To help celebrate Earth Day, the Idol producers had Andrew Lloyd Webber mentor the Idols--I'm not sure how those two things tied together, but I wanted to make sure everyone was aware of the special day. The Idols certainly had their work cut out for them—or so the judges would have us believe. Simon predicted that it would be one of the most difficult nights of the season.
So let’s see how the Idols performed with one of the most prolific composers in the history of musical theatre as their guide.
Leading off the night was Syesha who selected “One Rock & Roll Too Many”—a song she selected to show a little personality. ALW predicted that she would “bring the house down”, but what house would it be?....the penthouse or the dawg house?! Perched atop a grand piano and stylishly dressed in a tight, red dress, Syesha charmed the crowd, danced with Ricky Minor (band leader), and flirted with the guitar player. I was pleasantly surprised at her performance and felt very entertained. Randy called it her best performance to date and said she could have a future as a star on Broadway. Simon called the performance “very sexy…very Michelle Pfeiffer”. A great start to the show indeed!
Jason Castro chose “Memories” from Cats and gave Mr. Webber a bit of a shock—in so much as ALW never thought he would see the day when a man with dreads would be singing this much loved Broadway hit. Jason was equally surprised to find that it was such a well-known song—OMG this kid is young! When it came time to perform, Jason was seated upon a stool, dressed in a white suit with matching white hush puppies, and in obvious discomfort with his song selection. Jason struggled with the song—Randy went so far as to call it “a train wreck”. Paula tried to make it all better by complimenting him on his song selection—proving once again that Paula is watching a totally different show then the rest of us here on this Planet (plug for Earth Day). Simon summed the performance up by saying to Jason that it was probably “the longest two minutes of your life”—OUCH! Looks like Mr. Castro might be headed for the bottom three come tomorrow night.
Brooke White sang “You Must Love Me” a new song written by Andrew and his long time collaborator, Tim Rice, from the new Evita movie. During her time with Andrew, Brooke struggled to understand what the song was about, but with Andrew's help, she grasped it…or did she? Brooke pulled the old start/stop routine for the second time this season—but this time the entire band had to start over when Brooke messed up the opening lyric. Whoops! Eventually she got through the song, but how would the judges and America handle the false start? Randy was mixed in his feelings about her performance; he complimented her on taking Andrew’s direction, but felt she was a bit weak in the delivery. Paula told her that she “must never start and stop”—strong words for Paula. Simon said this is “why I love live TV” and then poured salt on the wound by saying Brooke won't be happy when she watches her performance back. But in a rare moment of human compassion, he said that she was right to start and stop—and Randy agreed. Sorry, Paula, you picked the wrong time for tough love. And Brooke picked the wrong week to forget her lyrics because she is likely going to join Jason in the bottom three, but there are three more performances yet to come.
Before performing his song, David Archuleta received hugs from a gaggle of young ladies from the front row of the Idol audience. David chose “Think of Me” from The Phantom of the Opera. Andrew's only piece of advice for David was to keep his eyes open when he sings this song--which just happens to be a girl song. When he hit the stage, young David struggled to not close his eyes—and the few times he did close them, he quickly re-opened them making for a very awkward looking performance…so I closed my eyes and found his vocal performance quite pleasing. BTW: David’s eyes are hazel. Randy broke out his “if you can sing, you can sing anything” comment and them proclaimed him “the bomb, the one too beat!”. Paula babbled on as usual. And Simon called it “pleasant” and “one of your weakest performances of the past few weeks”, but also assured him that he is going to be safe.
Carly originally wanted to do “All I Ask of You” from Phantom, but Andrew halted her two bars into rehearsal and told her she had to go to option two: “Jesus Christ Superstar”—a wise decision (and the correct one!). For the first time in weeks Carly actually looked like she was having fun—as was Ricky Minor who was caught cuttin’ a rug while directing the band in a very hip version of the song. Randy called the performance good, but not necessarily her best; Paula…who really cares what Paula said; and Simon called it “one of my favorite performances of the night”—a comment which prompted Carly to run around the stage showing off a T-Shirt which read: “Simon Loves Me (this week)”.
So how would David Cook close the show? David chose “Music of the Night” from Phantom—a song which Andrew called the sexiest song he has ever written. David practiced singing the song with passion directly to Andrew—AWKWARD! Then he headed to the Idol stage to stare longingly into the cameras to win your votes. David called upon his musical theatre background to deliver a very convincing performance. According to Randy, it was “another molten-hot performance”. Simon said he preferred the grittier version of David, but that he still did a nice job. David should be safe.
So with strong performances by Syesha, the Davids, and Carly, who will join Jason and Brooke in the bottom three? Well, if I were to predict—like I do each week, I would say it is going to be Syesha simply because tonight was the first time she actually showed some personality and it may be too late for her to build a base like the rest of the Idols.
Tune in tomorrow to see for yourself who’s dream of superstardom is dashed by lack of votes.
Until then, I will continue watching TV so you don’t have to…
Charlie
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