the arrangement is and how it could be “put on a record today”, David gets more votes, because instead of being perceived as douchy poser, the voters think Cook is also an accomplished musician and arranger. The voting mechanic is driven by enthusiasm (it’s the only thing that keeps people redialing through constant busy tones), and whether people want to vote for you because you’re cute or funny or talented and make great arrangements, anything that gives you that extra juice gets you more votes. However, if Cook is getting part of his votes for the arrangement, then he is getting them fraudulently. If he had any personal integrity he would say, "when I first heard this version by..." in response to the judges’ slobbering over the arrangement – by just mutely thanking them, he promulgates the illusion that he's responsible for it (although if he did have personal integrity, he wouldn’t be the "rocker” on a show like American Idol, but that’s another story).

Back to the show!

Judging by the first few measures of Little Sparrow, Cook needs to work on his falsetto, which would kind of die out before it got to where it was supposed to go. He could also learn to enunciate, as I wasn’t able to make out most of what he was singing, and the resulting elided gibberish made him sound like an emo Buckwheat or Suel Forrester (dagity bo!). On the whole, the song was set too high to be in the good part of his range, and it was just meh vocally. Cook got a hair re-styling (I would think the precious amount of hair he has left would not be subject to any sort of cutting), and it turned his orangutan comb over into a more straight forward version.

Ramiele – I thought it was good, better than her latest previous efforts, but it was a rather unremarkable performance. Who listens to this and then waits for the show to end, and then dials over and over again? Ramiele doesn’t need a comb over but seems to like the look anyway. And if anyone was wondering what kind of shoes she was wearing, they were gold ankle-high boots with stiletto heels and an open toe. Just like the ones mom used to wear.

Jason – Jason appeared to have taken Simon’s criticisms (and a bottom three appearance) to heart and burned the midnight oil (with a few hemp products thrown in) to produce an emotional, and at times emotionally wrenching version of Travelin’ Thru. And yet, I’m not sure if that kind of emotion was warranted, as it’s more of an introspective song and not the kind about heartbreak or loss that would have connected better with the lyrics. For me, there seemed to be a bit of a disconnect, and as a result it seemed like he was simply trying too hard. The top of Jason’s head brought to mind the underside of a horseshoe crab. What made me think of that? I guess it’s late and I’m punchy. It’s not because of bong hits, if that’s what you’re thinking.

Carly – I don’t exactly know what the hell happened but… Carly actually looked… lord, I don’t believe I’m saying this… actually… at times, mind you, at times, not all the time,,, but… yeah, every now and then, she looked… pretty. There, I said it. Fugly Smithson looked a little pretty tonight. It’s not like I wanna marry her (I don’t have enough face tats to qualify anyway), but part of the hard fugly edge was ground down somehow (I actually don’t know how or what she did), and she even kept a lot of the monster faces to a minimum. That said, her two other faults were on full display – for one, she could only sing in a non-blaring voice for 23 seconds before she had to start belting again. It’s like she only thinks singing is of good quality if she blows out ear drums – It appears to be beyond Carly to actually sing a pretty note. She just has no sense of dynamics, and she is another in a long line of AI has-beens who confuse volume with power. Her voice has actually lost some oomph, and that last big note wasn’t particularly good. I wonder if her slight uptick in the looks department and the downgrade in her voice have anything to do with a tickle in her throat. Not the kind caused by cold or allergy, but rather by a finger or two (depending on what it takes to get the ol’ gag reflex going). The other fault, as so casually and cruelly pointed out by Simon (and followed by a slow pan on her outfit), was that she just can’t seem to find clothes that are in any way fashionable or flattering. The top was designed to look like it all gathered into the middle in an effort to look slimming, but it just looked like it was made of used contractor bags. Then she wore red jodhpurs to complete the outfit. Madness. Between the horrible outfit and the shadows, she ended up looking like Elasti-Girl from the Incredibles.

David – I have this theory that Davey’s dad is engineering a pattern where he’s good one week, then stumbles the next. That allows him to be good one week without it seeming like old hat (especially with Randy exclaiming, “David Archuleta is back, baby!” every other week). Instead of being the invincible Golden Child who the voters eventually tire of, he gets to stay human until, say, the top four. Tonight was good Davey, the one with the pristine voice and astounding breath control. I downgrade the performance a bit because of a fudged moment right before the last big run (not flawless), and because I though the song itself was meh. Second week in a row without lip licking, but this nervous tic seemed to have been replaced by more prominent breathing in noises. Tay Zonday moves his head away from the mic when he does that. Tay is a true professional.

Kristy – I bet Kristy’s first reaction to finding out they were singing Dolly Parton songs was, “did Dolly ever write a song about how awesome America is?” Unfortunately, nothing as red meat as God Bless the USA was available, so she did a song about growing up dirt poor. This song told a story much more than any of the other songs, and the one thing I took away from this performance was that Kristy Lee Cook is an absolutely shitty storyteller. I was barely able to understand what was happening in the song because Kristy Lee sings in a droning fashion without the inflection that lets you know when one thought ends and another begins – it was a like one big run on sentence. It’s like when someone reads you off a telephone number without the normal pause between the third and fourth number – it’s confusing to follow. Every now and then, to denote emotion, Kristy Lee would yodel a little. It’s all rather pathetic and tiresome.

Syesha – I was really, really shocked – I mean just flabbergasted – I mean, who would have guessed – like, what Nostradamus could have forseen that Syesha would sing I Will Always Love You? What, everyone? Yeah, pretty much everyone. After being in the bottom three last week, I knew we were in for some cleavage this week. But for some reason, while the outfit didn’t have all that much in the way of décolletage, it did show how massive Syesha’s boobs are. Close enough, I guess. The first part of the song was okay, but I figured out the thing about the way Syesha sings that leaves me cold, and that is, she spends her whole time waiting for the long notes and really doesn’t seem to care about the rest of the song. No one is going to emotionally connect to any song when they’re actively ignoring most of it, and without that dimension, it’s difficult to really enjoy a performance. The big, Whitney-inspired finish was painfully sharp, and the “And I-I-I-I-I” started out sharp and she had to actually scoop down to the note. The last big note overbaked. Was that really what the performance was all about? To sing one big note?

Michael – I was really surprised and almost blown away by this performance (he’s still too douchy to embrace fully). Johns is starting to get himself back into the top three race again with this one, hitting every note, striking the perfect tone, and generally having the performance of the night. Could do without the ascot. What, no smoking jacket? No monocle? What about the cigarette in the really long holder? Waxed moustache? See how stupid the ascot is?

 

[Chris_Morris]

I didn't see this in the thread yet but Elliot Yamin's mother passed away recently. Thoughts and prayers go out to Elliot and his family.

 

[Brett_M]

I thought it was a good show, all things considered. Some great songs and performances.

Brooke White- She has a recording voice. She is like Jason Castro in that she has carved a niche for herself. She can't belt one like Syesha or Carly but I like her tone and musical ability.

David Cook- Cook is definitely reading the blogs and message boards about himself in terms of his performances and taking credit for his previous arrangements. It seemed like he and Seacrest were in damage control mode. He takes things to heart and has toned things down a bit. He still has the best stage presence and performance ability for me. One of the best performances of the night and could have been the best had he performed later in the show.

Ramiele Maulbay- She is definitely the weakest. She's 20 but performs like shes a teenager. She needs to go although she has a lot of support. I think she'll hang on a bit longer.

Jason Castro- He is dreamy. Just kidding. The guy could make a living playing his guitar and singing in bars and coffee houses and could record an album tomorrow but he is not a contender and can't hold a candle to the other guys in terms of vocals and performance ability.

Carly Smithson- I thought her vocals were spot on and she dressed better than ever. I just don't care about her.

David Archuleta- Great vocal performance but it is "Star Search" all over again. He is not as good on stage as David Cook. And his golly gee stuff is strating to bug me. He needs to step it up as far as acting a little more mature during his performances and even pre-song videos.

Kristy Lee Cook- She looked great and she gave her best vocal performance so far for me but she just doesn’t have the goods. This could be her last week. Patrick and I agree that singing barefoot is a plus.

Syesha Mercado- I loved the beginning and her bridge to Whitney's version never quite got there. She's a great singer but you don't try to do what Whitney, Mariah, and Celine can do. You never can. She should have done some small runs in the Dolly version she started with. It would have worked much better.

Michael Johns- He'll stick around. This was my favorite peformance of his so far. He sang the meoldy and that's the best thing you can do at this stage of the game.

Ramiele should go but I think Kristi is done.

 

[Patrick Sun]

...and the plot thickens...

"American Idol" Contestant Hospitalized, Released - TMZ.com - Entertainment News, Celebrity Gossip and Hollywood Rumors

 

[Brett_M]

Watch, Archie's dad probably poisoned him so his kid could win.

 

[Josh Dial]

Come on Hanson, this is a nomination for the over-statement of the year, by far. Really? Fraudulently? That's the word you chose to use after tossing around words like "promulgate?" I'm not a huge David Cook fan, but I don't think he's done anything buy try and put on the best show he can each week -- something that can't be said of many others this season.