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'American Idol' can't stop the rock
Tuesday (May 6) night's American Idol theme is about as vague and wide-open as the Top Four could possibly hope for. Songs from the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame? What does that even mean? Working from the Hall's list of 500 influential hits, surely everybody should find great tracks to sing, right? Let's see...
Singer: PRESUMPTIVE AMERICAN IDOL FINALIST DAVID COOK
Song: "Hungry Like the Wolf"
My Take: Rock-n-Roll is a dangerous theme, particularly if rightly or wrongly, you've been coronated as the season's standard-bearer for the genre. As an American Idol rocker, David Cook is a very fine glam frontman and he's had some success with a few power ballads with a rock edge. He sure doesn't rock in the same way Bo Bice or Chris Daughtry did, though, and nights like this remind us of just how anonymous he would have been on CBS' Rock Star. Yes, he's absolutely proficient on this Duran Duran cover, but after saying he saw various ways to twist the song to make it his own, this is vocally identical to the original. If you heard Cook at an big city bar on a Saturday night, you wouldn't be offended, but you wouldn't remember it the next morning. David, though, is going to face higher expectations tonight.
Stony Brooke, Lullaby Joslin and Simon Say: Randy thinks song selection is important on tonight's show and David's pick was only OK for him. Paula's left with a big appetite. Because David's song involved hunger. Simon calls it copycat, but says it was probably good enough to go through to next week.
Singer: SYESHA MERCADO
Song: "Proud Mary"
My Take: Syesha has never been afraid to tackle the biggest divas in each episode's theme of choice and going after Tina Turner may be her most ambitious challenge yet. She's even wearing a tight, shiny skirt to show off her darned fine (if not quite Tina-worthy) gams. Syesha isn't nearly the force of nature that Tina still is to this day -- Did we see her at the most recent Grammys? -- but the girl tries. Syesha tries so hard. She has absolutely no fear, even if perhaps she ought to. In a competition where her three rivals have shied away from any sort of musical diversity, Syesha has gone all over the map. In a competition where her three rivals haven't varied their stage performance styles an iota, Syesha frequently danced and tried not to get swallowed up by the Idol platform. And in a competition where her three rivals all gave their best performances weeks ago, Syesha has shown signs of improvement. None of that has anything to do with her ability to equal Tina Turner. She can't. She isn't even close, becoming breathless and times and getting swallowed by the music at others, but I'm loving her effort.
Stony Brooke, Lullaby Joslin and Simon Say: This is the third week in a row that Syesha's been in the zone for Randy, "showing the heat late in the competition." Paula raves that Syesha's looking like a star and bringing the magic. Simon, though, calls it "a bad, shrieky version," a "bad impersonation of Tina Turner."
Singer: JASON CASTRO
Song: "I Shot the Sheriff"
My Take: It's a brilliant song choice for Clifford the Muppet, tackling an intense political anthem that's been reduced to a stoner party anthem by several generations of frat boys. I'm saying that as much damage has been done to "I Shot the Sheriff" as could possibly be done. It's a song where Jason's vocal liabilities are nearly irrelevant and where nobody's going to stop and ask why he's got a guitar around his shoulder if he isn't going to bother playing it. Do you want the good news or the bad news? The good news is that Jason doesn't smile blankly through the song. I don't know if his eyes are as dead -- errr... soulful and spiritual? -- as they usually are, because they're closed the whole time, but otherwise, he's impressively animated (by his low standards). The bad news is that he sounds weak and shouty and barely hits anything that could be called a note.
Stony Brooke, Lullaby Joslin and Simon Say: "For me, that was a real karaoke Bob Marley," says Randy, who didn't see anything special about it. Paula's never seen him perform more to the audience, but she still wasn't crazy about it. She still thinks Jason's artistry signed through. Simon goes Randy one further, saying "That was utterly atrocious." He compares it to an audition massacre.
Singer: PRESUMPTIVE AMERICAN IDOL FINALIST DAVID ARCHULETA
Song: "Stand By Me"
My Take: Well, it's rock-n-roll night, which means that it's a great chance for David Archuleta to do exactly what he's done every week since March. The arrangement isn't exactly the Ben E. King original, but it's still just Li'l' Archie begging the audience to stand by him in his spiritual charge against world hunger/war/high gas prices. It's earnest, intense and in-tune. Up until a wobbly closing falsetto, though, I'm ready to pronounce this David Archuleta's best David Archuleta performance in weeks. This is actually the strongest and least strained his voice has sounded in some time.
Stony Brooke, Lullaby Joslin and Simon Say: Randy says that every time David hits the stage, he's in it to win it, that it was hot, that he brought the hot man vocals. Paula raves that David's mature beyond his years. Simon just says that after Jason, anything would sound great, but he finally dubs it the best performance so far.
Singer: PRESUMPTIVE AMERICAN IDOL FINALIST DAVID COOK
Song: "Baba O'Riley"
My Take: There's a time and a place for humility and this isn't it. David Cook really doesn't want to be telling viewers that he could have done better with his first song. Confidence, man. The second half of David's "Baba O'Riley," as he hits the chorus and it actually begins to rock, is fantastic, but it starts off much too slow and dour and stays that way for too long. There's something Eddie Vedder-esque about Cook's voice here and he probably should have taken the arrangement from one of the countless Pearl Jam covers of the song floating around the Internet.
Stony Brooke, Lullaby Joslin and Simon Say: Randy tells David he's great and that this is closer to what he should be doing. Paula's humbled to sit and watch his soul. Simon welcomes David back.
Singer: SYESHA MERCADO
Song: "A Change Is Gonna Come"
My Take: If you asked me to write a list of the greatest popular songs ever written, this would be at the top of my list. The very top. And Sam Cooke's vocals on the original are as good as it gets. Syesha doesn't make the mistake that Gideon McKinney made several seasons ago when he sounded great, but smiled like an idiot throughout. Syesha seems to understand what the song's about and she sings the heck out of it. I don't love the all of the phrasing in the arrangement, which sometimes makes it sound like she took the Cooke version and knocked it just slightly off the beat at times. Minor tweaking aside, this is a beautiful vocal turn for Syesha, as different from her first song as possible and full of exceptional moments that are pure without being excessively showy or affected.
Stony Brooke, Lullaby Joslin and Simon Say: Randy didn't love this as much as the first song and that she oversang it, that it was disconnected and fell flat for him. Paula stands for Syesha and says it was a superstar performance and that she's changed and she's come. Yes. She says that. Syesha's in tears. Simon agrees with Paula and even goes out of his way to tell Randy he got it wrong.
Singer: JASON CASTRO
Song: "Mr. Tambourine Man"
My Take: Nope. You don't take Bob Dylan and blunder the lyrics and "La la la" your way through with a sheepish smile like "Oh well, what can you do?" This is the Top Four. What you can do is do better. I'm too lazy to do the research on this, but I'm going to wager that Jason's performances tonight were two of the least impressive Top Four performances in the show's seven seasons.
Stony Brooke, Lullaby Joslin and Simon Say: Randy asks Jason for his opinion. Jason giggles about missing the lyrics. Paula just says that it is what it is and Jason still blows her away. Simon tells him to pack his suitcase.
Singer: PRESUMPTIVE AMERICAN IDOL FINALIST DAVID ARCHULETA
Song: "Love Me Tender"
My Take: No, David, you've never sung a romantic love song on the Idol stage, but how are we supposed to distinguish your "I'm in love with you" sincerity from your "I'd like for you to pledge money to my telethon" sincerity? Actually, I'm going to say the exact same thing about this as his first performance: I still don't care for Archuleta's falsetto, but the vocals are strong as nuanced otherwise. I'm just wondering if Li'l' Archie can possible win this show without ever having a single success out of his comfort zone.
Stony Brooke, Lullaby Joslin and Simon Say: Randy loves how David caresses each word. Paula felt David's heart. Simon thinks David crushed the competition.
TONIGHT'S BEST: Nothing was wrong with what David Archuleta did, but Syesha did more.
IN DANGER: This is no reflection on the strength of his fanbase or his ability to sell records down the road, but the producers will need to intervene if Jason's not the lowest votegetter. I'd expect David Cook to join him in the bottom group, though.
Agree? Disagree? Who do you expect to go home?
Wow. I think it was totally unfair of them to let Syesha carry on the way she did after her 2nd song. Cry me a river. Puh-leeze. I don't believe it for one minute. She knows she's in trouble so she's going to milk it for all she can. Turn on the waterworks. Let her stand there & speechify to the audience, pimping the civil rights angle. Sheesh.
Poor Jason. I think that at least they could have commented on the parts of the 2nd song that he didn't mess up on. As it was they just railroaded him right off the stage. Especially after DA forgot his lyrics how many times in that Beatles song? And Brooke forgot hers last week too.
Can DA ever sing anything other than some earnest pleading crapola? He is so boooooooooooooooring. Talk about pandering.
I thought DC did fine on both songs, even if he didn't really crush the competition.
Sanchez | May 6, 2008 7:03:00 PM | #Was it me or did it sound like they messed with the mix tonight? It sounded like all the vocals were way too high or the music was turned down. Either way, all I heard was mostly vocals. last week sounded fine to me.
Simon's Shirt | May 6, 2008 7:15:59 PM | #Jason was a hot Dylan mess tonight. There are several contestants he probably shouldn't have out-lasted. Hopefully voters will be just to Syesha, who actually seems like she wants to be there. Her "Change is Gonna Come" sounded very nice indeed.
Cat | May 6, 2008 7:20:37 PM | #I am sooooo over David Archie. Boring as can be. If he wins, they'll turn him into a teen idol for a short time, then he'll fade away. Jason does deserve to go this week though.
Schmooz | May 6, 2008 7:27:00 PM | #I'm so proud of myself for knowing most of the songs the contestants sang tonight. During David C's performance Baba O'Reilly all I could think is, isn't that CSI:NY's theme song. I know I should be more musically informed than that.
I hope tomorrow's show is interesting.
cm | May 6, 2008 7:27:21 PM | #I just couldn't get past Syesha comparing her plight to get to the top of American Idol with the Civil Rights movement. Yeah, just the same. Just the same.
I don't think so.
I'm a David Cook fan.
Astrid | May 6, 2008 7:29:28 PM | #Cook to me sounds the same every week with his arrangements (except his Music of the Night which I thought was brilliant).
I was not COMPLETELY impressed with Syesha tonight. She danced way more than she sang on the first. The second was pretty good but she ruined it when she started crying. I mean, Cook can cry b/c of his brother...that's understandable. Syesha only cried b/c she was caught up in the moment. Even Brooke held it together after her performances.
Archuleta was the best tonight IMO. Crazy vocals AND no crying. His upper range and falsetto weren't the best but the rest of the performance (in both songs) was more than enough to make up for it.
No comment needed for Jason.
Hyvent | May 6, 2008 7:55:04 PM | #I'm too lazy to do the research on this, but I'm going to wager that Jason's performances tonight were two of the least impressive Top Four performances in the show's seven seasons.
Josh Gracin, "Jive Talkin'" and "To Love Somebody". But it's close.
Adam B. | May 6, 2008 7:58:45 PM | #I think its pretty clear Jason was intentionally botching his performances. There have been reports that he's had enough and wants to go home, so this is the only explanation for his atrocious songs tonight. I actually like him and think he's got some talent, but the over-the-top dancing around on the first song and careless lyric mishap on the second song all looked at least somewhat planned to me. He's run his course.
Go David Cook!
Tony | May 6, 2008 8:15:12 PM | #Adam - If I'd have to guess (or done the research) on worse Top Four performances, I'd have said "Whatever Gracin did that year" and "Jive Talkin'" was, indeed, epic. I also thought maybe Anthony Fedorov's rendition of "Poison Ivy" might have made the cut but, after doing that research I said I wouldn't do, I was reminded that he did "Poison Ivy" and "Incomplete" in the Top 5 week. Nuts.
-Daniel
Daniel | May 6, 2008 8:57:32 PM | #Nominee #2: Taylor Hicks, "In the Ghetto" and "Jailhouse Rock". But I hated Taylor Hicks' shtick more than people now hate YDA and his dead, dead eyes.
Adam B. | May 6, 2008 9:19:57 PM | #Syesha's comparison between her Idol experience and the civil rights movement definately sealed the deal for me - send her home! Hopefully she'll gain some perspective
Andie | May 6, 2008 9:21:04 PM | #The back up singers outsang every one of the four finalists tonight. Those girls are good. Are they prohibited from entering the competition?
Carrie Ann, Bruno and Len | May 6, 2008 9:32:28 PM | #I got so mad at America tonight when I saw Carly in the front row.
I can't get over her going home before Jason. I never understood why people liked him so much. He's always seemed to be barely trying. Sorry Jason fans, as of tonight, there really can't be any argument made for him to stay.
Natalie | May 6, 2008 11:00:15 PM | #Oh yeah...and Syesha comparing her journey on AI to the Civil Rights movement: more than insulting.
Natalie | May 6, 2008 11:04:27 PM | #Let me get this straight, I can listen to these songs done by the inimitable and distinctive voices of "Rock gods" Elvis, Dylan, Marley, Tina, Sam Cooke, Roger Daltry, et al and you want me to consider listening to the performances by this drab four? Really?!
This has been a very poor season for AI and tonight only made it worse.
(But if we're sending only one home it has to be Jason Castro. Pitiful performances.)
Yeah Syesha definitely put her acting training to good use tonight.
Jason was 100 % thrown under the bus. The MArley song wasn't that bad. I'm definitely buying the Bob Dylan song when it's available on Itunes. Besides the flubbed lyrics I thought it was awesome.
Idol doesn't deserve him. I hope he goes home so he doesn't have to sign with Idol record label. He will do much better away from those dishonest money grubbing control freak producers.
Look what they did to Kelly Clarkson their main star when she wanted to write her own songs. They publicly denounced her.
I can't believe I got suckered in this year when I saw some relevant artists (Cook, Brooke, Jason) But they have been crucifying poor Jason for no reason but the fact that he has been receiving more votes then Archuleta and they are desperate to be rid of him so they can make money with the more marketable Archie. I wouldn't be surprised if Jason wasn't fed up with last week's shenanigans so much that he indeed did throw the competition.
He has stated he's ready to go home. I hope he gets his wish so he can get away from this joke of a show and those awful producers.
If Cook doesn't win this show is the most disturbing thing I've seen in a long time.
No Syesha didn't grin her way through "Change is Gonna Come" the way Gideon did - but he, at least, had the voice to carry it off. Sam Cook is one of those artists you just don't do if your voice is just okay. Down to the wire I did my "close your eyes" test - would I listen to this on the radio? Would I buy the CD? Only David Cook's second song got the "yes".
And was that Bellick from "Prison Break" in the audience?
I totally agree about David Cook not being as good as some of the people on "Rockstar". I would bet anything that Dilana would have won American Idol if she was on this show.
Rob D. | May 7, 2008 3:49:58 AM | #David Cook and Jason Castro supporters are true and complete MORONS - and that's a fact.
David C sucked with his first song, and Jason Castro was awful from note 1 of his first song through the final note of his second song. And then there's his forgetting his lyrics and giving his pothead-ish grin, thus continuing to cement his status as being in the competition, but not really being a competitor. There is no doubt that Jason is the WORST performer to have cracked the top 24, let alone the top 10 or top 4. He is AWFUL - AWFUL - AWFUL.
Syesha.....did a terrible, corny, karaoke take on 'Proud Mary', and then her second song was one I'd never heard in my life. I had to agree with Randy that she oversang it and was disconnected from it.
David Archuleta had, yet again, the clearest, best vocals of the evening. He deserves to win the whole thing, he really does.
There is NO excuse (other than getting the votes of idiot teenybopper girls and brainless, tone-deaf morons) why Jason shouldn't be the one to leave on Wednesday.
Andrea Q | May 7, 2008 4:15:55 AM | #Ugh - I agree with Sanchez. Archie is so dull and boring. I looked away and just listened to his second song and it was a bad high school talent show. Is anyone REALLy going to buy something he puts out? He has no emotional range whatsoever. Let's hope David Cook wins this one. Yes Jason should go home but let's hope there is a "shocker" next week and Archie is out.
Todd | May 7, 2008 4:21:00 AM | #Cook rocks. Sayesha rocks, and she wasn't comparing herself to the civil rights movement. She compared the significance civil rights movement in history to the significance of this night for her, and it is majorly significant in her life. David A rocks in his comfort zone but doesn't really take any big challenges. Jason has the 12 year old girl vote.
DC | May 7, 2008 4:28:51 AM | #Cook rocks. Sayesha rocks, and she wasn't comparing herself to the civil rights movement. She compared the significance civil rights movement in history to the significance of this night for her, and it is majorly significant in her life. David A rocks in his comfort zone but doesn't really take any big challenges. Jason has the 12 year old girl vote.
DC | May 7, 2008 4:29:01 AM | #David Cook SUCKS. If you listen to him without watching the TV, he sounds exactly the same as about 90% of the other so-called rockers already out on the radio today. And he needs to get rid of that idiotic piece of garbage chain he's wearing too.
Susan | May 7, 2008 4:31:38 AM | #David Archuleta crushed the competition just as Simon said. Syesha was second best. Once again David Cook sang his two songs the same way he sings everything else. He is so boring and predictable. Jason shouldn't even be in the top 4.
Aimee | May 7, 2008 4:43:24 AM | #
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