This week's American Idol (4-15 & 16)

[Lavabe]

My choices based on talent (and I don't think this year is particularly sterling in that regard):

David, Michael, Carly......in no particular order. As for charisma, none seem to have it IMO.

Well after listening tonight, David Cook has regained his mojo. The guy takes risks, and usually succeeds. Good to hear him take on the challenge and return to form.

My bottom three: Carly, Jason, and Syesha.

I STILL can't stand robot boy.
Cheers,
Lavabe

[edensquad]

I don't love David A. either, but he sang great tonight. My bottom three: Carly, Brooke and Kristy.

[micah75]

Carly just can't seem to catch a break from the judges. I thought her song was the most entertaining. (Then again, I was a big Nilsson fan growing up when Can't Live came out around '71 or so.) Randy said before the show that they have to make it their own. Well, Carly slowed the song at the beginning, making it "her own", then Randy faults her for it, although at least Paula recognized that it was an original thing to do. Can't win for losing.

I don't know who's leaving this week, but I'm starting to get the feeling that the producers want to try to keep an equal number of females to males, which may account for why Johns didn't make the cut last week. They may not like the look of having 4 males in the top 5.

Jason Castro keeps singing these soft melodies. I don't know if he gets another chance, but it he does, he needs to sing an up-tempo song, something with some bounce to it. He has a young Paul Simon vibe about him, so maybe something like "Cecilia" would improve his image.

[Tommac]

I guess it's all about personal preference, but I did not like David Cook's song at all. I was surprised that all of the judges liked it. It was my least favorite performance of the night. Jason Castro is still bland. Carly can't get a break from the judges. And I still think Michael Johns should be on the show.

[dball]

Don't understand the love for David A. He sang quite well last night but nothing that blew the doors off. Don't see him as a marketable pop star. I would be glad to see him go.

Syesha was terrific last night. Jason got away from the whispered lyrics that were becoming annoying so he seems to have stepped up his game the last two weeks.

Can't understand the hating on Kristy Lee. She sang well, looks good and will probably get a record deal out of this.

I like Carly but her performance was bad last night and it continues a few weeks of her not quite hitting the mark.

Like Brooke's personality but her singing was poor last night.

David Cook is very talented and probably the front runner at this point.

Bottom 3 performances for me were David A, Brooke and Carly.

Expected bottom 3 with voters are Carly, Syesha and Kristy Lee. I would guess Carly goes home

[Bostondevil]

It's been boy-girl-boy-girl-boy so far, so I expect a girl to go home tonight. Plus, Mariah Carey week? Absolutely it favors the guys, unfairly so. They've been dinging Syesha for not quite measuring up to the previous recordings of songs she has sung. So, taking their advice she sings a lesser known Mariah song, and they ding her for that. IMHO she was the best girl last night. She shouldn't go this week. I'd guess it will be Carly but given last week's shoker, based only on last night's performance, it could be Brooke, it wouldn't even surprise me if it's Brooke. I predict the Bottom 3 will be Brooke, Carly, and Kristy. I can't pick a winner from this crowd, that's for sure.

David A. is boring, boring, boring, when are they going to call him on that?

[Olympic Fan]

What, no new poll so we can embarrass ourselves again?

I think we proved last week that we are totally out of touch with the 12-14 year old girls who drive Idol.

If I had to guess, bottom three of Carly, Kristy and Brook. I'd guess Kristy goes ... Carly, after being savaged by the judges, is probably the next most likely. But who knows?

I find that I much prefer the four ladies who are left to any of the men. I'm not talking about talent as much as popularity. When I think about it, I think my favorite right now is Carly ... my least favorite is Castro.

But it's not like I'm emotionally committed -- I didn't feel strong enough to vote for Carly last night, even though she's going to need it.

[JasonEvans]

Crazy busy but I moved these into their own thread so I could add a poll.

-Jason

[JasonEvans]

David Cook was stunningly good. Does anoyne know if that version of that song was his own creation or did he copy it from some other rock group? It started out kinda strange but about 1/3rd of the way into it I liked it. The second half of it was amazing and so powerful.

More later!!

-Jason

[Clipsfan]

Well after listening tonight, David Cook has regained his mojo. The guy takes risks, and usually succeeds. Good to hear him take on the challenge and return to form.

My bottom three: Carly, Jason, and Syesha.

I STILL can't stand robot boy.
Cheers,
Lavabe

How can you not have Brook, who was awful, in your bottom 3?

[Clipsfan]

My bottom 3 are Brook, Carly and Kristy. Even though Kristy sang better than average for her, I think she was worse than the other 4. Brook should go home, given that the only thing she has going for her is that she's very willing to admit that she can't sing. She does that really well. Carly is a better singer than some of the other people, but last night was only so-so and the judges really savaged her. I'm not a fan of Jason, but it appears that enough people are that he's safe. Cook was good again, although my wife didn't like the song. I really liked Syesha's performance. David A. is boring as anything, but he's one of the best singers and he'll be around a few more weeks. Girls SHOULD leave both this and next week.

[mr. synellinden]

I think there is a good chance that Syesha will go home this week and will almost definitely be in the bottom 3. However, she gave by far her best performance of the season. Not a lot of people know that song - vanishing - which was on her first album. But it is one of my favorite MC songs and I've heard it many times. As the judges noted, it is a very difficult song to sing but Syesha did almost as good a job as Mariah did on the album. If people knew the song better I think they'd agree. If you can find it, listen to it sometime - I think it is the MC song that most completely shows her range and talent as a singer.

Other thoughts:

Carly - it's time for her to go - I think she has become demoralized by the whole process and just doesn't know what to do anymore to please the judges. That's why the judges think she's lost her confidence.

Brooke - I still love Brooke and second only to David C. is the one performer who makes me feel like I am watching a concert. I hope she stays.

David A. - Did he seem less smiley during the judges comments? He almost seems like he's had enough of the whole dog and pony show too.

David C. - His version of Always be my baby didn't grab me until the second part, but in that second part I agree that it was outstanding and soundtrac material. Pulled a Hillary at the end but his was genuine

Jason - Nice take; entertaining ... but can he win just doing ukelele music?

Kristy Lee - I think sometimes the judges are influenced by previous performances and are predisposed to hear pitchiness or range problems. I agree she hasn't been consistently good, but I thought her singing last night was excellent. Actually, I think she and Syeshsa SANG the best. Yet they both will probably be in the final 3.

If I had to predict though, I think it's Carly's time and she might be relieved.

[brevity]

David Archuleta reminds me of when The Simpsons took on Up With People...

Announcer: And now, get set for our fabulous halftime show, featuring the well-groomed young go-getters of "Hooray for Everything"!
Homer: Oh, I love those kids. They've got such a great attitude!
Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, "Hooray for Everything" invites you to join them in a salute to the greatest hemisphere on earth, the Western Hemisphere! The dancingest hemisphere of all!

Whether he wins or not, 19 Records could easily market him as a male Miley Cyrus, which would do well in our current Disneyfied music culture.

This season is weird because I don't think any of the contestants need to win the competition to find a niche in this fickle music marketplace.

Jason Castro: Still can't shake the idea that he resembles a Scientology cloning experiment gone wrong. For someone with such limited talent, he does pretty well. People don't seem to notice that he does the same thing as David Cook every week: take a song and force it into his personal style. Could become mildly popular for mellow music fans waiting for the next Jack Johnson album.

David Cook: I would buy an album of his today. So would a lot of people. But he stands a very good chance of pigeonholing himself; fans might be reluctant to see him doing anything very different from what he's been doing.

Carly Smithson: Does not breathe enough. Sings guarded because she lacks control of her upper register. Might work well in a band; I'm not sure.

Kristy Lee Cook: We'll keep underestimating her until the day she gets eliminated (which could be today). Should do just fine in the Idol-to-country pipeline. Kellie Pickler just won 3 CMT awards this week.

Brooke White: Of all the remaining contestants, li'l Juice Newton would benefit the most by staying on the show as long as possible. Should opt for the country route, but female singer-songwriter types are a harder sell.

Syesha Mercado: My personal co-favorite (with the eliminated Michael Johns) is just not getting enough votes to stay on, which is a pity, because she could use a few more weeks of exposure. She has the look and the voice for a good debut, but success in the biz would take a lot of factors working in her favor.

[Lavabe]

How can you not have Brook, who was awful, in your bottom 3?

She could easily be in the bottom three.

I had to choose one of four I didn't like last night.
Cheers,
Lavabe

[SlimSlowSlider]

Bottom three last night: Syesha, Brooke, Kristy Lee.

And the winner, um loser, is: Kristy Lee.

I was surprised Carly was not in the bottom three, and i think she was, too. But I am glad she stuck around.

[mr. synellinden]

Even though I'm not surprised by the outcome, this show is crazy. Sysesha and Kristy Lee were the two best female singers this week. Kristy Lee has stuck around through several weeks of mediocre singing and the week she actually sings great and stands out, she gets booted. On the heels of the Michael Johns ouster last week, there's a lot of strange stuff going on. I even think Kristy Lee was predicted to be safe on dial idol this week. Weird.

[Olympic Fan]

Well, our predictive skills are improving. After totally missing on the Michael Johns elimination (the only one of the final eight with no votes in our poll), at least two people predicted Cook's exit ... whoever you were, pat yourself on the back!

Not a real surprise ... although "The Reveal" was particularly cruel again. When Seacrest first split up the contestants, not telling us which were safe and which were in trouble, is was really hard to get a read on which was which -- David Cook, who was sure to be safe, was on the same side as Kristi Cook, who was likely in trouble, while Jason Castro, again probably safe, was with Carly Simon, expected to be in the bottom three (that got my hopes up -- could the abominable Castro be in the bottom three again!)

Brooke White joins the two Cooks, while Sayesha joins Castro/Simon and I'm convinced that's the endangered trio. But just before bringing Archeletta out and and revealing which side was safe, Seacrest switched Sayesha and David Cook -- making it clear the bottom three.

I thought Kristi Cook handled her dismissal well -- she pointed out that she made the top 10 (which apparently guarantees a well-paying Idol tour gig) and she seemed resigned to her departure. I agree that with her great looks and modest voice, she'll have a nice run as a country artist.

The real surprise was Brook's reaction to being in the final two. After Seacrest dismissed Sayesha, he went into his standard tease and Brook snapped at him. I couldn't quite make out the words, but it was something like "You know ... why don't you tell us?" She was in tears and it looked like Kristi was holding her up. It looked like a total breakdown. Even after Kristi was eliminated, Brook was far more devastated.

The other lingering story was Carly snarling at Simon and, amazingly to me, Simon offering a ridiculous rationale for being so tough on her -- it sounded like he said that he thinks she's so talented that he's being specially critical to try and make her tap her potential! What a load of crock!

Well, we're down to six and four have been in the last three at least once -- all except Cook and Archeletta. Somebody who knows Idol history better than me clear it up -- doesn't that make them prohibitive favorites? I can't wait for next week's poll so we can all blow it again -- I suspect the loser will be one of the three girls, probably Brook, just because she's in such a fragile state (unless the sympathy vote kicks in).

[Lavabe]

I thought that Kristy Lee sang well enough this week, but probably lost it on her performance throughout the competition. Her last 3 weeks were good enough, her overall performance throughout wasn't stellar. But hey, if DBR ads for Phil Stacey's newest tunes can appear, I am sure she'll be fine in country. And she can buy back her horse, too! [What was up with THAT last night?]

Kudos for her closing song starting out with her serenade to Simon.

The whole business with the robot (David A) being asked to choose where he'd like to go is a rerun routine from a previous idol (I want to say I saw the same thing last year). The robot did exactly the same thing as the person did the last time this was done.

IIRC, Kelly Clarkson was in the bottom three once during Idol 1.

Andrew Lloyd Webber night next week? Yet ANOTHER ballad night for the robot. The theme nights are getting VERY monotonous. No R&B. I am dreading possible song selections. Perhaps Brooke singing MEMORIES (from Cats)? Robot singing Phantom? David Cook redoing Jesus Christ Superstar?

IIRC, Neil Diamond was mentioned for a theme night. Someone please tell me that he's already done it this season. UGH!!

How about Cowbell night theme? MORE COWBELL!

Cheers,
Lavabe

[JasonEvans]

I have figured out why we all hate the Archulettabot 3000. Sadly, the current capacity of memory storage did not allow the Archulettabot 3000 programmers enough room. They were able to program singing ability, but the other traits that make up a human are sorely lacking.

For example, carefully watch the Arbulettabot while it performs. It really only has one "dance" move it can make. It swings its right arm into a 90-degree angle, opens the palm upwards, and holds it there for a few moments before allowing the arm to fall by the side again. Rinse, lather, repeat. The Archulettabot 3000 is sadly incapable of any other dance move.



Watch also as the Archulettabot reacts to the words of the judges after its perrformance. It maintains a blank face, somwhat aprehensive, and then expresses something vaguely resembling shock when hearing words of praise from the judges. It is additionally programmed to mouth the words "thank you" after Paula speaks her typical vapid "you were great" pablum.

As an aside, I love that DialIdol got it wrong this week. I am not sure I trust that thing anymore anyway, though the busy percentages are useful. I really thought Brooke was in trouble this week. She seemed surper nervous in her performance and it felt like she was shaking and rushing through her song. It was bad, bad, bad.

Unless Castro throws out a real stinker next week or the week after, we'll certainly be getting at least 2 female boots the next couple weeks.

--Jason "does anyone know if David Cook's creation this week was a knock-off of some other rock band's cover of that song or did he do that all himself?" Evans