Tuesday, May 13, 2008
American Idol - Final 3
Tonight we get three songs apiece. One picked by a judge, one picked by the contestants themselves and finally one picked by the producers (who actually get to pick the songs each week anyways ... yup I am told the contestants pick 3 songs and the producers get final say).
David Archuleta leads off with "And So it Goes" by Billy Joel. A typical boring David Archuleta ballad. Randy liked it. Paula continues to love him. Said it was pure and stunning. Simon thought it was very good but a bit predictable.
Syesha Mercado is doing "If I ain't got you" by Alicia Keyes. I like this song and hopefully Syesha can burn this song up. So it was good. Nothing extraordinary like I hoped but she served the song well. Very similar to Alicia which is a good thing. Randy say her heart beaming. Likes that she is peaking at the right time. Paula says she looks stunning. Simon said she was good and said he wishes she changed it up a bit more. Said she looked gorgeous. But I agree with Simon in that she did it too much like Alicia Keyes and didn't change it up enough to be her own.
Ryan asks if she's been holding back so that she can turn it up at this point in the competition. That's not such a bad idea if you can stay in the middle of the pack and then explode at the end when you need it.
David Cook is chosen to "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" by Roberta Flack. I have no idea who she is. Simon explains himself by calling it one of THE great songs of all time. He wants David to have the chance to show some originality. I paused the show here so that I could listen to the actual song ... While youtubing it, I noticed that Leona Lewis did a version of this song. She is of course the winner of "The X Factor" which is a UK version of American Idol that Simon is also involved with. I am done listening to the song and it is very ballady so I can see why this would be a challenge for David and for once I am excited to see what he does with it.
He handled it well. He didn't turn it too rocky like I thought (and hoped) he would. It wasn't bad though.
Randy liked it but wanted him to rock more. Paula calls Randy and Simon out for making the song choices about themselves, which she was right about. She goes on to say she liked it. Simon called it one of his best performances to date (although he admitted a bias).
Next up is the contestant's picks.
David Archuleta picked "With you" by Chris Brown. He wanted to try something new.
Ahh now I recognize this song. The "I need you boo" told me what it was exactly. Sounds like he might have gotten a bit lost on the words there. He looks very stiff up there. His little bob dance is hilarious. He has some good moments in the song, but looking at him singing it is pretty funny. His voice is still weird to me, nasally maybe?
Randy liked that he tried something new and young. He found it a bit odd too, especially the "boo" part. Paula thought it was perfect. I have to disagree with her and agree with Randy. Simon applauded him for reaching out but he compared him to a chihuahua trying to be a tiger. He called it awkward and not quite him. Agreed, now moving on.
Syesha Mercado chose "Fever" by Peggy Lee. At this point I want to mention that after wishing she would do something different with her hair now I want to see the old loose blow out again. Oh well. I really do think she is kicking it up a notch now. Was this song too sexy for middle America? It was pretty good. I am interested to hear what the judges say though.
Randy said it was an interesting song choice and she sang it very well. Paula was surprised that she picked that song. I wonder if they are both talking about the sultriness of the song that I mentioned? Simon says she might regret picking this song and she missed a chance to demonstrate that she could do a contemporary performance.
David Cook picked "Dare you to move" by Switchfoot. Shocking that he would pick an Alt Rock song/group. It was ok and as to be expected. Nothing special for me. Randy name dropped on the producer and didn't think it was his best. Paula thought he just ran out of time to really give the full performance. Simon thought it was just ok.
Now we get the producer's choices.
David Archuleta is given "Longer" by Dan Fogelberg. It is a ballad so he should do well with it. It's also a song that I like. It seems like it's right down his alley. He doesn't sparkle with the song, just ok for me. Randy again drops the "you could sing the phonebook". He has said it at least twice tonight. He ends by calling the performance hot. What Randy, no dog tonight?? Paula thought it was lovely. Simon thought he sang the song very well. He hated the song though, thought it was gooey. Gooey? I like that term.
Wow, Justin Guarini had time in his busy schedule to go sit in the Idol audience? You don't say! I can't believe his young Michael Jackson look didn't send him up to the stratosphere!
Anyways, Syesha Mercado is assigned "Hit me up" by Gia Farrell. She has changed into jeans and out of her dress from earlier. Pretty good performance. She belts out some parts well. I still think she has got a load of potential for success. Randy said it was just ok but could see her doing a song like that. Paula says the song was from "Little feet". Shes not sure if it's good enough to get into the finals. Simon liked it better than the 2nd song. He thought she was at her best last week with the Sam Cooke song.
Ending the show is David Cook being forced to sing "I don't want to miss a thing". This should be in his wheelhouse and if he can't nail this song then he shouldn't be the next idol. He did ok with it. Still not as good as I thought though. Oh well.
Randy thought it was ok and predictable. Paula predicts he will be in the finals. Simon says David Cook wins the night. Simple and concise. No judge tells him that his haircut and beard makes him look like a pedophile. Really someone should mention that soon.
A quick aside. I watch this show all the time and see the vote numbers come across. I have never called and never plan to but I do wonder what happens when you call. Does a message come up and say "thanks for voting" or something similar so you know your vote counted? Can anyone answer this?
Labels: American Idol
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