OK Gang…let’s get out our scorecards for Round 6. This is Mariah Carey night which means that there will be some pretty ugly vocal gymnastics on stage tonight if they try to follow the leader. There may be one or two that can pull it off, but it’s probably going to look a lot like me trying to Double Dutch….not pretty. Does Mariah have enough hits for them to sing? Sure, but nobody, NOBODY will be able to duplicate what she does. You really have to question this choice of vocal coach. I thought Dolly Parton would be a disaster, but I’m convinced that proved to be much better than what we are about to witness. I’ve been wrong before (OK…it’s on record now…I’ve admitted it.), and I can be wrong again, but I say again…NOBODY can do what she does. We shall see. Let the fight begin!!!!!

• David Archuleta - The Boy Wonder is up first tonight and once again he’s doing the type of song that is becoming maddeningly familiar from him. STILL….the dude can cook with gas on these types of songs. He is definitely living up to his #2 ranking this week. A strong (but predictable) performance for DA. He’s good to go to Round 7.
• Carly Smithson - The Irish lass may be singing for her life tonight. She has shown a frustrating lack of ability to actually connect with the material and with the ring-side audience. She has the strongest punch in her arsenal of any of the gals, and will easily come closest to mimicking Mariah Carey, but unless she delivers something extraordinary, she will probably be in trouble. I don’t think she did herself any favors by saying it was boring without Double D. Really weird performance. She’s a power singer, but she was much better off in the quiet piece early on. When she went to the power stuff, I thought it went off track. I am on the opposite scale of Randy. I think she’s in trouble unless there are other train wrecks.
• Syesha Mercado - Another cellar-dweller with potentially powerful punches. She is in the same boat with Smithson this week, and maybe for as long as either of them last at this point. Neither has really been able to carve out their own space, and they are fighting the same kind of fight. Mercado totally went the Whitney Houston route the other week, so she will in all likelihood try to go the Carey route tonight. Here we go…I think Simon nailed it after DA finished “We’re not going to have many laughs tonight.” Not much fun music here so far. I can only do so much emotional overwrought stuff in one night. As predicted Mercado did go for the Carey impersonation and came much closer than Smithson. I will say right now, that Smithson is in BIG TROUBLE, Mercado beat her in this round.
• Brooke White - Brooke has continued to be unique and real week in and week out. There will be no attempt at imitation from her. So what we hear from her tonight will be a genuine song, not an impression of a song. That can be a huge plus or a huge minus. For me it’s a plus, but I still think there are a few too many that aren’t convinced of her real talent. Once again, she has the ability to deliver wonderful emotion without a lot of extra help. I don’t care what happens to her in this contest, she will develop a following when this over.
• KLC - KLC has the biggest challenge in doing something from Mariah Carey….how do you deep-fry a Carey song? Still, she has more going for her right now than Smithson. Smithson’s best hope is for a KLC disaster. KLC has come a long way from the first 2 rounds…she’s getting better and better, and Smithson’s best hope just busted her in the chops.
• David Cook - DC has bought penthouse space at the top of my weekly rankings since he thinks it’s his permanent place of residence. And so far, he hasn’t had much to worry about. But there was a bobble last week and a slight sign of weakness. Add to that a strong performance by DA at the top of the show, and DC will have to bring it tonight to stay put at the top. According to the preview, he’s going outside the box again, which he has been the most courageous fighter this season to do so. So far though, I’m just not getting it. The first several rounds, when he tried something new, it was dead-on. He seems to be losing his footing though. I think DA may be on the verge of passing him. I disagree with Randy. (that’s twice tonight.) I guess I’m on my own against the judges on this one.
• Jason Castro - Smithson’s last best hope of making it to Round 7 is for the court minstrel to blow it…which is entirely possible for him. Half of what he does is really weak, and the other half is pretty weak. But somehow he’s managed to find a following. But still, if he flops, he’s vulnerable enough to go home. Smithson is probably backstage calling on St Jude (patron saint of lost causes) to keep her in the game. So far, he’s maintaining his footing which probably spells bad news for Smithson….not great, but I think he’s in a stronger position than Smithson.

SURPRISING PERFORMANCES OF THE NIGHT

• Good
  • Mercado - Way better than I expected, she outsung the other gals
  • DA - I’m tired of his same-ol’ same-’ol, but it was still quite good.
• Bad
  • Smithson - Once again I thought she failed to connect.
• Most Enjoyable
  • NO ONE - I’m not saying that none of the performances were good…they just weren’t enjoyable. It was a sort of dark emotional night. No fun…just a round to survive.

Final Round Six Scoring Analysis

• I think DA may be establishing himself as the co-favorite of DC.  Cook has had it alone since Round 1, but DA is climbing again.  Mercado made a strong showing tonight, and I don’t think anyone else really hurt themselves……except for Smithson.  I think she’s done.  I’m not even predicting a bottom three here.  I just think it’s Smithson’s due date.

Tags: American Idol