That was bizarre.  Paula Abdul ingested some peyote before the live broadcast, Simon Cowell was openly laughing at her, Randy Jackson shamelessly toed the party line, and Ryan Seacrest told a story about sitting in the backseat of a station wagon.  American Idol celebrated its Top 5 with a quick-fire procession of Neil Diamond covers, which ranged from great to vomitous (I made that word up for tonight).  There was barely any time to breathe in the hour long American Idol – the ten performances were too much for Paula Abdul to handle and she couldn't even remember who sang when.  It was kind of embarrassing.  The American Idol rankings tonight are a little bit tricky, seeing as each member of the top 5 gave two performances.  I'm going to combine their respective merits, and give my rankings based on how they fared overall on the night. 

1. David Cook - "I'm Alive" and "All I Really Need is You"

David Cook had one pretty good performance and one great one.  Cook is more polished, more professional and, most of all, smarter than the rest of the competition. He's completely at home and comfortable with who he is as an artist and it shows.  Sometimes, I can do without the broadness of his slow rock ballads, but on “All I Really Need is You” he showed off the heights of his potential


2. Syesha Mercado - "Hello Again" and "Thank the Lord for the Nighttime"

Syesha did nothing special.  I thought her first song was a little better than her second, but they were comparable.  Both were solid.  This might end up being her downfall – she didn't make much of an impression either way.  If she had failed spectacularly, then redeemed herself, maybe she could have saved herself.  As we stand now, I think Syesha is in trouble tomorrow.


3. Brooke White - "I'm a Believer" and "I Am, I Said"

The first song was a train wreck.  Brooke should never do peppy, upbeat songs.  It just doesn't work, she's awkward and not a good enough singer.  She's better playing the troubled, tortured balladeer, even if that 's not who she really is.  So, how do you grade this?  One terrible song, one great song.  In the middle seems right.


4. Jason Castro - "Forever in Blue Jeans" and "Summer Morn"

Jason Castro did his Jason Castro thing on both songs tonight.  Neither performance was exciting, neither memorable, but both OK.  The judges were not very high on Jason tonight, but he was better than they gave him credit for.  Nonetheless, I think he'll be in trouble come tomorrow night.


5. David Archuleta - "Sweet Caroline" and "America"

“Sweet Caroline” was an abomination in terms of performance and arrangement.  “America” was a pandering song choice of the highest nature, and David managed to turn it into an even more patriotic song than the original.  I can't stand little David any longer.  His singing has declined as the season has progressed, and tonight was the low point.  His voice sounded weak, and he went out of tune quite a bit.  It will be a travesty if Archuleta wins American Idol.


-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of FOX)