Welcome to the Idol Final Four and a night that is sure to separate the wheat from the chaff (a process I actually did during the summer of 1983 while working a job at the University of Nebraska Agronomy Department—but I digress. Tonight the Idols have a wide range of songs from which to select for they have the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame “songbook” at their disposal. Song choice is definitely going to be a big issue with the judges, but it’s the voting public that makes the decisions, so let’s see what the Idols did for your votes.
Leading off the show, David Cook(ed) up a saucy version of “Hungry Like the Wolf”. It was an odd song choice, but one that I thought he worked hard to make his own. David has made a name for himself during the season by taking songs that seem far from his wheel-house and making them unforgettable. I am not sure he did reach that level tonight, but he’s a star and at this point in the show, he can’t really do much wrong. When the judges had their turn, Randy called the performance “just good”, Paula said he left her with a “big appetite”, and Simon called it a “copycat” because he didn’t think David did enough to the song, however he thought David did enough to get through to next week.
Dressed in a very sparkly, silver sequined mini, Syesha gammed it up with a sexy performance of the Tina Turner classic, “Proud Mary”—once again showing a side of her personality that will play well when she is ultimately kicked off the show in favor of starting her career on Broadway. Syesha was joined on stage by Ricky Minor and select members of the band and she electrified the audience. It was a split decision when judgment was levied—Randy gave her props for “being in the zone” at just the right time, but Simon called it a “bad, shrieky version of Tina Turner”. Just a so-so start for Ms. Mercardo, but she has another song to win your votes.
In what was an obvious mistake, Jason tried to channel Bob Marley while performing “I Shot the Sheriff”—unfortunately for Jason the only thing that his performance had in common with Mr. Marley was the hair. The arrangement was odd, his voice sounded very weak, and his energy was obviously lacking. It appeared as though he may have given up on his dreams of becoming the next American Idol. Randy called it a mess, Paula tried to compliment him by crediting him for performing for the audience (like duh, Paula, that’s what he’s supposed to do!), and Simon said the performace was “utterly atrocious”—he then went on to say it was like a “first round massacre…I don’t know what your were thinking” to which Jason said: “Bob Marley!” Rhetorical question, Jason—meaning you weren’t supposed to provide an answer. Perhaps Paula and Jason are sharing pharmacists.
David Archuleta selected “Stand by Me” by Ben E. King. David is definitely a capable singer, but he just doesn’t look the part of a pop star and certainly not the American Idol. While the rest of the performers (even Jason) dress like “stars in the making”, David showed up on stage in an ill fitting t-shirt and black trousers—he’s young and needs some help with his look. As far as his singing, it was good, but I didn’t think it was great. Randy was over the moon for David’s performance, Paula continued the love fest, and Simon said that he “could have whistled the song and sounded better than the last song” and then said it was “the best performance (of the night) so far”.
So based on the judges comments, you’d have to say that David A. is in first place, followed closely by David Cook, with Syesha holding down third, and Jason in last—it would be misleading to say fourth place because he doesn’t deserve to be ranked after he stunk it up!
Round two kicked off with David Cook singing “Baba O’Riley” by The Who. As he has done so many times before, David made this song which is almost 40 years-old sound like it was written this year. If this guy doesn’t win Idol, sell millions of records, and have an awesome recording career something is just not right in the world. Randy and Paula thought he was great and Simon said “welcome back, David Cook”--‘nuff said!
Syesha’s second song choice was “A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke. For this performance, Syesha was dressed in a floor length gold evening dress. It wasn’t a great song selection for her, she tried to do too much with it and she resorted back to her old ways of being a torch singer vs. the fun performer she has become over the past several weeks. Randy wasn’t down with the song—he thought the arrangement was wrong and Syesha sang it poorly. Then Paula brought Syesha to tears by complimenting her for singing such a powerful song, and then Simon agreed with…Paula! which really started the water works.
Jason stuck with the Bob’s and chose “Mr. Tambourine” by Bob Dylan. Jason pulled up his old trusty stool, strummed his guitar, and then did the unforgivable—he forgot the lyrics! Maybe Jason has decided on a post-Idol career as a contestant on another Fox ratings grabber, “Don’t Forget the Lyrics”! Whatever is going on inside those dreads (if, in fact, there is ANYTHING!), it hasn’t been Jason’s night. When he finished singing, Randy asked him how he thought he did to which Jason said “I forgot a couple of lines” and Simon put the nail in the proverbial coffin by instructing him to “pack your suitcases”.
David A. closed the show with an Elvis classic, “Love Me Tender”—a song he said he didn’t really know...really?! How can these guys NOT know an Elvis song? When it came time to sing, David worked off of a very odd arrangement of the song that sounded nothing like the King—and he closed his eyes throughout the performance. For some reason, Randy loved it, Paula called it one of his best performances, and Simon said “you didn’t beat the competition, you CRUSHED the competition”—I guess Simon and I are not seeing eye-to-eye tonight which can only mean one thing: nothing! David A. is safe at least until the Finals.
But you know who isn’t safe? Syesha and Jason…or at least neither of them should sleep too soundly tonight in anticipation of tomorrow’s elimination show.
Until then, I will continue watching TV so you don’t have to…
Charlie
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment