American Idol
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Tonight was slightly less tedious than usual for a results show. The show seemed to flow a little bit better, for some reason. The show started with the contestants singing “Right Back Where We Started From”. Then there was a information piece/advertisement for the ITunes downloads. It was interesting to discover that those downloads are for full-length songs, instead of the 90 seconds we hear on the show.

After the highlights from last night, we got down to the eliminations. Chikezie was out first, and he was in the bottom three. Brooke was safe. Carly (who revealed that, contrary to recent news reports, she is not pregnant) was safe as well.

After the commercial break, we saw the Ford commercial. This week’s song was “I Want You to Want Me”, and the commercial was actually kind of interesting. I’ll post it tomorrow.

Back to the elimination. David A.— safe. David Cook found out that Chris Cornell loved his performance and that he was safe. Michael Johns found out that he was safe, as well.

Then we took phone calls. Interesting info… Chikezie is single, Simon really does consider himself the most attractive person on the show, and if Brook White could choose whoever she wanted to sing a duet with, she would choose John Mayer.

Kimberly Locke was back, filling us in on her new album, her new restaurant and her weight loss. Oh, yeah, and she sang. “Fall” is off of her new album. It was okay. Not really the kind of music I enjoy listening to for hours but alright.

After another ad for “Idol Gives Back”, we finally finished out the bottom three. Ramiele was safe (that was a bit surprising, but not completely). That left Jason Castro and Kristy Lee Cook. I figured this probably meant Kristy Lee Cook was safe because, otherwise, it was just too predictable. I was right, and Jason finished out the bottom three. Of course, he was immediately told he was safe, leaving Chikezie and Syesha to fight it out for who would go home. In the end, we said goodbye to Chikezie. While it wasn’t really surprising, I will miss his personality. At least, he was usually fun— even if his ballads were a bit boring.

What do you think? Did America get it right?

Who had the best performance tonight?
Ramiele Malubay: 11% (9)
Jason Castro: 0% (0)
Syesha Mercado: 2% (2)
Chikezie: 4% (3)
Brooke White: 6% (5)
Michael Johns: 12% (10)
Carly Smithson: 2% (2)
David Archuleta: 10% (8)
Kristy Lee Cook: 5% (4)
David Cook: 46% (37)
Total Votes : 80

I thought I’d include the Chris Cornell version of the song, in case anyone was interested, as well as the David Cook version. You can judge for yourself which you prefer (I think David Cook has a better voice, but props to Chris Cornell for coming up with the concept of the cover).

Tonight’s theme was songs from the year they were born.

Ramiele Malubay started off the night. She was born in 1987 and sang Heart’s “Alone”. (Man, tonight could really make a person feel old.) It was an interesting song choice for her. At least it wasn’t completely boring like her choices the last few weeks. Randy thought it was the wrong song choice, Paula made a big deal of the fact that Ramiele was sick, and Simon said it wasn’t as bad as Randy said (the first of many times they would disagree this evening).

Next up was Jason Castro (also born in ‘87), singing “Fragile” by Sting. I think I actually had this album, but I still didn’t really remember the song. I think Sting (especially solo Sting) has a very similar vibe and energy to Jason, so this was a good choice for him. Randy and Paula gave the performance an unenthusiastic thumbs’ up, but Simon questioned whether Jason really wants this. He thinks that Jason may be TOO laid back.

The next two songs were kind of boring to me, especially since I’d never heard either one of them. First Syesha Mercado (born in ‘87, as well) sang “If I Were Your Woman”. I couldn’t get into the song, as it’s just not my kind of music. I guess she sang it well enough but, overall, I couldn’t wait for it to be over. Randy and Paula were over the moon with this song. Simon thought it was her best so far, but not as good as Randy thought.

The next song I didn’t really get was Chikezie singing “If Only For One Night” (1985). Again, I thought it was okay, but I like it a lot better when he sings upbeat songs. Randy gave it a thumb’s down, saying it was too old school and kind of boring. Paula liked it. Simon said he sang it well, but it wasn’t original and was kind of cheesey.

Brooke White was up next on the piano, singing “Every Breath You Take” from 1983 (really? ‘83? That can’t possibly be right. Okay, maybe it is. Yikes. That does make me feel old.) Brooke restarted the song after making a small mistake at the beginning. Better to restart than sing the whole song off key. I really thought she did a good job of making this song her own, especially when she was playing the piano by herself. When the band joined in, it became a bit more like the original, but was still good. Randy thought it was interesting but liked it better without the band. Paula liked it. Simon said she should have left out the band, but it was good enough for another week. Okay, this is one of those MANY moments when I hope contestants learn they should NEVER listen to the judges. When Brooke sang “Love Is a Battlefield” Randy and Paula both said she should have started with the piano but should have added the band at some point to make it more interesting. Now, she adds the band, and all the judges say she should have played it solo. NEVER listen to the judges! They will change their minds, and you will pay the price.

Michael Johns is the oldest competitor, with a 1978 birth date. He sang Queen’s “We Will Rock You/ We Are The Champions”. It was AWESOME! He sings Queen really well. If the whole American Idol thing doesn’t work out for him, maybe he could audition for the Queen musical “We Will Rock You”. This was definitely his best performance to date. All the judges really enjoyed it. Simon said it was the first time he saw star potential in Michael.

Carly Smithson (named after Carly Simon, by the way) was born in 1983 and chose “Total Eclipse of the Heart”, which I thought was a great choice. It requires a big voice but isn’t boring. Her vocal performance was good, but she looked stiff on stage. She just didn’t really DO anything. Randy thought this was a bad song choice— he doesn’t like when she rocks (why?). Paula liked it. Simon thought something didn’t quite work, even though he thought it was a good song choice.

Tonight showed, yet again, that David Archuleta can have an off night, and when he does it is NOT pretty. Tonight he sang a song no one had ever heard of— a song called “You’re the Voice” (1990). It was not, in my opinion, a great song choice. It was a bad key for him (way too low) and did nothing for hi voice. Randy said it was a strange song choice but liked it anyway (yuck). Paula loved it (blah, blah, blah). Simon thought he sang it well in parts but didn’t like it at all, saying it reminded him of a theme park performance (yes, exactly!).

Kristy Lee Cook was born in 1984 and made the brilliant choice to sing “God Bless the USA”. Why is this a brilliant choice? Well, pretty much everybody likes the song (cheesey as it may be). Country fans REALLY like the song. It’s familiar. It’s comfortable. It was a song she could sing well. She’s probably sung it a million times. It inspires warm fuzzies in people. It’s just a really good song choice. I’ve read some blogs that fault her for this decision, claiming that it’s gimmicky, but if people can be sent home for poor song choices, then they ought to get a chance to stay for smart choices— and this was a smart choice. Randy liked the performance. Paula was on the fence. Simon said it was definitely her best performance, by a mile and that it was one of the smartest song choices he’d ever seen on the show.

Finally, David Cook (born in 1982) sang what is bound to be one of the most controversial, talked about songs of the night. He sang “Billie Jean”, but it was not Michael Jackson’s version. People are claiming that he “stole” the cover version, even though Ryan clearly stated before he ever sang the song that it was Chris Cornell’s version. The problem is that it was really hard to hear him say whose version it was. But the song was clearly properly attributed. This is not a case of an artist trying to claim an original version as his own (a la Chris Daughtry in Season 5 where the song credit was not given to Live— intentionally or not). It was a great version of the song— kudos to David Cook for finding it and taking the chance on singing it. Even though it wasn’t “original”, it could still have belly flopped badly. Instead, David showed why he is better than Daughtry will ever be. For one, he has a voice— a really, really good voice. He’s not just attitude and a rocker’s growl. He can really sing. The judges really loved this performance, as well.

All in all, I thought this week was MUCH better than last week. Here are my favorites for the evening:

1. David Cook
2. Michael Johns
3. Brooke White
4. Jason Castro
5. Kristy Lee Cook
6. Ramiele Malubay
7. Carly Smithson
8. Chikezie
9. David Archuleta
10. Syesha Mercado

What was your reaction to tonight’s elimination?
That stinks!: 18% (9)
I’m disappointed.: 24% (12)
I’m glad.: 18% (9)
That’s who I wanted to go home.: 40% (20)
Total Votes : 50

The rumor is afoot that American Idol will bring back 5 preiously eliminated contestants during the Idol Gives Back show. Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be some Big Brotheresque trick where the person recently voted out is brought back to eliminate someone else. But it looks like they may be given a chance to fight it out with each other for one more position on the tour. So, who would you most like to see added to the tour lineup? Personally, I think Amanda or Danny are the most entertaining of those who have been eliminated.

In case you missed her performance, here is the video of Kellie Pickler performing “Red High Heels” on American Idol’s elimination show last week:

My husband and I both commented on how much better she’s gotten since American Idol.

Tonight started off with some announcements about the rest of the season. Mentors this season will be Dolly Parton, Mariah Carey, Andrew Lloyd Weber and Neil Diamond. So, when Andrew Lloyd Weber is there, how many times will Simon say “It sounded a bit Broadway”? They will be running the songwriting contest again this year. The finale will be May 20th.

After the announcements, there was the medley. Then we watched the recap from last night before they started the elimination. Tonight they brought out one person at a time and sent them to either the bottom three or the couch with the Top 10 (those are the ones who tour, in case you’ve forgotten).

Before the commercial, they brought out Brooke White (safe), Carly Smithson (bottom 3— shocking), David Archuleta (safe) and Michael Johns (safe). I was really surprised Carly was in the bottom three. She’s not my favorite, by a long stretch, but I would place her pretty easily in the top 6.

After the commercial, they showed the making of the Ford commercial, followed by the commercial, which featured the song “Should I Stay or Should I Go”. Then we saw David Cook (safe), Kristy Lee Cook (bottom 3), Jason Castro (safe), and Ramiele Malubay (safe).

They asked some viewer questions. Do you guys want me to post what those are with the answers? If so, let me know in the comments. After that Kellie Pickler sang. She’s really gotten a LOT better. Then there was a segment following Elliott Yamin and Fantasia in Angola, seeing Idol Gives Back money in action. While there a baby boy was born, and he was named after Elliott. It was really sweet.

Finally, Syesha was brought out and declared safe, leaving Chikezie and Amanda to find out which would round out the bottom three (Amanda). Carly was immediately declared safe, which led me to expect Kristy to go home. But, NOOOO, it was Amanda. I didn’t really think Amanda was going to win the whole thing, but aren’t we done with Kristy Lee yet? I know I am.

So, what do you think? Did America get it right? How do you feel about the results?

Who should go home tonight?
Amanda Overmeyer: 22% (14)
Kristy Lee Cook: 54% (34)
David Archuleta: 2% (1)
Michael Johns: 3% (2)
Brooke White: 2% (1)
David Cook: 3% (2)
Carly Smithson: 0% (0)
Jason Castro: 0% (0)
Syesha Mercado: 0% (0)
Chikezie: 6% (4)
Ramiele Malubay: 8% (5)
Total Votes : 63

Tonight was a bit weird. I think if the producers learned anything, it should be this: no matter how much you paid for a book of songs, no matter how tempting it may be, do NOT do two weeks in a row. Even the introduction of the singers at the beginning of the show seemed off.

Amanda Overmeyer started off the night with “Back in the U.S.S.R.”, which was a good song choice. I didn’t think her performance this week was up to par with last week, and I thought she was a bit screamy tonight. Randy gave her a 7 out of 10. Simon, on the other hand, said it was a predictable mess.

Up next was Kristy Lee Cook who was bound to do better than last week (it would have been hard to do worse). She didn’t go quite as country this week with “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away”, and it was certainly better than last week. In fact, it was one of her better performances. However, it did seem like she could have had the song written in a different key. It really seemed like the son was too low for her, and she consistently doesn’t really connect with the song of the audience. None of the judges were over the moon about this performance.

Hoping to redeem himself this week after a rather dismal performance last week, David Archuleta sang “Long and Winding Road”. He remembered all the words, so that was already a step up. However, I still didn’t think it was terribly interesting. The judges all loved it, though, so I guess it may be that I’m the only one who has that opinion.

Michael Johns was the most ambitious with his song choice, choosing “A Day In The Life”, which is normally over a five minute long song. Unfortunately, the risk didn’t really pay off. It was really strange, vocally and performance-wise. He seemed awkward on stage again this week. Simon pretty much summed it up— “it was a mess”.

For those who had a great week last week, such as Brooke White, this was a particularly difficult week. Brooke looked like she was ready to song “Here Comes ths Sun”. She was very sunny looking. It wasn’t my favorite of her perfomances. She moved awkwardly, which she admits to. Hopefully, next week she’ll be back on track doing what she does best. Randy thought the performance was awkward. Paula found a way to be positive about it. Simon said it was terrible.

David Cook sang “Day Tripper”, which I didn’t recognize by the name, but it did seem a bit familiar. It was a good song choice and predictably good. He used a voice box, which was interesting. Simon thought it was predictable, as well— but not in a good way.

Carly Smithson sang “Blackbird”. I thought it sounded good. She’s one of the only ones this year who usually looks comfortable just standing in the middle of the stage with a microphone. Randy and Paula really liked this performance, but Simon said it was indulgent.

Up next was Jason Castro with a very mellow version of “Michelle”. Hey, at least he remembered the words, even the ones in French. The judges weren’t completely impressed by this performance, and I just thought it was a little better than okay.

Syesha Mercado survived the bottom three last week and sang “Yesterday” this week to try to avoid that position again. Will it work? I think so. I wasn’t as blown away by it as the judges, but I thought it was pretty good. I thought it bordered on indulgent but didn’t cross over into cheesey land.

Last week Chikezie was awesome. This week it seemed like he was trying too hard to recreate the success of last week. He sang “I’ve Just Seen a Face”. It was an interesting arrangement and entertaining, but Simon may be right when he said it was bordering on gimmicky.

The final singer of the night was Ramiele Malubay. For me, her performance of “I Should Have Known Better” reminded me of a high school talent show— a good high school talent show perfomance, maybe even the winner, but still a high school talent show. Simon calls that amateurish. Yeah, I guess that’s what it was.

On tomorrow night’s results show, Kellie Pickler will be singing, so that should continue the weirdness. I assume she won’t be singing The Beatles. Make sure to vote in our poll and let us know who you think should be going home.

Who was your favorite this week?
Syesha Mercado: 3% (6)
Chikezie: 13% (28)
Ramiele Malubay: 7% (14)
Jason Castro: 6% (12)
Carly Smithson: 13% (27)
David Cook: 16% (33)
Brooke White: 12% (26)
David Hernandez: 2% (5)
Amanda Overmeyer: 4% (8)
Michael Johns: 2% (5)
Kristy Lee Cook: 1% (2)
David Archuleta: 22% (46)
Total Votes : 212

A quick recap of tonight. Next week will be more Lennon-McCartney. I guess they paid enough to access these songs that they want to use as many as possible. Jim Carrey was in the audience dressed as Horton promoting Horton Hears a Who. There was the obligatory group sing of Lennon-McCartney songs, as well as random footage of various events in the past week.

The eliminations were handled in groups of four. In the first group, Syesha was in the bottom three. In the second group, Kristy Lee Cook was in the bottom three. In the third group, it came down to Ramiele Malubay and David Hernandez, and David was in the bottom three.

Ultimately, David Hernandez went home. This seemed like a good bottom three and a good choice of who to go home. I think that I actually did quite well in the pool this week, so yippee! What did you think? Were you satisfied with the results?

Sorry this is a bit late. After getting over the last illness, we now have the flu. My fever was up last night, and I was afraid the recap would read something like this: Me likey girl with brown hair. Me no likey that song. So, I decided to wait until I’d slept and was more lucid.

Last night we got to see the new set. They managed, after years of negotiations, to finally get the Lennon-McCartney songbook, so at least we knew the contestants had good songs to choose from. Apparently they’re not doing the workshops/song performers mentoring thing this year (or at least Paul McCartney declined to be involved).

Syesha Mercado was up first, singing “Got to Get You Into My Life”. I wasn’t blown away by this performance. The vocals were good, but it sounded too Broadway for me. Randy and Paula gave unenthusiastic thumbs up to the performance. Simon was somewhat more enthusiastic, saying it was a great song choice and better than last week.

Up next (and with the most surprising performance of the evening, in my opinion) was Chikezie. He sang “She’s a Woman”, starting off with a country jug band feel then moving on into a more rock feel. It was fun, entertaining, and one of his best performances thus far. I didn’t know Chikezie had that in him. Randy commented, “who knew?” Paula was enthusiastic about the performance. Simon said it was terrific.

Ramiele Malubay sang “In My Life”, which is one of my favorite songs, but this performance was overdramatic and TOO slow. Her vocals were good, but it was boring. Randy said it was pretty and pretty boring. Paula liked it. Simon was bored to tears.

Jason Castro was up next, singing “If I Fell”. It sounded pretty good. He’s certainly not the most vocally talented of the bunch, but he is entertaining and interesting to watch. Randy and Paula both liked it. Simon wasn’t thrilled but said it was good enough for him to stay another week.

Up next was Carly Smithson. She sang “Come Together”. It was her most interesting and entertaining performance to date (I haven’t been a big fun, thus far). All the judges liked the performance, and Simon FINALLY thought she chose the right song.

David Cook turned in a predictably good performance of “Eleanor Rigby”. I didn’t really have anything to say about it, other than it was really good. All the judges enjoyed it, as well. Even Simon, who prior to last week was really not a David Cook fan, said it was brilliant and that if the results were based on talent, rather than popularity, he has a really good shot at winnng.

A piano playing Brooke White sang “Let It Be”. She really is the most sincere contestant. I like her voice, and I think she always chooses songs that let her be true to herself. And she’s so grateful just to be there. “Let It Be” was a good song choice for her. All of the judges, once again, enjoyed the performance. Simon said it was one of the best of the evening.

David Hernandez sang “I Saw Her Standing There”. Boy, was that cheesey. Randy said it was toomuch and Paula agreed. Simon said it was corny bordering on desperate.

Amanda Overmeyer sang a very bluesy version of “You Can’t Do That”. I was glad she didn’t try to sing the song straight, as I was pretty sure that would be a disaster. As it was, it was alright. Judges were in agreement that it was good, although Simon said it wasn’t as good as last week.

Michael Johns sang “Across the Universe”. I thought this was one of his better performances since week one. He definitely seemed more comfortable on the stage last night. Randy thought it wasn’t as interesting as it could have been but still gave it an overall positive review. Paula liked it. Simon said it was a bit monotonous.

Kristy Lee Cook took the judges advice and went country with her song this week. Unfortunately, she chose “Eight Days A Week”, a song that isn’t really suited to a country music style. She’s definitely no Carrie Underwood. If she survives this week, she has got to get better on stage performance skills. All she did was stand in one place and wiggle. It was really pretty bad. None of the judges were impressed. Simon said it was horrendous and that she sounded like Dolly Parton on helium—ouch.

Up last was David Archuleta. He sang “We Can Work It Out”. He said he was completley unfamiliar with Lennon/McCartney songs. What? How can you call yourself a musician and not know the Beatles? He forgot the words at the beginning and overall this performance was just a mess. The judges didn’t even try to defend him, which renewed my faith that American Idol isn’t completely rigged.

So, that was the top 12. Tomorrow night is the results show. Katharine McPhee will be performing.

So, here’s my ranking of the Top 12.

1. David Cook
2. Chikezie
3. Brooke White
4. Carly Smithson
5. Jason Castro
6. Michael Johns
7. Amanda Overmeyer
8. Syesha Mercado
9. David Archuleta
10. Ramiele Malubay
11. David Hernandez
12. Kristy Lee Cook

What do you think of American Idol 7’s Top 12?
I think they’re great!: 41% (20)
They’re pretty good.: 27% (13)
Some of them are okay.: 27% (13)
Are you kidding me? Is that the best American Idol has to offer?: 6% (3)
Total Votes : 49