Lennon/McCartney Songbook. OoooOo. What a vast array of songs to choose from, and yet many of my favorites seemed to have entered a contest to see who could
out-meh the others. The review is organized in order of how I liked them, most to least.
1. Chikezie (22) was quite personable in his clip about his Nigerian upbringing and giving his mom a little bit of grief for hiding her knowledge of rock & roll from him when he & his siblings were growing up. However, it's very likely that non-familiarity with the music paid off handsomely. "She's A Woman" has never started with a fiddle, has it? And then segued into a hard rock number??!!?? What a performance! Very engaging and different, and definitely entertaining. To think I was ready to see him leave last week. LOL. I'm amazed but Chikezie earns the first #1 spot of the season proper. Well done!
2. Amanda Overmeyer (23) is a regular American but doesn't look the part. Her very 60s, kind of hippie-ish outfit had me wondering what song she was planning to perform. She looked laid back, but there was nothing laid-back about her rocking performance of "You Can't Do That." AWESOME! The only thing I didn't care for was the kind of hip-hoppy spin she put on that one word. Apart from that bit, I really liked her delivery. Strong vocal, good command of the stage. I was glad to hear she did not change the lyric, adding a layer of meaning only she could pull off. She could have been singing to her guy or her girl. She definitely put her rocker chick performance spin on the number. Nice to see that the judges liked it as well, although Simon didn't feel it was as strong as last week. I felt it was just a tad stronger, but she was out-performed by Chikezie.
3. David Cook (25) is another of the few regular Americans. He chose "Elinor Rigby" and left his guitar backstage. The first few notes were a little shaky but he quickly found his groove. Another solid rock performance that deservedly earned solid comments from the judges, especially Simon. There isn't a lot to say about David C. except I like him and enjoy his performances.
4. Carly Smithson (24) earns the #4 spot kind of by default. There's just no one whose performance I liked more. Carly is originally from Ireland. During her clip she mentioned that "Come Together" is a song she performs weekly at her singing gig. Parts of the performance reminded me of En Vogue doing "Free Your Mind." She rocked it out, she changed it up, but... I didn't love it. It was okay, but I have this feeling that it might be downhill from here. This song was polished from constant revision and repetition in front of different audiences in a bar band setting. The judges fell over themselves to lavish praise on her: Randy called it stellar, Paula felt she was watching a star, and Simon thought she finally chose the right song and was reminded of Kelly Clarkson. It's not that I see her leaving soon; it's more that I'm skeptical about her ability to deliver the goods with songs she doesn't have quite so much experience performing.
5. Brooke White (24) originally from Arizona. When she said Sgt Pepper was her first album that she bought, I had high hopes. "Let It Be" is so over-done, and some of my excitement dissipated. She accompanied herself on piano, but the effort that went into piano playing detracted a little from her vocal. She was breathy, a little tinny, not fabulous. Not terrible, but not fab. I still like her, I'm glad Simon thinks it was one of the best of the night.
6. Sayesha Mercado's mom has a face for radio. (Pause) I know we're going to hear the usual "pitchy" comments from Randy all season, but I'm tired of "pitchy." I'm going to try to use more colorful adjectives to describe the messes. Sayesha began "Gotta Get You Into My Life" on a wonky note. I felt my head tilting to one side. Since she was the first singer, my dear husband paid attention for a few moments, then pronounced his view:
Dean: "Sucks."
AMAI: "What do you think of her outfit?"
Dean: "Looks like she sucks. So I'll give her a 9 out of 10. Look at her up there, all sexy. What does she want me to do?"
AMAI: "Vote for her."
Dean: "I would but I'm Canadian and they won't let us."
AMAI: "I thought it was a cabaret presentation."
Dean: "More like a college musical."
Bottom line: She won't win. However, compared with the performances further down the list, she had good energy and was fun.
I am very disappointed with the bottom half of the group.
7. Jason Castro (20) failed music at college (lol). His family is from Columbia. The guitar returns for If I Fell, another pretty and pretty quiet, song. It didn't really give him much to do, but he has a lot of fans who scream for him. I like him and still I agree with Simon that he needs to pick brilliant songs that suit his style. He's getting the 7 spot mostly because I like him, but this performance wasn't special by any means. He should consider ditching the guitar next week.
8. Michael Johns (29) is originally from Australia. I really thought "Across The Universe" was a more upbeat song. The delivery was sort of pleasant but essentially dull. The main problem for me was hearing during his clip that he connects the song to a family tragedy. While performing he looked like he was in pain, like he was reliving the bad event(s). I think this was a very poor choice of song for him. There should have been more of a feeling of hope, not deep sadness and sense of a raw gaping wound. Idiot Paula thought it was brilliant; Simon & Randy felt it wasn't really showing his ability. I was very disappointed. But he's still better than the remaining contestants.
9. David Archuleta (17). Mom from Honduras, dad from Utah. Interesting combo. He's young. I'm totally not interested. His song was "We Can Work It Out." Mehville. Simon says he's got to be fair now that we're in the top 12 - "that was a mess." Succinct, eh? I realize he has a huge fan base but if he can't get it together he won't deserve to be around as long as Simon thought.
10. Ramiele is from the Phillippines. A sure sign of my wandering attention: I noted there's a full orchestra available and being utilized for this pleasant but dull performance of "In My Life." She is very soft-voiced, although she can belt it out, which she proves on the final word. It's only because I love the song that I didn't fall asleep crying like Simon. I was watching, but it was not fabulous like Chikezie's. In fact, Chikezie's performance (coming 2nd on the program as it did) set a very high standard that few even vaguely approached. If this girl survives another week, it'll just be prolonging the agony for her. I don't see her able to step it up and really do well.
11. David Hernandez (24) is from Arizona. During his performance of "I Saw Her Standing There," I kept thinking about the fact that he majored in broadcast journalism. This was pretty dreadful, actually. He's really fallen down the list; I liked him so much a couple of weeks ago. The judges all panned it because he "did too much." I thought he didn't do enough. He left it to the background singers to reach the high notes, he didn't put enough good feeling into the delivery. The "too much" the judges were noting was to cover up, perhaps, his lack of ability. Maybe it was too much of one thing (runs, and running around) and not enough honest-to-goodness feeling and fun. He didn't look like someone who'd just met the love of his life; rather, his grimace telegraphed to me "Oh now I've got a ball and chain." Not a good song choice for David H. If he avoids elimination it will be only due to other options on the chopping block.
12. Kristy Lee Cook (24) chose "Eight Days A Week." She wanted to make it her own, so she called her mom for input (heehee). Country Stylings, what more need be said? She's cute but this sucked. She sounded nervous and if country has anything, it's confidence. Both Randy and Paula admitted for once they didn't enjoy it. Simon said it was Dolly Parton on Helium, and lol - that's what I was thinking. Not that I can think of any Beatles song that would be right, but this was definitely the wrong song for the country treatment. Kristy is pretty, personable, but I think Carrie Underwood has filled the country niche fully & completely. This is more of a rocker group this season (thank god) and I don't see Kristy lasting much longer. She's at the bottom because she's my pick for the bootee. I'm just not in the mood for country, and her voice doesn't seem capable of doing anything else.
In conclusion
I enjoyed the clips, although I elected not to report too much about them.
What a fizzle this week was, overall. A couple of terrific performances, a couple of really good performances, a whole bunch of meh and so-so and a few really terrible performances. Such an awesome category but I feel there were a number of really bad song choices and a number of terrible presentation choices.
Much as I dislike Archuleta, I would rather see some others leave ahead of him.
My biggest surprise was being entertained by Chikezie.
Feel free to post your own Best to Worst listings.
Thanks for reading! See you all tomorrow!!
* * *
Fans of Survivor - enjoy my weekly essay on the Half-Ass Season in the S16 forum, here.
Check out Sir Links A Lot American Idol for more articles and recaps for this show.
1. Chikezie (22) was quite personable in his clip about his Nigerian upbringing and giving his mom a little bit of grief for hiding her knowledge of rock & roll from him when he & his siblings were growing up. However, it's very likely that non-familiarity with the music paid off handsomely. "She's A Woman" has never started with a fiddle, has it? And then segued into a hard rock number??!!?? What a performance! Very engaging and different, and definitely entertaining. To think I was ready to see him leave last week. LOL. I'm amazed but Chikezie earns the first #1 spot of the season proper. Well done!
2. Amanda Overmeyer (23) is a regular American but doesn't look the part. Her very 60s, kind of hippie-ish outfit had me wondering what song she was planning to perform. She looked laid back, but there was nothing laid-back about her rocking performance of "You Can't Do That." AWESOME! The only thing I didn't care for was the kind of hip-hoppy spin she put on that one word. Apart from that bit, I really liked her delivery. Strong vocal, good command of the stage. I was glad to hear she did not change the lyric, adding a layer of meaning only she could pull off. She could have been singing to her guy or her girl. She definitely put her rocker chick performance spin on the number. Nice to see that the judges liked it as well, although Simon didn't feel it was as strong as last week. I felt it was just a tad stronger, but she was out-performed by Chikezie.
3. David Cook (25) is another of the few regular Americans. He chose "Elinor Rigby" and left his guitar backstage. The first few notes were a little shaky but he quickly found his groove. Another solid rock performance that deservedly earned solid comments from the judges, especially Simon. There isn't a lot to say about David C. except I like him and enjoy his performances.
4. Carly Smithson (24) earns the #4 spot kind of by default. There's just no one whose performance I liked more. Carly is originally from Ireland. During her clip she mentioned that "Come Together" is a song she performs weekly at her singing gig. Parts of the performance reminded me of En Vogue doing "Free Your Mind." She rocked it out, she changed it up, but... I didn't love it. It was okay, but I have this feeling that it might be downhill from here. This song was polished from constant revision and repetition in front of different audiences in a bar band setting. The judges fell over themselves to lavish praise on her: Randy called it stellar, Paula felt she was watching a star, and Simon thought she finally chose the right song and was reminded of Kelly Clarkson. It's not that I see her leaving soon; it's more that I'm skeptical about her ability to deliver the goods with songs she doesn't have quite so much experience performing.
5. Brooke White (24) originally from Arizona. When she said Sgt Pepper was her first album that she bought, I had high hopes. "Let It Be" is so over-done, and some of my excitement dissipated. She accompanied herself on piano, but the effort that went into piano playing detracted a little from her vocal. She was breathy, a little tinny, not fabulous. Not terrible, but not fab. I still like her, I'm glad Simon thinks it was one of the best of the night.
6. Sayesha Mercado's mom has a face for radio. (Pause) I know we're going to hear the usual "pitchy" comments from Randy all season, but I'm tired of "pitchy." I'm going to try to use more colorful adjectives to describe the messes. Sayesha began "Gotta Get You Into My Life" on a wonky note. I felt my head tilting to one side. Since she was the first singer, my dear husband paid attention for a few moments, then pronounced his view:
Dean: "Sucks."
AMAI: "What do you think of her outfit?"
Dean: "Looks like she sucks. So I'll give her a 9 out of 10. Look at her up there, all sexy. What does she want me to do?"
AMAI: "Vote for her."
Dean: "I would but I'm Canadian and they won't let us."
AMAI: "I thought it was a cabaret presentation."
Dean: "More like a college musical."
Bottom line: She won't win. However, compared with the performances further down the list, she had good energy and was fun.
I am very disappointed with the bottom half of the group.
7. Jason Castro (20) failed music at college (lol). His family is from Columbia. The guitar returns for If I Fell, another pretty and pretty quiet, song. It didn't really give him much to do, but he has a lot of fans who scream for him. I like him and still I agree with Simon that he needs to pick brilliant songs that suit his style. He's getting the 7 spot mostly because I like him, but this performance wasn't special by any means. He should consider ditching the guitar next week.
8. Michael Johns (29) is originally from Australia. I really thought "Across The Universe" was a more upbeat song. The delivery was sort of pleasant but essentially dull. The main problem for me was hearing during his clip that he connects the song to a family tragedy. While performing he looked like he was in pain, like he was reliving the bad event(s). I think this was a very poor choice of song for him. There should have been more of a feeling of hope, not deep sadness and sense of a raw gaping wound. Idiot Paula thought it was brilliant; Simon & Randy felt it wasn't really showing his ability. I was very disappointed. But he's still better than the remaining contestants.
9. David Archuleta (17). Mom from Honduras, dad from Utah. Interesting combo. He's young. I'm totally not interested. His song was "We Can Work It Out." Mehville. Simon says he's got to be fair now that we're in the top 12 - "that was a mess." Succinct, eh? I realize he has a huge fan base but if he can't get it together he won't deserve to be around as long as Simon thought.
10. Ramiele is from the Phillippines. A sure sign of my wandering attention: I noted there's a full orchestra available and being utilized for this pleasant but dull performance of "In My Life." She is very soft-voiced, although she can belt it out, which she proves on the final word. It's only because I love the song that I didn't fall asleep crying like Simon. I was watching, but it was not fabulous like Chikezie's. In fact, Chikezie's performance (coming 2nd on the program as it did) set a very high standard that few even vaguely approached. If this girl survives another week, it'll just be prolonging the agony for her. I don't see her able to step it up and really do well.
11. David Hernandez (24) is from Arizona. During his performance of "I Saw Her Standing There," I kept thinking about the fact that he majored in broadcast journalism. This was pretty dreadful, actually. He's really fallen down the list; I liked him so much a couple of weeks ago. The judges all panned it because he "did too much." I thought he didn't do enough. He left it to the background singers to reach the high notes, he didn't put enough good feeling into the delivery. The "too much" the judges were noting was to cover up, perhaps, his lack of ability. Maybe it was too much of one thing (runs, and running around) and not enough honest-to-goodness feeling and fun. He didn't look like someone who'd just met the love of his life; rather, his grimace telegraphed to me "Oh now I've got a ball and chain." Not a good song choice for David H. If he avoids elimination it will be only due to other options on the chopping block.
12. Kristy Lee Cook (24) chose "Eight Days A Week." She wanted to make it her own, so she called her mom for input (heehee). Country Stylings, what more need be said? She's cute but this sucked. She sounded nervous and if country has anything, it's confidence. Both Randy and Paula admitted for once they didn't enjoy it. Simon said it was Dolly Parton on Helium, and lol - that's what I was thinking. Not that I can think of any Beatles song that would be right, but this was definitely the wrong song for the country treatment. Kristy is pretty, personable, but I think Carrie Underwood has filled the country niche fully & completely. This is more of a rocker group this season (thank god) and I don't see Kristy lasting much longer. She's at the bottom because she's my pick for the bootee. I'm just not in the mood for country, and her voice doesn't seem capable of doing anything else.
In conclusion
I enjoyed the clips, although I elected not to report too much about them.
What a fizzle this week was, overall. A couple of terrific performances, a couple of really good performances, a whole bunch of meh and so-so and a few really terrible performances. Such an awesome category but I feel there were a number of really bad song choices and a number of terrible presentation choices.
Much as I dislike Archuleta, I would rather see some others leave ahead of him.
My biggest surprise was being entertained by Chikezie.
Feel free to post your own Best to Worst listings.
Thanks for reading! See you all tomorrow!!
* * *
Fans of Survivor - enjoy my weekly essay on the Half-Ass Season in the S16 forum, here.
Check out Sir Links A Lot American Idol for more articles and recaps for this show.
Feel free to click on the Kudos button 
