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Idol Roundup


John Adams

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All these songs 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 David Cooke. And away they go.

 

Syesha Mercado. Webber 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.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZm3LIVh6nE

 

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. Despite the Travolta suit, there'll be no Stayin' Alive for Castro this week. (ed. note to Letterman: sign me now while you can still afford me.)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkIZIEKmsEk

 

Brooke White. Forgot the lyrics? Restarted a song again? What in the !@#$? I like her voice but she's not cut out for Webber's songs. Even more absurd (and she wasn't the only singer who fell for this), she admitted not knowing the story behind the song. !@#$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. You know you suck when Paula struggles to find something nice to say about you. Easily in the bottom 2 this week. Castro may have been so bad that she lasts until next week but only by a hair.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP-8lBTpQ4k

 

David Archuletta. He's bringing back the 80s with that skinny tie and 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 likable 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.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMT9_BF4J-4

 

Carly Smithson. She was debating All I Ask of You vs. Jesus Christ Superstar. Webber 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 complimented her, the "Simon loves me. (This week)" T-shirt was funny.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQB-tLyzSmY

 

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.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRwzk9Ku3z8

 

Top: Carly Smithson, Syesha Mercado

Bottom: Castro, White

 

Other thoughts. Webber 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, Webber tried to help each contestant perform better and succeeded.

 

Fully blogged with embeded vids here.

 

http://johnadamsx23.blogspot.com/

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Great recap.

 

My few thoughts:

 

1) I'm a big David Cooke fan and loved "Music of the Night," only because I thought he did it to show everyone he is a great technical singer. Yeah, he can rock out--but he can also sing a technically demanding piece, requiring huge range, and sing it right on the money.

 

2) Brooke White. She was awful. I totally agreed with Paula--you never start a song over; that was very amateurish. If you talk to any serious musical performer (as I used to be! ;) ), they'd say the same thing. I was actually hoping Brooke (or someone) would sing "Tell Me on a Sunday Please," one of my favorite ALW songs. Check it out here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=2BXLQT91KjY

 

3) Jesus Christ Superstar is a great song and great choice for Carly. I still think though re her mannerisms when she's not singing, she comes across as a cheesy 45-year old, and not a young, supposed alternative, tattoo-laden rock star (e.g., holding up that Simon Likes Me shirt).

 

4) Archuletta was really good, but that arrangement was a little too soft rock for me.

 

 

5) Syesha was great; Castro is a one-trick pony and has to go.

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Idol Roundup

Very good assessment JA!

 

Syesha had her best performance in weeks. Sometimes I think she believes her voice is better than it is and she bombs on the Whitney or Mariah songs. She did a very nice job this week.

 

Carly is just the opposite, she knows her limitations. Which is why she did not belt out the JC Superstar chorus, that disappointed me a little, but was probably a good move by her. Overall a very good performance.

 

Jason just doesn't have the sit down ballad presence nor the voice. He struggles without the guitar in his hands.

 

Brooke is the same as Jason, needs the guitar or piano to shine. Terrible performance, she always seems like she is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I think her lack of confidence really shows and it's too bad because she could be great.

 

I thought David C's performance was very good. He struggled a bit on the softer versus, but he worked it out dog. He's going to be tough to beat!

 

David A had a good week, but he was a bit boring. I tend to day dream when he sings ballads for some reason, I don't know what it is, he just bores me at times. Although he does have a very good voice.

 

The bottom 2 have to be Jason and Brooke, with Jason getting the boot. Although I wouldn't be surprised if Brooke goes, Jason may have a bigger fan base with the young girls...

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The bottom 2 have to be Jason and Brooke, with Jason getting the boot. Although I wouldn't be surprised if Brooke goes, Jason may have a bigger fan base with the young girls...

 

The young girls are going to carry Archuletta to a win. I'm steeling myself for the inevitability.

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She wasn't going to win but the fact that White and Castro weren't in the bottom 2 is insane. The show format needs to be changed so that people vote for the person they think is the worst, not for who is best. That would dampen the popularity contest issue.

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She wasn't going to win but the fact that White and Castro weren't in the bottom 2 is insane. The show format needs to be changed so that people vote for the person they think is the worst, not for who is best. That would dampen the popularity contest issue.

I agree, Carly is much better than Castro overall and had a better performance than Brooke on Tuesday. Now it's down to a popularity contest with millions of young girls voting for the cute boys. I have said for years that I think the judges should vote out contestants until it is down to the final 3 or something. But somebody's making a boat load of money from the millions of 866 calls, so that will never happen.

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Finally! Goodbye Fugly Tattoo Skank! <_< and goodbye to Tattoo Face! <_<

 

Go Brooke! You may be a train wreck, but I still love you! :cry:

 

Fugly? She wasn't a supermodel, but she was anything but fugly.

 

Brooke needs to go. Every other person on that stage has way more talent. Her "look at how vulnerable I am" act is old and tired.

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Fugly? She wasn't a supermodel, but she was anything but fugly.

 

Brooke needs to go. Every other person on that stage has way more talent. Her "look at how vulnerable I am" act is old and tired.

 

There was no comparison between White/Castro and the other 4 this week. They were so much worse.

 

I think Brooke is as vulnerable as she seems. It's gone from charming to annoying in a hurry.

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