We are down to the Top 10 Idols and tonight they performed songs from the year of their birth—and I’m not going to lie to you, the ‘80’s weren’t exactly a treasure trove of good music…at least the songs that our Idols selected.
- Kicking off the show was Ramiele. Born in 1987, the Saudi born Floridian sang the Heart power ballad, “Alone”. I thought the song was just too big for her and the judges agreed with me (with the exception of Paula who is unable to give an honest critique to any contestant). Simon provided one of the most back handed compliments when he reminded Ramiele got through last week with an appalling performance, so she will probably get through this week as well. I think her luck may change and she should find herself in the bottom three.
- Also born in 1987, Jason Castro was next and sang “Fragile” by Sting. I have never heard the song before, so it was difficult for me to really critique his performance. However, Simon summed it up best when he compared it to “someone outside the subway” playing for change. He went on to say that Jason was a bit too laid back and even went so far as to accuse the dreadlocked Texan of not taking the competition seriously and “playing sloppy guitar”.
- Taking a page from the Gladys Knight songbook was Syesha who like the first two contestants was born in the year 1987. The song the self-described cry-baby chose was “If I Were Your Woman”—recorded in 1987 by Stephanie Mills. I was bored throughout the song, however the judges all agreed that it was Syesha’s best performance to date and launches her into the race for the crown. We’ll see with whom
- Dressed in a jacket stolen from the Porter Wagoner collection, Chikezie went old school by selecting “If Only for One Night” by Luther Vandross from 1985. The throng of cheering girls at the foot of the stage went crazy for Chikezie who bent down, held the hand of one of the girls, and sang directly to her. The judges weren’t so kind calling the performance “boring” (courtesy of Randy) and “cheesy” (thanks Simon).
- Seated at the piano and looking a lot more comfortable than last week, Brooke White sang “Every Breath You Take” recorded by the Police in 1983. Despite a stumble at the beginning of the song which required a restart, I thought Brooke sang the song pretty good—at least for half the song. The judges agreed and pin pointed her downfall—when Ricky Minor and the rest of the Idol band joined in on the song and things went downhill from there.
- Michael Johns delivered a rare two-for-one when he tackled the Queen classics from 1978 “We Will Rock You” leading directly into “We Are the Champions”. Michael has taken quite a bit of heat from the judges about song selection and giving the audience a performance that is going to move him to the top of the Idol pile—and he finally did just that. Both during and after his performance the crowd was going nuts, the judges heaped high praise on him, and I’m sure
- Born in 1983 and named after Carly Simon, Carly Smithson followed Michael with “Total Eclipse of the Heart”. When I hear the opening bars of the song, I wasn’t sure if she was going to give us the classic version of the song or the Old School version—as in the version that was performed by the Dan Band during the wedding reception scenes in the Will Ferrell smash hit, “Old School”! But alas, Carly took the easy way out and chose the Bonnie Tyler version and I thought rocked it nonetheless. The judges were a bit harsh with Simon recommending that Carly “lighten up a bit”. As you will recall from my preview to the Top 12 show, I was concerned about Carly doing too many power ballads. So Carly may find her way back into the bottom three.
- Winning the prize for the most obscure song choice was David Archuleta (born in 1990) who chose to sing a song called “You’re the Voice” by some Australian artist. Simon compared the performance to that which you would “find at a theme park surrounded by animated characters” and Paula insulted the fact that the song wasn’t by an American—somebody is getting saucy! To add to the beat down, Simon surmised that David likely wasn’t responsible for choosing the song and hinted at an outside influence—perhaps David’s ball-capped father who has been in the news regarding his stage dad behavior. David is likely safe which means he is that much closer to missing going to Prom with his unnamed date (who was sitting next to Dad—again in a ball cap!).
- So now we are up to Kristy Lee Cook who was born in 1984. KLC reached deep and selected Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the
- Our last performance of the night was turned in by David Cook. David was born in 1984 and had a “massive skull” (his words)—and by the time his song ended and he received serious praise from the judges, his head was quite large. David left his guitar in its case and hit the stage solo to sing Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean”. First of all, is there a person alive who hasn’t at one time owned a copy of the “Thriller” album? If so, you can pick up a special 25th anniversary edition at a music store near you. Back to David’s performance—it was BRILLIANT! By far the best performance of the night and one that puts him right there as a favorite to win the whole thing. Randy called it “original and bold” and Simon called it “brave and amazing”.
So in a night where few stars shined, who will be the unlucky three to grace center stage tomorrow? My money is on: Ramiele, Carly, and Chikezie and as much as it pains me to write it, Chikezie will be going home.
Tune in Wednesday night and find out what happens—or wait for my recap…either way, I will continue watching TV so you don’t have to…
Charlie
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