Ladies and gentlemen…. we’d like to welcome you to this evening’s special performance Phantom of American Idol. We’re not sure what happened to your actual American Idol show, but we hope you enjoy this phantom of what it used to be.
What in the world were these guys thinking when they scheduled Andrew Lloyd Webber? At least with Dolly Parton she had written some recognizable songs in the pop music world. But Webber……what the heck has he offered the pop music world? Last time I checked this was supposed to be about pop music, not opera or Broadway. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure one of the recurring criticisms leveled at performances over the years is that it was better suited for Broadway. So now they WANT IT TO SOUND LIKE BROADWAY? I feel like the coyote who just realized he ran off the cliff and can’t fly. The bottom has suddenly dropped out.
Oh well, we’ll survive this week and hopefully move on to better music for the Top Five and beyond. According to Ryan Seacrest, the contestants are in for a “daunting task”…..sheesh…no kidding. For that matter, I think the audience is in for a pretty daunting task as well….sitting through this without changing the channel. As your fearless commentator, I’ll suffer through it if you’re too frightened. So, with mask in hand, I’m ready to speak my mind.
- Syesha Mercado - She did a great job last week, but kept her spot in the bottom warm. According to news reports, the 1st spot is almost the kiss of death which means she has to hit a monster home run to make it to the next round. This music matches her talents and skills and for a second consecutive week, she comes out and does a really good job. We’ll have to wait this one out to see if she’s still got a fighting chance.
- Jason Castro - JC has been rising in the rankings over the last few weeks. I think he’s actually the weakest fighter left in the competition, but somehow he’s figured out how to stick around and be a player. I really am tired of his style, but I have to rank ‘em as I see ‘em. This song fits perfectly with his typical offering, which means it’s a bit whiny and irritating. Maybe, just maybe, he’s finally hit the wall.
- Brooke White - Brooke has dropped over the last few weeks even though she remains my personal favorite. She actually has a chance to do herself some real favors tonight since most of these songs have a high emotional quotient and she can probably connect to that element of a song better than anyone still left. She could reclaim one of the top spots if she delivers. Unfortunately, she blew the beginning. People will either give her kudos for stopping and starting again or throw her under the bus. The judges may play a big part in how people deal with that. As for the performance, she completely delivered the genuineness of the song.
- David Archuleta - DA has one speed and it is the ballad. So he will probably do quite well tonight, but I’m just tired of all the ballads. Wouldn’t it be a nice surprise for AI to have some fun music? No such worry for tonight, and no such worry with DA’s song selections. He doesn’t stray far from the farm. DA will be in his comfort zone yet again. As usual, his performance is really good, but it’s nothing we haven’t heard 8 times already. Then again, I guess if you know what you do well, then you should do it, and I guess you have to give him credit for that.
- Carly Smithson - The girl from the Green Isle brings her power vocals and her power tattoos to the stage to do ALW. If she holds true to form, she’ll power her way through something while totally singing past the content and the audience. I’m sure she’ll find something with lots of gymnastics, but I no longer have high expectations of her. At least this song, Jesus Christ Superstar, has more energy than anything that has passed for music so far tonight, but she just seems to be all over the map. It was the most entertaining song, but I didn’t think she really connected with the lyric.
- David Cook - Will he be able to bring some emo-grunge-rock feel to one of these songs? He has proven to be the most innovative fighter in this bout, but it will take his best stroke of creative genius to date to be able to make this work. Maybe he will bust out the voice box…wouldn’t that be interesting….the Phantom wailing through a voice box. He’s slipped in the last two weeks IMO, and could be ready to share space at the top with DA. DC is actually surprising me with his ability to do a song in a style that I didn’t think he had in him. Here’s the difference between him and Archuleta…he can do more than one thing. I think that will be the ultimate separation between them.
SURPRISING PERFORMANCES OF THE NIGHT
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Good
- David Cook - Really surprised at his ability to do what he did tonight.
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Mercado - A second consecutive week that I think she exceeded expectations
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Bad
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Jason Castro- Painful….that’s about all I can say about that performance
- The AI Producers - What a terrible choice of music for this show. I can only hope they never go down this road again.
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Most Enjoyable
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NO ONE - I’m just protesting two consecutive weeks of depressing music. I won’t put anyone in this position again until they’re singing fun music. I have made my stand.
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Final Round Seven Scoring Analysis
- Obviously DA and DC will be safe. Which means one other person is fighting for the right to be left out of the bottom three. I also think think that Castro and Brooke will be in the bottom three. That leaves Mercado and Smithson with a coin toss about which group they end up in. I think it could go either way. I’m hoping that the train-wreck that was JC will not get back on the tracks.
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