Idol Chatter - Third Elimination (3/27/08)

Like all good things, someone’s run on Idol had to come to an end.  And the end for one of our Idols came in the form of the typical Wednesday night elimination show.

 

As with every other elimination show, this one was packed with so much fluff, it gave the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man from “Ghostbusters” a run for his money.  And as usual, I am guilty of digressing—you are reading this recap to find out whose ride on the Idol gravy train ended and who escaped elimination.

 

But before giving you tonight’s bottom three, I feel the need to plug one of the great causes on network TV—Idol Gives Back.  Last year the special two-hour event raised over $76M in the fight against poverty, hunger, literacy, etc. in Africa and the US.  This year Idol Gives Back will air on Wednesday, April 9^th and, if you only watch one episode of Idol this year, make it this one—there will be plenty of star power, but the real pay off is seeing the great work your money help accomplish.

Thank you for indulging me…but it is time to get back to who is safe and who’s in jeopardy of going home.  As they did last week, the producers made the Idols walk from backstage to center stage to learn their fate from Ryan.

 

First up was Chikezie.  As you might recall, Chikezie was one of my three picks for the bottom three—and I even went so far as to say he was going home after a very boring performance last night.  Well, I was right, he was sent to the uncomfortable stools and asked to wait it out while the rest of the Idols had their time with Ryan—plus a lot of non-show related activities like Season 2 contestant and former Celebrity Fit Clubber, Kimberley Locke performing “Fall” off her new album which was OK, but I’m not running out to buy it—or even download it from iTunes.

 

Anyway after Chikezie, Brooke, Carly, and the Davids (Archuleta and Cook) were sent to the safety couch—but not before Carly refuted media rumors that she is pregnant and that was the reason she seemed so stressed during last night’s performance.

 

Joining Chikezie on the bottom three stools was Syesha—a mild shock to Randy and Paula and even though I didn’t predict this position for her, I wasn’t all that impressed with her performance.

 

Michael Johns was next and told Ryan what an honor it was to sing Queen the night before—and then Ryan delivered the news:  Michael was safe to sing again.  As was Ramiele which I found more than a bit shocking.  Simon predicted she would live to sing another day, however I think her time on the show is quickly coming to an end—just not this week.

 

With two Idols on the hot seat and six safe, that leaves just two more to learn their fate.  And right on cue out walked Jason Castro and Miss Bottom Three herself, Kristi Lee Cook.  Ryan made them sweat a little before delivering the news…that KLC was…SAFE!  Then Jason was joined on center stage by the other members of the bottom three, Chikezie and Syesha.

 

While Ryan was building suspense, Jason started babbling on about having a feeling he was going to be in this position and pretty much freaking out all day.  To put US out of our misery, Ryan sent Jason to the couch of safety setting up the showdown to see who had sung their last song on this stage.

 

A minor debate broke out between the judges regarding the past evening’s performances—was Chikezie as cheesy as Simon said; was Syesha as brilliant as Randy and Paula claimed while Simon stuck by his original critique that it was old-fashioned like that of Chikezie.

 

One more thing before getting to the elimination:  this is my worst week for predicting the bottom three…I said that Chikezie would be joined by Ramiele (she should have been there) and Carly (I thought she would fall prey to Simon’s bad review), but I was dead on with who was going home:  and that Idol was Chikezie.

 

With Reuben Studdard’s “Celebrate Me Home” playing over video of Chikezie’s journey on Idol, we were reminded that Chikezie’s journey with Idol is only just beginning because he was good enough to make the Idol Top 10 and that means he is going on tour with the rest of the Idols this summer—he’ll just have a some extra time to select some songs that aren’t so darn lame!

 

So we’re down to nine Idols and next week they will be coached by Dolly Parton—who just happens to have a new album on the charts…coincidence?  I think not!

 

Tune in next week to see how the Idols do with Miss Dolly—or don’t and wait to read what I saw…either way I will continue watching TV so you don’t have to.

 

Charlie

Idol Worship - Top 10 Perform Songs from their Birth Year (3/26/08)

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 America stands during tomorrow’s elimination show.
• 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 America is going to keep the Aussie around for at least one more week.
• 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 USA”—which in my opinion is more appropriate for a sporting event when you can leave your seat and head to the concession stand than the Idol stage.  But as Simon noted, it was the “most clever song choice in years” and will likely allow KLC to pick up enough votes to stay out of the bottom three for the first time in forever.
• 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 25^th 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

Idol Chatter - Second Elimination (3/20/08)

It’s Wednesday night and that can only mean one thing:  we are going to say good-bye to the second would-be Idol and get down to the American Idol Top 10!

 

And as usual, it’s never that cut and dried with Idol.  Instead of ripping the band-aid off in one fell swoop and telling us whose dreams of Idol stardom are doomed, we were dealt a steady dose of water torture by Ryan and the gang.

 

Highlights of the evening’s events included a mini Beatles medley, a behind the scenes look at how the Idols make those wacky Ford commercials, a segment on Idol Gives Back, and finally a performance by Season 5’s Kellie Pickler who teased Simon and Randy as she strutted on and off the stage while singing her hit “Red High Heels”.

 

When the dust finally settled and we were ready to get down to business, Ryan had the Idols come out from backstage one-by-one to learn their fate as determined by the voting public.  Tonight’s elimination was of particular interest to the contestants because the results would determine who would be touring this summer as part of the Idol Top 10 and which Idol would be buying tickets at an arena near them.

 

Instead of putting you through the same excruciating process that I endured, I’ll tell you that the bottom three included one pretty big surprise (at least in my humble opinion). 

 

You might recall that last night I predicted Amanda, Ramiele, and Kristy Lee Cook would make up the bottom three—well, for the second week in a row, I missed the bottom three by a single member.  Instead of Ramiele sweating it out, it was Carly Smithson!  I guess the luck of the Irish ran out on our lass from the Emerald Isle.

 

So to recap, making the Top 10 so far are:

 

1. Brooke White
2. David Archuleta
3. Michael Johns
4. David Cook
5. Jason Castro
6. Ramiele Maluby
7. Syesha Mercado
8. Chikezie

 

To relieve a bit of the tension for at least one of the contestants—and to restore some order to a huge mistake by the voters, Ryan sent Carly over to the couches and by doing so assured her that she would be touring with the eight other Idols already seated and breathing easy.

 

That left Kristy Lee Cook and Amanda—and wouldn’t you know, I was wrong again!  For the second week in a row, I predicted that American had seen enough of KLC and her KFC-styled singing.  But that wasn’t the case tonight—and I can’t really say I was too disappointed with the decision.

 

I think America got it right because Amanda can’t sing—at least not in the style expected of our American Idols.  Case in point:

 

During the mini Beatles medley that featured all of remaining Idols, Amanda was noticeably silent during the ladies portion of the show.  While the girls sang “Here, There, and Everywhere”, Amanda was nowhere to be found—as a matter of fact when she finally was spotted off in the distance, she was seen holding the microphone up to her mouth, but her lips weren’t moving.  It appears to me that the producers of the show were finally aware of what many of us already knew—the chick with the skunk ‘do stinks as a pop singer!  When they finally let her sing it was like nails on a chalkboard, but thank goodness it only lasted long enough for her to grunt the line “and in the end”…

 

And in the end, she is heading back to Indiana to ride her Harley, provide care to her nursing patients, and play smoky bars on weekends where no one can hear a thing anyway.

 

With our Top 10 revealed, the Idols turn their attention to new songs, better performances, and a 10% chance of becoming the next American Idol—it’s getting quite exciting!

 

Tune in next Tuesday to see from what genre they have to choose their songs.  Until then, I will continue watching TV so you don’t have to…

 

Charlie

 

 

Idol Worship - Top 11 Perform Lennon/McCartney Part Deux (3/19/08)

Tonight the Idols—YOUR Idols selected from the songs of a little quartet from Liverpool, England called The Beatles.  You may have heard of these guys, but if you have been living under a rock for the past 40+ years, they were a pretty popular musical group in the 1960’s, broke up at the start of the 1970’s, and have songs that will pretty much be around forever even if there are only two of the four walking the Earth—and one of them just found out he has to write a pretty big check to a “Dancing with the Stars” reject.

 

But I digress—tonight it’s all about the eleven kids ranging in age from 17-29 who sang for your entertainment and ultimately your votes.

 

• First up was Amanda who grunted her way through “Back in the U.S.S.R.”.  I am not a fan of Amanda’s, but to be fair she has fairly decent sense of stage presence—but her singing (or lack thereof) leaves me as cold as the Cold War.  Simon went so far to call the performance “predictable” and “boring”.
• Kristy Lee Cook—or KLC as I like to call her, added a little KFC to “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away”.  I’m a fan of Kristy’s, but her performance was pretty unmemorable—Simon called it “musical wallpaper”.  Are you starting to get the idea that Simon wasn’t in a very good mood?  Well, he’s only getting started, there are still nine more singers trying to avoid his wrath.
• After last week’s debacle, things weren’t looking good for David Archuleta—the early season favorite who stumbled last week and forgot the lyrics to his song.  But this week young David redeemed himself and delivered a strong performance of “The Long and Winding Road”—reminding everyone that the road to the crowning of the Idol champ is a marathon not a sprint.
• Michael Johns kangaroo hopped his way through “A Day in the Life”—one of my favorite Beatles hits.  The judges didn’t groove on the complicated and fractured arrangement of the song.  Simon warned Michael that he needs to “start sorting yourself out” and work on selecting the song that is going to put him back in the good graces of the judges—because I think the voters still love him.
• Dressed in bright yellow and dancing very awkwardly on the stage singing “Here Comes the Sun” was our Miss Brooke (White).  As you no doubt recall from last week’s review, it is never a good idea to start your song on the spiral staircase—see Ramiele and David A. recaps…unfortunately, Brooke didn’t get my email because she not only starting on the staircase, but she was also sitting down; big mistake!  And the judges agreed with me—Randy said it “wasn’t hot for me” and Simon called the performance “wet and forgettable”…interesting.  I’m not sure what a “wet” performance is, but it’s probably a British term that hasn’t made its way across the pond yet.
• When searching for a Beatle song this week, David Cook stumbled upon a version “Day Tripper” from ‘80’s Super Group, White Snake.  An admittedly odd place to look for good Beatles songs, but I thought David’s version was solid—that is until he added a little Peter Frampton to the performance.  Here’s the scene:  David was killing the song, playing his guitar Paul McCartney style (left handed, that is) and then he got to the middle of the song and stepped to his right, played the voice box, and lost me for a few seconds.  Thank goodness he moved back to the normal microphone and finished the song strong.  Paula liked his performance so much that she declared him “ready to go sell records”—and I must admit Paula might be on to something.
• Up seventh, 24 hours after celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, and counting on the luck of the Irish for a big performance was Carly Smithson.   Carly chose to sing “Blackbird”—a choice that split the judges.  Randy and Paula thought Carly brought her A-game, but Simon had a problem with a singer who selected a song about a blackbird.  I have no idea what that means—and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t either, but Carly explained that it had to do with all of the singers feeling like birds with broken wings now able to fly…or something like that.  Bantering aside, it was a strong performance; Simon was just being negative because he’s sick of hearing Beatles songs.
• To add to Simon’s irritation, Jason Castro sang “Michelle” which forced him to learn some French including the line “Michelle, my belle” which Jason thought was English—and that may have been what sent Simon over the edge.  I must admit I was dreading the song when I heard Jason say he selected it.
• Syesha tried to secure her safety tomorrow with a nice performance of “Yesterday”.  I wasn’t over the moon for it like Simon was, but I liked his comment about Syesha singing the song that “Brooke should have sung”.
• Mixing R&B with a little C&W, Chikezie countrified “I’ve Just Seen a Face” with the addition of a harmonica (welded by Chikezie himself) and a steel guitar (played by the band).  It was a strange arrangement of the song with Chikezie singing the first half of the song in his old school Freddy Jackson style and then breaking character with harmonica and going Alan Jackson.  Simon absolutely hated it calling it “literally atrocious” and “gimmicky”.
• Wrapping up the show was Ramiele who chose “I Should Have Known Better”—which could very well have been called “I Should Have SUNG Better” because she wasn’t good.  If Miss Mullaby (rhymes with lullaby) put the judges to sleep last week (and she did), her performance tonight could very well have put the voting public in a coma.

 

So after eleven Beatles songs, it’s time for my predictions for who should find their way into the bottom three.

 

• Amanda – she needs to go back to Indiana and sing in smoky bars where no one cares what the lyrics are.
• Ramiele – she has lost the magic she had earlier in the competition…I guess all of that crying she did in previous eliminations is taking its toll on our pint-sized Idol
• Kristy Lee Cook – KLC has made a habit of making it to the bottom 3, so who am I to tempt fate.

 

And the Idol leaving us Wednesday night?  I’m going to go out on a limb and say…KLC has sung her final KFC-infused song.

 

Tune in Wednesday or wait for me to tell you what happened…either way, I will continue watching TV so you don’t have to…

 

Charlie

Idol Chatter - First Elimination (3/13/08)

When you look up the term “elimination night” in the dictionary, the first entry is “a general waste of time and an hour of your life that you will never, EVER get back—so watch at your own peril…or read Charlie’s American Idol recap…your choice”.  Honestly, it really says that!

Well speaking of elimination night (and we were), tonight was the first of 11 eliminations we are going to be forced to watch in the process of crowning the next American Idol—YOUR American Idol!  Now that I have your attention, let me give you the highlights of tonight’s show.

First, there are a few things that never change regardless of the season or the talent they assemble to entertain us:

• We’re always going to be forced to watch the Idols sing a medley of songs from that week’s theme--a sort of "Up With People" without the matching clothes (this week at least);
• Celebrities (some real, some not so real) are always spotted throughout the studio audience—this week we saw Kim Kardashian and her family, Sanjaya and his sister, and Jim Carrey who was on hand to shamelessly plug his new movie, “Horton Hears a Who”;
• They always show a lame Ford commercial starring the remaining Idols doing their best Monkees/Beatles impressions;
• There is always some performer with ties to Idol--be it a former contestant, a former mentor, someone who is releasing an album from which Fox can benefit, or all three--this week it was Katherine McPhee (from Season 5 and sporting a huge diamond wedding ring), accompanied by David Foster (who played the role of mentor previously), and they were there to plug an album they are recording that no doubt has ties to Fox and Idol.

And this year they added probably the most annoying filler ever:  they have fans of the show email questions to the contestants, the judges, or Ryan and if their question is selected, the fan can call and ask the same question that is shown on the big screen behind the stage.  It is truly one of the dumbest things I have ever seen. 

But I digress, it is time to find out who left us and isn’t coming back.

To recap my prediction after Tuesday’s show, I thought the bottom three would consist of Ramiele, David Hernandez, and Kristy Lee Cook—and I wasn’t too far off when the votes were counted and the results revealed.  The only member of the bottom three that I missed was Syesha who took Ramiele’s place on the hot seat.

Oh, before I tell you who went home, remember my fear that Kristy Lee Cook was going to be eliminated and we would be forced to listen to her Hillbilly version of “Eight Days a Week”?  Well, we had to listen to it alright, but not because she got eliminated—no, in yet another new twist this season, the entire bottom three are allowed to sing their song one more time.  So not only did the bottom three get the fewest votes, but now we are subjected to hearing the song that landed them in the bottom three…AGAIN!

And when all the silliness and drama was finally over, it was David Hernandez who had to say goodbye—and to send him off in the right frame of mind, the producers played him out to the sounds of Season 2 winner Reuben Studdard singing the Kenny Loggins hit “Celebrate Me Home” (which just happens to be one of my favorite songs).

There are now eleven Idol wannabes left to battle for the title and when we see them next week, they will be performing another selection from the Lennon and McCartney songbook.  I can hardly wait to hear Amanda mumble through another classic song or see if David Archuleta can bounce back and remember the lyrics to a 90-second song.  It should be tons of fun—and if you don’t believe me, read my recap after the show.

Until then, I will continue watching TV so you don’t have to…

Charlie

 

Idol Worship - Top 12 Perform Lennon/McCartney (3/12/08)

The Top 12 American Idol finalists took to the big stage first the first time last night and the results were mixed—ranging from unbelievable to embarrassing and everything in between.

The Idols selected from the seemingly endless supply of songs from the Lennon and McCartney songbook, so there was no excuse for poor song selection.

Up first was Syesha and her interpretation of “Got to Get You Into My Life”. In my preview leading up to this round, I noted that Syesha was a dark horse in the competition—and I still believe she can be. But last night she disappointed a bit by trying to “glam up” the song a bit—adding uneven phasing and pregnant pauses in very awkward places throughout the song. The judges were all over the board in their reviews (Randy and Paula were critical while Simon thought she did quite well) and she is probably safe, primarily because there were a few stinkers that will boost her performance.

Sporting a pre-St. Patrick’s Day Kelly green sweatband watch and an awful cardigan sweater mismatched with a lime green tie, Chikezie was up next with “She’s a Woman”—a song I don’t think I have ever heard before. He started off the song sitting with a bluegrass trio (a banjo, tambourine, and fiddle) and then danced his way to center stage and proceeded to ROCK IT OUT! Admittedly the dancing left something to be desired, but he tore the song up and showed a side of his personality that we haven’t seen to date. Looks like the R&B Chikezie gave way to the rocker inside and the audience loved it as did the judges who were blown away and I’m sure the voting public is going to launch him into round 2 next week.

Ramiele sang “In My Life” which was pretty much a disaster. I like the song plenty—it was used as the theme song for the show “Providence” back in the late ‘90’s early ‘00’s, but her execution (no pun intended) was off the mark. In addition to starting the song on the spiral staircase and making a less than smooth transition to the middle of the stage, she did nothing with the song and her vote count will show it. She also dedicated the song to the contestants who have already been shown the door—and she might join them and then they can sing the song together. Very disappointing performance, Ramiele!

Jason Castro dragged his dreads and his guitar to the stage to perform “If I Fell”. Like Ramiele, he sang the song well enough, but we’ve seen him do this act before and if he wants to go deeper in the competition, he’s going to have to change it up a bit and get out of the “guy playing a guitar and singing in a college dorm room” as Simon described his performance. I like this Jason, but he needs to develop an edge and I’m not sure he has one—after all, he is an Aggie from Texas A&M J (that was for my dad!)

Singing “Come Together” and showing us a totally different performer to what we have grown accustomed was Carly Smithson. The Irish import was a dynamo up on the stage and served notice to the rest of the competitors that she is more than just a power balladeer. All three judges gave her serious props with Simon going so far as to compare the performance to that of Kelly Clarkson from Season 1—very high praise indeed.

The first of our three David’s, David Cook, followed Carly’s strong performance with an awesome take on the Beatles classic “Eleanor Rigby”. David “rocked up” the song and really made it his own. And for the second week in a row, I think he hit gold with a song from yesteryear that could be recorded today and be a hit (he did a great job covering Lionel Richie’s “Hello” last week). The only advice I would give Mr. Cook is to do something with that hair!—it looks like an awful comb over and the dude it too young for a comb over, plus he doesn’t have Trump’s money, so he really shouldn’t rock that hairstyle ‘til he does.

Brooke White continued the run of great performances as she accompanied herself on the piano and sang “Let it Be”. Brooke had tears in her eyes after the song and as she listened to the judges praise her heart-felt performance. Brooke seems to be one of the few contestants who actually understands what it means to choose the correct song as she has done it a number of times leading up to and including this performance.

But all good things eventually do come to an end and that end was David Hernandez’ performing “I Saw Her Standing There”. David tried to work the stage, but I think he would have been better working the stage with a brass rail instead. The song is a classic, no doubt, but David made it sound like a night of bad karaoke in a college town bar. David definitely is going to suffer when the votes are tabulated.

The female rocker of the group, Amanda Overmyer, lent her vocals to “You Can’t Do That” which, as Simon noted, was only intelligible about 30% of the time. Amanda looked comfortable on stage in her black and white striped pants that matched her skunk-do, but her singing is just not that good. I’m beginning to wonder if she is this year’s Sanjaya—the beneficiary of voters who cast their ballots for the worst singer in the competition just to irritate those of us who really want to see the best singers perform.

One of my favorites in the Top 12 is Michael Johns who slowed the pace with his take on “Across the Universe”. I thought the native Aussie did a pretty good job, if not a bit safe. But the judges were a bit harsher on him because they wanted him to take a few chances with the song. But he’s likely safe and will have another chance to find that one song that makes him stand out more—and in Randy’s words to “Go Big!”.

Taking things to the opposite extreme was Kristy Lee Cook who intended to add a country twang to “Eight Days a Week”, but what she ended up with was turning it into a hillbilly version of a song that requires no changes. The unfortunate thing about Kristy’s performance isn’t that she has a good chance to go home tonight, but that we are going to have to hear it again!

Closing the show was the season’s early favorite, David Archuleta, who showed some cracks in his previously impenetrable armor with a very sub-par performance of “We Can Work It Out”—which he didn’t do (work it out, that is). The mistakes he made were many and often starting with him positioned on the spiral staircase (did he learn nothing from Ramiele’s performance), next he forgot his lyrics 3 or 4 times, and then to complete the disaster, he admitted to not being committed to the song—and it showed. He has built up a good enough fan base to stick around another week (actually several), but he was not in top form.

And so went last night’s show. The top performers were Chikezie, Carly, David Cook, and Brooke White.

The bottom three should be Ramiele, David Hernandez, and Kristy Lee Cook—and I predict that KLC will go home and we’ll be forced to endure the Beverly Hillbillies again!

I’ll be back with an elimination update and until then, I will continue watching TV so you don’t have to.

Charlie

Idol Worship - Top 12 Preview (3/11/08)

You’ve waited a long time, so I won’t make you wait any longer. It’s time to unveil the 12 American Idol finalists just in time to enjoy watching them perform on the big Hollywood stage Tuesday evening. So without any further delay, here is your chance to meet the twelve kids who are going to entertain us for the next several months:

David Archuleta has been considered the odds-on favorite to be crowned the next American Idol since his first audition earlier this year. The 17-year-old Utah native has wowed the judges, the studio audience, and the voting public each and every week singing such classic hits as John Lennon’s “Imagine” and Phil Collin’s “Another Day in Paradise”. The only thing keeping us from handing this young talent the title is the fact that in past years the early favorite hasn’t won—can anyone say Chris Daughtry? Or Melinda Doolittle? David’s going far in the competition and he will be a star one day regardless of how the votes go this season.

Originally from Australia and now calling Buckhead, GA home, Michael Johns (29) brings a seasoned professional style to the contest. Michael has made a name for himself with his covers of the Doors’ “Light My Fire” and Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” from “The Breakfast Club”. If not for David A., Michael would be the clear favorite.

The top lady is another foreign-born contestant named Carly Smithson (24). Carly hails from Ireland, but makes her home in San Diego where she owns a tattoo parlor with her inked husband. Carly has got serious pipes and should go far in the competition—provided she doesn’t make every song a power ballad. She has performed songs by Celine Dion and Heart quite well, but she’ll need to lighten it up a bit to build up a fan base especially against some of the more personable singers.

I think Syesha Mercado (21) could be a real sleeper this year. She has a big voice, model looks, and tons of charisma to win votes. Song selection is going to be her biggest challenge as she has thus far selected songs that don’t exactly fit her style the best—example: “Me and Mr. Jones”. She should sail through the early rounds of the competition and could very well be around at the end if things break her way.

Another talented sleeper is Jason Castro. The painfully shy, dreadlocked 20-year-old from Rockwall, TX has a wonderful voice and will pick up a lot of female votes with his sheepish smile and piercing blue eyes, but his personality is going to have to change (as in he is going to have to develop one) in order to get enough votes to last deep into the show. Jason impressed the judges as well as the viewing and voting public last week with his interpretation of “Hallelujah”, the Leonard Cohen classic that has been covered by a number of hit makers including Jeff Buckley.

Brooke White from Mesa, AZ is another talented singer who is developing into quite a good performer. Early in the audition process, it was almost painful watching Brooke (24) perform because she just seemed so unsure of herself despite a lovely singing voice. But as the weeks has come and gone, she has shown a spicier side to her personality—even sparring a bit with Simon Cowell (aka Judge Crabby Pants!). Brooke’s shining moment thus far in the competition was her take on the Carly Simon classic, “You’re So Vain”—a not so veiled homage to the aforementioned Simon.

Twenty-year-old Ramiele Malubay from Miramar, FL is trying to become the first Pilipino-American to win the coveted Idol crown. Ramiele stands about five foot high (with heels!), but has a huge voice. Like most of the contestants, Ramiele is going to have to be very careful with song selection. The other thing you need to know about Ramiele is that she cries during EVERY elimination—regardless of who’s getting the boot from the show.

You may have heard about our next contestant, David Hernandez. David is from Glendale, AZ where he shook his money-maker for tips at an adult dance club prior to auditioning for Idol last September. So far this revelation hasn’t hurt the 24-year-old who has a powerful voice and has impressed with “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” a couple of weeks back. If he can maintain that level of performance, he could make quite a run during the show.

As with just about every past season, there is a single-named contestant that makes it to the Final 12—and this year’s version is a young R&B singer named Chikezie. Simon can’t seem to remember how to pronounce his name, so the 22-year-old, Inglewood, CA native sang the Donny Hathaway classic “I Believe to My Soul” which has the famous line: “Last night you were dreaming and I hear you say ‘Oh, Johnny’ when you know my name is Chikezie!” It was a nice touch, but he lost a bit of that luster last week when he opted for a Whitney Houston number (“All the Man That I Need”—of course he changed the lyrics to “Woman”, but that didn’t really help much). Chikezie can sing, but he likely won’t last long in the competition.

The resident Rocker in the Final 12 is David Cook from Blue Springs, MO. David has both irritated and wowed Simon and in the process may have won a few extra votes along the way. He is a capable singer, but he does lack the elusive “X”-factor. But if he is able to maintain the magic he created with his edgy version of Lionel Richie’s “Hello”, he might surprise a few people.

To balance out the male rocker, I offer you Amanda Overmeyer. Dubbed the “Rock’n’Roll Nurse” by the judges, Amanda is a less talented version of Janis Joplin. In addition to her interesting combination of “nurse by day/Harley rider by night”, she also mixes a bit of Pepe LePew in her hairstyle. I don’t anticipate Amanda lasting very long once the Idols move to the big stage.

Rounding out the Final 12 is Selma, Oregon’s own Kristy Lee Cook. Kristy represents the Country side of the musical spectrum and, as long as she can put a country lilt to her song choices, she is OK—at least she was up to this point. As much as I would like to seem KLC last a few weeks on the show, I wouldn’t recommend she completely unpack her bags the first couple of shows.

So that is how the Idol Final 12 stack up. As we are reminded every show, before every commercial break, and as the show closes, this is the most talented group of singers ever to grace the Idol stage. Do yourself a favor and tune in to hear these young kids sing songs that were hits when their parents were kids!

Until we meet again (is tomorrow too soon?), I will continue watching TV so you don’t have to.

Charlie