American Idol - Neil Diamond Night Recap

Gotta love Neil Diamond Night. I am kind of excited to hear this. I am a sucker for Sweet Caroline, Cherry Cherry, and America. Let's see how it goes.

Jason Castro is doing "Forever in Blue Jeans" and "September Morn". I know I like Forever in Blue Jeans, but not sure on September Morn.

Forever in Blue Jeans is first and it goes off adequately. I don't think he did anything special with it. It was pleasant though, not bad.


David Cooke is singing "I'm Alive" and "All I really Need is You". I am not sure I know either and Neil Diamond says that not many people are familiar with the song.

He leads off with "I'm Alive". Again, not great. He tried to rock it a bit. Just not that memorable as Simon would say.

Brooke White is doing "I'm a Believer" and "I am, I said". I like "I am, I said" and I enjoyed "I'm a Believer" when done by the Monkees.

Brooke's "I'm a Believer" seems a bit wavey. Her voice has a bit of a vibration to it leading into the song. Not sure it was the best song choice for her. She loosened up a bit towards the latter half of the song. Paula was dancing. She finished strong. Not bad, not awesome though. A pleasant surprise for me.

David Archuleta gets "Sweet Caroline" and "Coming to America" which means he has the edge going into this. Almost everyone loves Caroline. America is great too.
I do NOT like the way he started Caroline. He is sucking out some of the up beat funness of the song. He recovers a bit in the chorus though. I think he flattens the song out too much and takes away some of the bar singing fun that is the song. I am sure the judges will love it though.

Syesha Mercado is doing "Hello Again" and "Thank the Lord for the Nighttime". Let's see if she can make these songs her own and connect with the audience which she needs to do soon if she hopes to continue.

She starts "Hello Again" with a new hair-do. I like it. Straight and long down the sides. She almost looks like a whole different person. She sure is belting the song out. She is making a decent connection with the camera. She definitely has the best vocals in this group. By far. I thought this was a good performance for her.

That is the end of the first songs.
Quick notes from the judges.
Randy:
Jason - Just ok.
David C. - very good.
Brooke - still a bit karaoke
David A. - The Bomb
Syesha - Strong

Paula (is a mess):
No idea

Simon:
Jason - forgetable
David C. - Jsut above average
Brooke - A nightmare
David A. - amateurish
Syesha - Old fashioned.

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Jason Castro is back with "September Morn". Not his best night. A nice little ballad but not one that fits him all that well. Just a so-so night for him in my eyes.
Randy says he doesn't think that he did great tonight. "Just OK".
Paula called him out for playing it safe. If Paula doesn't like it, you are not in good shape.
Simon called him out for not putting in enough effort and being unrecognizable tonight.

I think he has a strong enough following that he should be ok this week.

David Cooke is doing "All I really need is You". He is performing it as a ballad. I do not like the beginning. He picks it up a bit into the song. It's a boring song for me. But I can hear it as some crap on the top 40 radio for him. So I think it will go over well with judges.

Randy - thought he rocked the house.
Paula - thought he pulled it off.
Simon - Thought first song was ok, second was brilliant. Said he felt like the song was being recorded THIS year.

He should fly into the next round.

Brooke White's second song ("I am, I said") starts with her at the piano. Wow, I really feel like this song was written for her. I think she may be too folksy for American Idol, but I thought this song was very good for her.

Randy - Nice Job!
Paula - She had fun and it works.
Simon - Hated the first song. It wasn't incredible but it was well done.

As usual she may be on the chopping block. It's a numbers game at this point. Was the second song enough to sway America? We'll see tomorrow.

David Archuleta perfoms "America". He had a glitch in his voice early in the song. I just find him bland. I do not think he does a very inspiring version of the song. I am not sure I get it with this kid. His voice has a weird sound to it to me. I don't know.

Randy - Another good performance.
Paula - Perfect song for you.
Simon - Right choice of song. Very good.

He will sail into the next round as well. He also appears to have a huge fan base which is what really counts in these.

Syesha Mercado closes the show with "Thank the Lord for the Nighttime". It appears she may be trying to work on her showmanship more this week. It is something she needed to do to win over fans. She made the song pretty fun.

Randy - She finally realized who you are.
Paula - I love her.
Randy - I think you may be in trouble tonight. Simon thinks that because of the numbers.

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Speaking of numbers I think it will be Syesha and Brooke on the chopping block. Mostly because America has proven they love the 3 guys. So that leaves the two ladies as the favorites to be lowest vote totals.

I say Brooke has the edge to leave but if it is Syesha I would not be surprised.

Labels: American Idol

- posted by Doug @ 12:07:00 AM