Previously on... the Bottom 3 contained Kristy and Ramiele, and there were three left to be told their fate. Of Syesha,
Jason and Brooke, the one person I thought would be safe, landed in the bottom 3 for the first time. Brooke got a wake-up call for sure. However, after weeks
and weeks of me asking for it, Ramiele was finally given her trundling papers. Of course I didn't actually pick her to leave; rather she was in the unlucky
penultimate spot on my list. That seems to be the spot of doom, which may now be called the SOD Off. The person I place in the SOD Off has gone home more weeks
than not.
INSPIRATION OR INSIPIDITY?
Songs That Inspire Week. Oy. Only a couple of the performances were truly inspiring, hence my choice of banner this week.
With very little ado, we were right into it. Each of the Kids got to spend a moment or two with Ryan on the stools of interrogation. I've not reported any of what transpired. For a change of pace, I've kept them in the order in which they performed, and put the number for how much I liked them beside their names. And yet it turned out the my favorite four were the first four to perform, while the second four were my least favorite.
3. Michael Johns "Dream On" by Aerosmith. OoooOoo I love this song. He chose it for the line "dream until your dreams come true." He did a fairly good job with it, but even with the backstory he didn't really get my emotions involved. Randy & I were on the same page on that score. Paula slobbered all over him and I suppose I kind of agreed with her too. Simon thought it was a little wannabe-ish and claimed he doesn't see Michael as a rock star type. Ryan tried to get a new answer out of Michael when he'd already given the answer to the question (of why he chose the song) twice. Filler! Grades in order beginning with the "12 Left" week and finishing with the addition of this week's score: 8, 8, 2, 3, 3.
4. Syesha Mercado chose "I Believe" by Fantasia. She gave a long blahdiblah about the power of believing in yourself. I thought she did a solid enough job with the song. Randy quite liked it, but hauled out the Great Fantasia blah blah. Paula cheered. Simon felt it lacked the big wave of emotion. Last week she did Whitney, this week Fantasia, and Simon made a daft remark that he wants to find out who she is. Huh? I thought she conveyed the emotion quite well, although it did take a little while for her to get comfortable with the song. Still, I preferred her performance over the other group of 4. Grades: 6, 1, 3, 7, 4.
2. Jason Castro chose to perform the ukelele version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow." For about two seconds I was wondering if this was going to be a giant lemon, but those fears were soon put to rest. Come on! It's Jason Castro, the master of the understated presentation that just blows you away. He was seated on an over-sized stool to play the diminutive ukelele. The performance was Different with a capital D. The audience was spell-bound, no arm waving, no singing along. Just enthralled. Randy called it the hottest. Paula managed to say she loved it in plain language. Simon thought it was fantastic. It was very very good. Grades: 7, 5, 5, 4, 2.
1. Kristy Lee Cook sang "Anyway" by Martina McBride. There's a verse in it that really appeals to her, so that's why she chose it. Very poignant song and I felt she really connected with it. I enjoyed the performance very much and that's saying quite a lot given the reference to praying. For a moment I was afraid the whole thing was going to go south for me, but fortunately it didn't devolve into a preachy song at all. Randy always notices pitchy moments and tonight was no exception, but he loved the performance. Paula's boobies called it Kristy's best by far. Simon thought she was very very good indeed. And he thought she looked like a star tonight. I agree with all of the foregoing except for the pitchy comment. I can't claim to have noticed the minuscule moments of pitchiness. She came across as very self-assured, not a trace of nerves or stagefright. She should be safe this week with that performance. Grades: 12, 11, 6, 6, 1.
7. David Cook chose "Innocent" by his favorite band Our Lady Peace. No guitar, just him and the microphone and a white jacket over black ensemble. The white jacket was a little much. It was very precocious, that jacket. Okay, so I didn't love this performance. I think I even heard pitchiness. The choir didn't work for me either; it seemed too loud and overbearing. This wasn't one of his best. Randy agreed with me. Paula burbled her love. Simon didn't like this performance either, calling it, "A teensy weensy bit pompous." It was shades of successful rock star "giving back," even down to the message inked on his hand: "give back." UGH. Simon of course praised that part of it, but I just find that self-conscious attempt at studied altruism to be rather stomach-churning. David's worst week yet in my view, since his previous grade of 7 was when there were 11 people in the competition. Grades: 3, 7, 1, 2, 7.
6. Carly Smithson picked Queen's "Show Must Go On." The choir worked on this song and she did a pretty good job in spots. However it was also pretentious in spots. Maybe she should be higher up the list but it was a very uneven performance. The best part was the melding of voices on the title of the song, so that's her doing only if she were responsible for arranging it. The parts that kind of sucked were all her. Randy used the term "disconnected" and I agree. That's exactly the word. I didn't feel she was connected to the song. Paula finally agreed with something Randy said - she didn't feel the connection either. Simon complimented Carly on her appearance, and I agreed with him on that point. She didn't look quite so hideous this week, but still a little bit hideous. He went on and on, "Unusual choice of song, and oversang it and lost control of the song. Came across as angry which is out of kilter with the evening."
. Carly blamed Simon for throwing her off mid-song. That'll learn
her not to look at Simon during a performance. Simon said she could be in trouble this week. Grades: 4, 2, 7, 1, 6.
8. David Archuleta picked "Angels" and played the piano to accompany himself. What a marble-mouth he was. I couldn't hear half the words. Bleah. Zzzzz. Randy loved it and declared it his hottest moment the whole season. Wha? Paula said fantastic, and even Simon called it the best song choice of the night. WHAT? At least he panned the vocal for being nasally. But best song choice? My mind is still boggled over that one. Grades: 9, 4, 10, 9, 8. Notice the trend? He's bottom of my list bar none. He looks like he's on happy pills and just annoys me.
5. Brooke White performed Carole King's "You've Got A Friend." It started weak but grew stronger in the middle section. I felt it was a believable performance, but I also found myself getting distracted by the large ring on her hand, and the color of her dress. Randy quite liked it, Paula oozed, Simon called it a pleasant walk in the park. Not original but pleasant. Grades: 6, 5, 4, 5, 5.
To review the listing.
1. Kristy Lee
2. Jason
3. Michael
4. Syesha
5. Brooke
6. Carly Smithson
7. David Cook
8. David Archuleta
I predict that after all the hullaballoo on Wednesday with the million guest stars and sundry celebrities, and a lot of noise on Thursday, there will be no elimination this week. The totals will be carried forward to next week. This will give someone strong a chance to do poorly and someone weak a chance to bounce back. Inspirational Week was used as an excuse for a non-elimination last time, and I see no reason why they would veer from that this time. Therefore, I'm not going to make predictions as to who is leaving. My prediction is, nobody!
Thanks for reading! See you all next time!!
* * *
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.
INSPIRATION OR INSIPIDITY?
Songs That Inspire Week. Oy. Only a couple of the performances were truly inspiring, hence my choice of banner this week.
With very little ado, we were right into it. Each of the Kids got to spend a moment or two with Ryan on the stools of interrogation. I've not reported any of what transpired. For a change of pace, I've kept them in the order in which they performed, and put the number for how much I liked them beside their names. And yet it turned out the my favorite four were the first four to perform, while the second four were my least favorite.
3. Michael Johns "Dream On" by Aerosmith. OoooOoo I love this song. He chose it for the line "dream until your dreams come true." He did a fairly good job with it, but even with the backstory he didn't really get my emotions involved. Randy & I were on the same page on that score. Paula slobbered all over him and I suppose I kind of agreed with her too. Simon thought it was a little wannabe-ish and claimed he doesn't see Michael as a rock star type. Ryan tried to get a new answer out of Michael when he'd already given the answer to the question (of why he chose the song) twice. Filler! Grades in order beginning with the "12 Left" week and finishing with the addition of this week's score: 8, 8, 2, 3, 3.
4. Syesha Mercado chose "I Believe" by Fantasia. She gave a long blahdiblah about the power of believing in yourself. I thought she did a solid enough job with the song. Randy quite liked it, but hauled out the Great Fantasia blah blah. Paula cheered. Simon felt it lacked the big wave of emotion. Last week she did Whitney, this week Fantasia, and Simon made a daft remark that he wants to find out who she is. Huh? I thought she conveyed the emotion quite well, although it did take a little while for her to get comfortable with the song. Still, I preferred her performance over the other group of 4. Grades: 6, 1, 3, 7, 4.
2. Jason Castro chose to perform the ukelele version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow." For about two seconds I was wondering if this was going to be a giant lemon, but those fears were soon put to rest. Come on! It's Jason Castro, the master of the understated presentation that just blows you away. He was seated on an over-sized stool to play the diminutive ukelele. The performance was Different with a capital D. The audience was spell-bound, no arm waving, no singing along. Just enthralled. Randy called it the hottest. Paula managed to say she loved it in plain language. Simon thought it was fantastic. It was very very good. Grades: 7, 5, 5, 4, 2.
1. Kristy Lee Cook sang "Anyway" by Martina McBride. There's a verse in it that really appeals to her, so that's why she chose it. Very poignant song and I felt she really connected with it. I enjoyed the performance very much and that's saying quite a lot given the reference to praying. For a moment I was afraid the whole thing was going to go south for me, but fortunately it didn't devolve into a preachy song at all. Randy always notices pitchy moments and tonight was no exception, but he loved the performance. Paula's boobies called it Kristy's best by far. Simon thought she was very very good indeed. And he thought she looked like a star tonight. I agree with all of the foregoing except for the pitchy comment. I can't claim to have noticed the minuscule moments of pitchiness. She came across as very self-assured, not a trace of nerves or stagefright. She should be safe this week with that performance. Grades: 12, 11, 6, 6, 1.
7. David Cook chose "Innocent" by his favorite band Our Lady Peace. No guitar, just him and the microphone and a white jacket over black ensemble. The white jacket was a little much. It was very precocious, that jacket. Okay, so I didn't love this performance. I think I even heard pitchiness. The choir didn't work for me either; it seemed too loud and overbearing. This wasn't one of his best. Randy agreed with me. Paula burbled her love. Simon didn't like this performance either, calling it, "A teensy weensy bit pompous." It was shades of successful rock star "giving back," even down to the message inked on his hand: "give back." UGH. Simon of course praised that part of it, but I just find that self-conscious attempt at studied altruism to be rather stomach-churning. David's worst week yet in my view, since his previous grade of 7 was when there were 11 people in the competition. Grades: 3, 7, 1, 2, 7.
6. Carly Smithson picked Queen's "Show Must Go On." The choir worked on this song and she did a pretty good job in spots. However it was also pretentious in spots. Maybe she should be higher up the list but it was a very uneven performance. The best part was the melding of voices on the title of the song, so that's her doing only if she were responsible for arranging it. The parts that kind of sucked were all her. Randy used the term "disconnected" and I agree. That's exactly the word. I didn't feel she was connected to the song. Paula finally agreed with something Randy said - she didn't feel the connection either. Simon complimented Carly on her appearance, and I agreed with him on that point. She didn't look quite so hideous this week, but still a little bit hideous. He went on and on, "Unusual choice of song, and oversang it and lost control of the song. Came across as angry which is out of kilter with the evening."
. Carly blamed Simon for throwing her off mid-song. That'll learn
her not to look at Simon during a performance. Simon said she could be in trouble this week. Grades: 4, 2, 7, 1, 6.
8. David Archuleta picked "Angels" and played the piano to accompany himself. What a marble-mouth he was. I couldn't hear half the words. Bleah. Zzzzz. Randy loved it and declared it his hottest moment the whole season. Wha? Paula said fantastic, and even Simon called it the best song choice of the night. WHAT? At least he panned the vocal for being nasally. But best song choice? My mind is still boggled over that one. Grades: 9, 4, 10, 9, 8. Notice the trend? He's bottom of my list bar none. He looks like he's on happy pills and just annoys me.
5. Brooke White performed Carole King's "You've Got A Friend." It started weak but grew stronger in the middle section. I felt it was a believable performance, but I also found myself getting distracted by the large ring on her hand, and the color of her dress. Randy quite liked it, Paula oozed, Simon called it a pleasant walk in the park. Not original but pleasant. Grades: 6, 5, 4, 5, 5.
To review the listing.
1. Kristy Lee
2. Jason
3. Michael
4. Syesha
5. Brooke
6. Carly Smithson
7. David Cook
8. David Archuleta
I predict that after all the hullaballoo on Wednesday with the million guest stars and sundry celebrities, and a lot of noise on Thursday, there will be no elimination this week. The totals will be carried forward to next week. This will give someone strong a chance to do poorly and someone weak a chance to bounce back. Inspirational Week was used as an excuse for a non-elimination last time, and I see no reason why they would veer from that this time. Therefore, I'm not going to make predictions as to who is leaving. My prediction is, nobody!
Thanks for reading! See you all next time!!
* * *
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.
x billions.
