Idol Roundup

John Adams · April 23, 2008

All these songs all demand big voice and stage presence. Predict success for Carly. White and Castro do not have the voice for this. A little worried about rock and roll Adavid Cooke. And away they go.

Syesha Mercado. Weber is Geppetto: he breathed life into the wooden doll. Syesha argued with Andrew Lloyd Weber that "this is American Idol, not musical theater." (0:26) Her point: you can't let loose with personality on Idol. To date, mission accomplished. Still, wood-brained as she is for having ignored the judges' criticisms every week RE lack of stage presence, Idol's mannequin listened to the most successful billionaire musical writer of all time and abaracadabara: she's a real girl! Not only did she have personality, her voice was stronger. I wonder if she's smart enough to keep this up.

Jason Castro. He sang Memories. He'll be one after this week. He's got a quiet week voice so he picks...the song that requires the biggest voice. Even Weber knew it would be a disaster.

Brooke White. Forgot the lyrics? Restarted a song again? What in the !@#$? I like her voice but she's not cut out for Weber's songs. Even more absurd (and she wasn't the only singer who fell for this), she admitted not knowing the story behind the song. !@#$ing hell people. You're going to meet the composer, one of the most famous songwriters of all time. Don't you have Google? Look it up. Easily in the bottom 2 this week. Castro may have been so bad that she lasts until next week but only by a hair.

David Archuletta. He's bringing back the 80s with that skinny tieand the Members-Only-ish jacket. Weber must have been reading my comments on David: told him to keep his eyes open. (1:18) Sir Andrew (annoying), who came off as really likeable throughout the show, was perturbed by the fake squints. Amen. Still, David can't help himself and squints right off the bat but overall struggles to keep his eyes open and performs a brave adaptation of a classic. Pretty good.

Carly Smithson. She was debating All I Ask of You vs. Jesus Christ Superstar. Weber saved her Irish tuckus. Has the composer/songwriter ever played such an important role in Idol? He did this night, giving great advice to them all, but this was the best call of the night. He challenged her big voice and encouraged her personality. She was very good and after Simon complemented her, the "Simon loves me. (This week)" T-shirt was funny.

David Cooke. I thought Music of the Night was a terrible song choice. But props to Cooke. He pulled it off. I expected rock-n-roll David, who's adapted so many songs to date, to style this as a rock and roll ballad. But he sang it straight and did surprisingly well. He should have left his trademark rock and roll scream at the end of the song on the tour bus. But by doing this song traditionally, he proves he's got the most musical range of everyone on Idol this season.

Top: Carly Smithson, Syesha Mercado

Bottom: Castro, White

Other thoughts. Weber came across as a great guy. Worth over a billion dollars, his love of his music shined through and where Mariah Carey gave annoying recommendations last week, Weber tried to help each contestant perform better and succeeded.

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