Beatles Week...again! I'll take more Beatles anytime, no complaints.
American Idol is down to its Top 11, and the field is still wide open. That is, if you assume (like I optimistically do) that America will eventually come to their senses and stop blindly handing votes to
David Archuleta (“Flubbed lines, awkward singing, vacuum-like stage presence – who cares? He's cute!”). It's another historic night for
American Idol, what with the second week in a row of legalized Lennon/McCartney song poaching. I'm looking forward to the show and am hoping that some of the singers learn from the mistakes of last week (I'm looking at you
Kristy Lee Cook). No more ruined Beatles songs, please. I'll be here throughout the night, giving updates as the episode rolls along. Remember to refresh and comment below to let your opinions be heard.
Randomly bold and unnecessary predictions: Eze will fall back to the pack, Brooke and Castro will be the best of the night, Archuleta does better, but not by much and Kristy Lee Cook seals her fate and head home tomorrow.
Seacrest comes on stage showing a little man cleavage. Needless to say, things are off to a good start. Seacrest introduces the Top 11. Not sure if that was the order they'll be performing in, but if so Ramiele is last.
Paula Abdul wears a ridiculously sparkly shirt.
Seacrest explains that last week was Lennon/McCartney, this week it's the whole Beatles. That means Harrison songs like "Something" and "Taxman" are now available.
Before the singing begins, we get a look back at Beatlemania. From their arrival in America to, well, The End. That was the fastest the Beatles career was ever summed up.
Amanda Overmyer takes the stage first. The best part of Idol for her so far was her first time on the big stage. She's singing "Back in the U.S.S.R." Nice. I have high hopes. She makes it a blues/rock arrangement and it isn't close to as electric as her performance last week. I'm not digging it at all. It's a pretty simple song when you get down to it, at least to sing, and Amanda doesn't have much to give the early parts of the song. Near the end, there are a few cool moments, but it wasn't near as good as last week's performance, or even the week before. Randy liked the song choice, thought the beginning was pitchy, but she got it going at the end. Paula says Amanda is "quintessential, authentically who you are." Whatever that means. Simon calls it predictable, a mess in parts, and the same week after week.
Really FOX? You're promoting Hell's Kitchen with a cover of "Oops, I Did it Again" featuring HK-themed lyrics?
Kristy Lee Cook is next. She looks at pictures of her family and friends and her dog every night. She's singing "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away." This is going to piss me off, probably. It's one of my favorite songs ever and if KLC ruins it, I will not be happy. God, it's a terrible arrangement. It's like a crappy 80's ballad or something. The kind of song you'd hear at a beauty pageant. Yoko Ono needs to take some flowers to John Lennon's grave tonight and try to make amends. That all being said, technically she sang it OK. Randy is a big fan of the song, but didn't really like the arrangement. Paula thinks she looks great. Simon says she's not a good performer - she calls KLC "musical wallpaper."
David Archuleta hits the stage next. His most memorable moment was messing up the lyrics last week. He's singing "The Long and Winding Road," which is probably the worst ballad ever written by Paul McCartney. He makes a wise decision to sing it pretty much straight up. Archuleta is best off doing cheesy slow songs, and that's exactly what this is. Dude can sing, I get it, but isn't this all a little boring? This performance would be right at home on Star Search. To be fair, it was a very good singing performance and I'm sure the judges and America will lap it up. The ladies in the crowd go wild. Randy says David brought the hotness back. Simon thought he was amazing.
Tomorrow, Kelli Pickler will return to the Idol stage and perform. Ryan gives a bizarre plug for iPhones.
Michael Johns is on stage now. He loves The Beatles, and this makes me like Johns a lot. He's going to be singing "A Day in the Life" which, at first glance, is an un-coverable song, especially in 90 seconds. We'll see. It's pretty straight-forward, which is good. This song just gives me chills every time I hear it. Johns, as far as I'm concerned, is rocking it. I know Archuleta has his fans, but I'd rather listen to Johns any day. He did about as good of a job on that song as one could hope. Randy doesn't think it was the right song for him to choose - kind of agree. Paula rambles about their inner-ear monitors. Simon calls it a mess.
Brooke White sings next, and this makes me excited. Her favorite moment so far was being able to sing "Let it Be" last week. It'll be difficult to top that this week. Tonight she's singing "Here Comes the Sun" which is kind of a perfect, light-hearted tune after "Let it Be." No instruments this week. She does a little twirl on her way from the stairs to the middle of the stage, which was annoying, but her performance is solid, as usual. The thing about Brooke is that I just plain like her voice, even on what was a mediocre performance for her. Randy thought the performance was a bit awkward, and Brooke agrees. Paula says she can't help but smile when Brooke is singing. She liked it. Simon says the performance was terrible, especially the bad dancing. Brooke is very understanding.
David Cook is up after Seacrest gives more love to Apple. His most memorable moment was singing "Eleanor Rigby" last week on the big stage. He's singing "Day Tripper" and he's going to do a version similar to one Whitesnake did. Well, then. It's just a harder rock version of the song, nothing too drastic. Kind of bluesy. Cook, as one would expect, rocked it. Another typically good vocal performance. Oh, wow. Halfway through, his inner Frampton emerges and he uses one of those guitar/voice box things. That was pretty cool. Randy like it a lot. Paula thinks he's ready to go sell records. Simon doesn't think it was as good as David thinks it was. He didn't like the voice box.
Carly Smithson is next, and her most memorable moment was last week. She's singing "Blackbird" and it's not an easy one to sing. It'll be the slowest, most low-key song Carly has sung this season. Girl can sing. It's a faithful cover for the most part and Carly doesn't do anything crazy to the song. Oh, perhaps that was premature - she goes for a big key change in the middle of the song, which allows her to utilize that big voice of hers. The ending is a bit awkward, arrangement-wise. Carly is a great singer, but there's something about her that just rubs me the wrong way. Don't know what it is, but it keeps me from loving her performances. Randy loves it. Paula does too. Simon didn't like the song choice - he calls it indulgent. Carly tries to give an explanation about why she chose the song. it's corny. Simon seems perturbed.
Jason Castro says his most memorable moment was singing "Hallelujah." He'll be singing "Michelle" which means he'll be singing in French. The arrangement has a more country flavor than the original, but I still dig it. It's a safe choice, but I think he did a pretty good job with it. Without his guitar, Jason is loose and a little uncomfortable on stage, but somehow it's not awkward (which seems to be the buzzword of the night). Randy doesn't know - maybe too subdued for him. He didn't feel a connection. Paula calls it a little awkward. Simon says that Jason's face sold the song - he's charming and not obnoxious. He says that it was good that this is a TV show and not a radio show.
Syesha Mercado will attempt to get back on the radar this season with "Yesterday." There is serious crash and burn potential here, but it could also bring her back into the fold. Honestly, I'm split here - could go either way. Cleavage - a sign of desperation or an innocuous fashion choice? Discuss. She sings it as a slowed down version, and it starts bare-bones, with only her and a man playing a guitar. It starts out beautifully, and it reminds me why I used to think so highly of Syesha. She nails a high-note late in the song. Syesha is showing an impressive amount of tenderness and needed restraint in this performance. Color me impressed - best performance of the night, hands down. Randy calls it very, very, very good. Paula says it was vulnerable. Simon calls it her best performance so far. Not incredible, but he really liked it.
Can
Chikezie Eze come close to replicating his great performance from last week? We shall see. He's going to sing "I've Just Seen a Face" which should be a good one for Chikezie. Or not - he slows it waaay down. Hmm, I don't agree with this decision. Halfway through, though, he whips out a harmonica, plays a few bars and the beat picks up. The second half was good (Chikezie doing what he did last week - high energy, rocking voice), but the first half was boring. Randy thought it was strange. Paula liked all of it. Simon hated the harmonica, and hated the second half of the song. He actually liked the first half. Overall, not terrible, a little bit of a mess.
Ramiele Malubay will finish off the show - Ramiele is good friends with Brooke and David Cook. She'll be singing "I Should've Known Better," a more up-tempo tune. She's wearing a silly hat. Her voice sounds uncharacteristically weak at the beginning of the song. I guarantee Simon calls this a karaoke performance, because that's exactly what this feels like. This should have been a lay up, but there were a lot of weak spots. I didn't like the overly cheery arrangement, either. Randy liked it, he liked her confidence. Simon thought it was amateur-ish.
Who gave the best performance of the night?
-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of Apple/Capitol)