American Idol 7 / Week 11
Neil Diamond week, eh? All right, let's get to it.
Due to a flawed experiment, I'll be brief this week. I tried to transfer the show to my computer via "TiVo Desktop". It transferred all right, but without any sound ... which kind of blows the point of AI. Maybe it's my Windows Media Player settings. Sure looks great in HD on my monitor, though. So that's two hours of transfer time wasted. It's now 1 in the morning, and I have a lunch date tomorrow, so I'll have to watch now. This will be heavy on the fast-forward button.
You should know going in that Neil Diamond is tied with me for most concerts attended, at three. He's tied with Sting and Duran Duran ... and I saw all three of the Neil Diamond concerts before age 12. My parents were big fans. So I'll likely know all of these tunes. This week everyone will sing twice, with brief comments from the judges after the first five songs, then more in-depth commentary after everyone's second song. And Simon's brief comments are fabulous.
Jason Castro: He's doing "Forever in Blue Jeans", and it starts out really low. Too low. It's then his usual wistful delivery with strummy guitars. Nothing surprising, nothing amazing. I love the kid (except his hair), but he's getting tiresome.
Song 2: For his second tune, he's sitting on the stool with no instrument, and he's tackling "September Morn". It's in a weird key, and sounds vaguely off for the first half (although Jason and the band are equally off, so it may just be me and how this key strikes me). He seems like he kind of doesn't care through this one, and it's very bland.
Randy isn't thrilled, Paula feels like the songs were the same, Simon doesn't care for any of it.
David Cook: Blah blah Coke stools. He's starting with "I'm Alive", a lesser-known Diamond. He's singing while playing his "AC" lefty guitar. He rocks it up somewhat, but it still sounds very much like a Neil Diamond song. Is it the chord progression? Or has he not changed it quite enough? Anyhoo, it's not changed quite enough for my tastes.
Song 2: Number two is "All I Really Need Is You", and he's playing an acoustic guitar for this one. It doesn't feel as Neil Diamondy, which is nice. But the arrangement is heavy on the electric guitar from the band, so his acoustic seems weird. It's a good interpretation, though, and I think he did well for the night.
Randy claims that he's a huge David Cook fan due to his rocking of the house. Paula is proud and such. Simon calls the first song OK, and the second one brilliant.
Brooke White: She's starting with "I'm a Believer" while playing the guitar -- she'll hit the piano later. It's too low, as most of their arrangements seem to be. but her silver lamé pants make her legs look ten miles long. Paula's standing and dancing. It's peppier than Brooke's usual selections, which is a nice change -- this one won't make her cry. But it isn't that exciting.
Song 2: She starts on the stools, and Seacrest points out lyrics written on her hand. She's singing "I Am, I Said". She gives the song her classic Brooke-with-piano treatment, and makes it sound like a Carly Simon tune. Again, good but not thrilling.
Randy comments that the second tune is musically challenging, and she did it well. Paula preferred the second, with the vulnerability. Simon hates the first song, calling it a nightmare; the second is "the Brooke we like" -- not incredible, but better than the first.
David Archuleta: He's tackling big hits tonight, starting with "Sweet Caroline". He doesn't change it up much, and so it's like the original but done with his clear little miracle voice. We even have the horns section blatting away behind him. And it ends terribly, as so many of the AI arrangements do. But it's a normal performance for little Dave.
Song 2: Big hit number two is "America". In my opinion, terrible song choice. It feels very over-enunciated and his voice just doesn't suit the style of the song. But I'm sure the jingoists and flag-wavers will love the crap out of it. And hell, probably the judges will too.
Randy says he's in the zone -- another good performance. Paula calls it the absolute perfect song for him to sing (ugh). Simon calls it a smart choice (yeah, just as smart as KLC doing "God Bless the USA"). They all love it. Ick.
Syesha Mercado: First up is "Hello Again", so she's getting the heavy ballad out of the way early. Smart girl. She's barefoot and sitting on the stairs, like she's been taking dirty hippie lessons from Brooke. She sounds totally Broadway in this performance, and the ending sucks huge ostrich eggs -- it goes soft when it should go strong. And as usual, nothing shocking or unusual here.
Song 2: Closing the night, she's doing "Thank the Lord for the Night Time". It feels totally dated; there's nothing modern at all about this arrangement. And it's not a style of song that I really like, so I'm not a fan. But she does a good enough job with it, I suppose.
Randy loves it, and tells her she's finally finding who she is. Paula enjoyed the two different sides, the vulnerable and the showy performer. Simon calls it the strangest show they've ever done (true dat, Cowell) and compliments Syesha's acting before telling her she might be in trouble tonight.
Recaps: Jason was sweet and cute and blah. Then he was maudlin and cute and blah. Cook rocked as per usual, then rocked a little bit more. Brooke was bubbly and karaoke with very long legs. Then she got all weepy at the piano, like she always does. Archuleta turned in the exact same physical performance on two different huge, hardly-rearranged hits. And Syesha was boring with a slow song, then boring with an upbeat song.
Two choices for bottom two this week, with one of them targeted for elimination, for a total of three possible points. Which is tough, since there are three who could be in the bottom. And their names are all not David. I guess I'll go with Brooke and Syesha, guessing that the tween girls will keep Jason in the running despite a sub-par performance. And I'll send Syesha home.
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the_missy) wrote,
