This will be the last redux post. It’s been fun taking a look back at Season 7 via the Fox Reality Channel, but tomorrow is a new day, and the start of Season 8. So, no more new posts after tonight.
Feel free to use this post for the rest of the episodes.
To be honest, I wasn’t all that crazy about Top 4 and 5. Neil Diamond week, the only performances I really enjoyed were Syesha Mercado’s funky “Thank the Lord for the Nighttime” and Brooke White’s heartfelt “I am I Said.” I didn’t get Cook’s song choices at all. The second song was better than the first, but it was a 2nd rate Neil Diamond song to begin with. I didn’t like David Archuleta’s performances at all this week. I hated the song arrangements, and his vocals were beginning to show some strain. Syesha’s first song was a screech-fest, Brooke’s “I’m a Believer” was a frantic mess. Actually, the entire first half sucked, in my opinion. Poor Jason Castro–his performances were lackluster, but what Paula did–critiquing his song before he sang it–was inexcusable. The group song on results night made my eardrums bleed. The kids all looked exhausted. No fun to be had, Top 5.
Rock Week was a bit better. This should have been David Cook’s week, but it wasn’t. With all the fabulous songs to choose from, I was floored that he would choose to sing the mediocre pop hit, “Hungry Like the Wolf”. I have to agree with Simon–it did sound karaoke. “Baba O’Riley” is another one of those songs impossible to cut down to 1:30. The entire effect was choppy and unsatisfying. Ironically, my favorite performance of the week was David Archuleta’s sweet “Stand By Me.” The song was right in his wheelhouse, and he sang it with heart and confidence. Wasn’t that crazy about his run-infested “Love Me Tender,” however. I found Syesha Mercado’s “Proud Mary” a bit shreiky and too much like Tina’s version to avoid the inevitable comparisons. “A Change is Gonna Come” was a bit oversung, but she did a good job. Color me shocked when Randy, who hasn’t met a run he didn’t like, panned her performance. Bursting into tears and invoking the civil rights movement pretty much ensured Syesha would move to the next round. Well, that and Jason Castro’s missed lyrics in an otherwise solid “Mr. Tambourine Man” not to mention the judges OTT slam of “I Shot the Sherrif”. Really, it wasn’t that bad.
Jason and Brooke where going to go out 4th and 5th, it was just a matter of who would go first.
I just want to thank MJ again for posting these redux(s?es??) and to everyone who commented. I don’t get Fox Reality so haven’t been able to watch, but I’ve really enjoyed reliving it thru everyone’s posts. Thanks, and I’ll see you guys tonight for the new season!
IMO Jason should be the 5th, and Brooke should be the 4th or even 3rd. That’s because of Paula, she screwed it up!! Brooke should bounce back if she made to the top 4. She would sing one of fleetwood mac’s or anything and it’s in her zone.
Yeah, but that’s already happened, but i love all of seasons 7, and i love Brooke.
Totally agree about ND. Even with his uneven songwriting — some really cheesy and corny, but some amazing classics — he’s a treasure. His understated performance top 5 night caused me to get his cd, which is wonderful.
Anyway, loved DC’s All I Really Need and Jason’s Forever in Blue Jeans. Top 4 loved Baba O’Riley, though I too as a Who-lover was a little apprehensive. The unfair treatment of Jason simply culminated on that night. His Bob Marley quip is one for the ages.
Can’t believe a new season starts tonight. I’ll be on our own safety couch wondering who’s going to captivate us this season. I just don’t know if anyone will abscond with my heart (and ears) for the better part of my year the way DC did!
Yeah, I guess. But maybe it’s just the hindsight reactions and not those that happened in real time. Some people used her as a bathroom or snack break. Maybe I was generalizing a bit, but not too off the mark. In retrospect it’s always easier to be openminded, when there’s not much as stake.
Ah, these were two weeks where we got the wrong studio version from David Cook. Why weren’t AIRNIY and Baba O’Reily chosen for that? Oh, how I wish I had full DC versions of those two songs. I guess you can’t always get what you want.
Can’t believe a new season starts tonight. I think I’m really going to miss season 7, and it’s been fun to relive it with everyone before having to move on. I guess this place will see alot of new and returning names starting tonight, so just had to say I really enjoyed spending the off-season period here with those who stuck around, no matter who was your favorite and who wasn’t. This place really does have the best discussions and thought provoking threads.
Hope Season 8 is just as much fun as Season 7 has been!
It has been so long ago that David talked about this that it is hard to remember, but what I remember is that he said the rumors you heard during the show were not true. For “stand by me” they added the beautiful girls part and he had been singing it all week and then suddenly after he sang it on the show, the rumors started coming out. David attributes it to them not having anything to talk about (Simon’s boring season 7)– not enough controversy.
Ahhh, I should really get on here late night, as I had some pretty strong feelings about stuff that have since passed, for the most part. Probably just as well… LOL
So, here’s what I remember. Apologies in advance if I overgeneralize.
Archie. I really enjoyed seeing him have more fun on Neil’s night. I think I must be crazy or old or both, but I’m completely befuddled by all this talk about DA wanting to change Coming to America but not being allowed to do so. Because, I’m fairly sure that version was NOT straight. Not to my ears anyway. Shrug, whatever. I didn’t like it. Maybe I’m mixing my memory with Love Me Tender, which I REALLY didn’t like at all, what with all the unnecessary runs and all on an Elvis classic. Who knows. I did enjoy both of his first songs each night though.
Cookie. FINALLY, I can answer my own question about why All I Really Need Is You is one of my favorites of his, when it seems a little underappreciated by the masses. ACOUSTIC DAVE!! Excepting Day Tripper, which also ranks high for me, my favs — AIRNIY, Little Sparrow, My Hero (homecoming concert) and The World I Know all, at least in part, showcase Acoustic Dave!!! So, anyway…. (I also love Rock Dave, obviously, it’s just acoustic Dave really slays me.
Although, that clip of crouching wolf Dave from rehearsal on HLTW pretty much has the same effect. LOL Dude really was a showman at times, wasn’t he?)
I too really regret that we don’t have a full length studio of AIRNIY. I’m Alive is fun and good enough, but this whole comparison has reinforced my preference for Lie to be the next single release over Declaration, because as others have said, I’m Alive versus AIRNIY is exactly the comparison of Declaration versus Lie for me. EXACTLY! And, I have to add that I’m so encouraged that others made that same comparison, because it makes me feel less like a nutty groupie. LOL
Speaking of…. I really needed MORE on Baba O’Reilly. So many times, his songs seemed to stop way short, and that was definitely one of those times. (Dare You to Move is another, stay tuned…)
Syesha. She really stepped it up overall and showed her stuff both nights. And, I’m so glad. She totally deserved the props that Paula gave her, and I so wanted to punch Randy in the face, dawg. I don’t know what was going on there, other than male ego or emotional avoidance or both, but I REALLY can’t see such a sadly lukewarm critique of Change is Gonna Come from ANYONE with a pulse (aka heart.) I really can’t. Sigh.
Jason. I always loved Jason and these nights were no exceptions for me. I guess the judges were over him because they definitely revved up that bus, particularly for I Shot the Sheriff. Maybe it sounded different in person than it did on TV. Or, possibly, they just didn’t get it, akin to way that Simon totally didn’t get TWIK on finale night. Because, to me, Jason really captured it! Usually, I can see/hear at least a little of what the judges see/hear, even if I disagree. But, not here (and not with Randy v. Syesha above.)
Brooke fell apart, no doubt. Both of her songs on Neil night were subpar for me. Even though I’d always loved her voice and emotion, bouncy Brooke never did it for me, and she bounced through both songs tonight. Eyes closed, I Am I Said was good, but unfortunately, I watched with my eyes open.
Sorry for the dissertation! Guess I remembered more than I thought…
When Syesha originally sang ‘Change Gonna Come,’ she was vilified for reasons that had nothing to do with the quality of the vocal, as if some were looking for reasons to justify their animosity toward her.
Looking back today it remains a moving and prophetic perforamce, the one time Syesha made an emotional committment to a lyric.
The look on her face before Randy comments says it all.
One thing that I’ve found interesting is that my impressions of the various contestants and their performances did not change that much from when I saw them the first time and now. The only contestant whose performances I liked less this time around was MJ—otherwise, my opinions more or less stayed the same.
Wow, I thought Syesha killed with “A Change Gonna Come”. I had goosebumps. And when I think of that song in light of our new political landscape. Wow. She nailed it on Top 6. I liked her Top 5 songs – they were fun. She just had some real show stoppers, good for her to bring it in the home stretch.
I do not like to speak about Top 4 performance night. Because I was never a fan of Duran Duran’s HLTW. I love the Who and Baba O’Reilly. So the fact that HLTW performance was longer than BO, well was wrong; but even more wrong? the fact that we got a HLTW studio recording and not a BO recording. GRRR. Talk about being kicked twice. And that DC’s HLTW is my least favorite performance ever. I wish that he had performed “All Along the WatchTower” – he mentioned on EW’s Idolatry how he had planned to cover that song. Pffft.
Oh, I think so too. It was the only week I was really frustrated with the person leaving. Brooke at least tried, and she had one awesome song that week, I am I Said was beautiful. She wasn’t one note only, even I’m a believer was kinda fun, it seemed like she was enjoying it. Jason should have gone instead of her, imo.
I liked ND week a lot. That’s another artist I was not very familiar with, but I knew both Archie’s songs and I’m a Believer. After the show I was a fan of the man.
I liked both Cook’s performances, AIRNIY is one of my very fav performances by him. I liked what he did with it, how he made it fit the 1minute and an half, and what I liked the most was where he went with his voice during the song. From low to falseto, it was pretty fantastic.
Still, I’d be curious to know how his Hello Again would sound, and it would be fun to have him singing a song called Hello Again.
Also liked Sy’s both performances, the second one more than the first though. She and Cook were the best that night.
Archie was good too, I liked America the most.
Didn’t like anything about Jason that week.
Top 4 was one of the worst weeks of the season. Cook took a break. Jason never recovered. Archie had one great song and a bland one, Sy was probably the best, but didn’t impress me.
I was happy Sy was #3. The girl deserved it. No one this season was so thrown under the bus like her. The producers must have been really scared she’d steal the top 2 from one of the Davids. I think she deserved more than she got from the judges.
And who picked the studio songs? Cause I think they really picked the wrong ones for Cook and Archie. Really…
His eyebrows….
So distracting….
Archie wanted to sing I’m A Believer on Top 5 night but Brooke won the draw. I wonder which song he would’ve NOT sung if he’d gotten to do that one. And I wonder if he would’ve done better with that performance.
Love Stand By Me in Top 4 even if it wasn’t his first choice and it brought up that contrived scandal.
For me, top 5 and top 4 weeks were where the producer manipulation showed in full force with no attempt to even hide it.
Brooke and Jason fell apart. Brooke self destructed and Jason showed he was in over his head. But the thing that got to me was the way both were edited. Granted it would have been difficult to not show Brooke’s meltdown, but Jason was edited poorly and Paula’s “mistake”, please.
David C did well top 5, David A did well top 4. The “scandal” of the beautiful girl lyrics “came out” to prevent David A from building on his slam-dunk top 4 performances. There is no way, in my opinion, that David A would defy a producer’s instructions about the lyrical content of a performance when he would not even defy a producer about changing up an arrangement a bit.
During these weeks it became crystal clear, if it had not before, just how the season would end.
This has been so much fun walking down memory lane. Hope that FOX Reality Channel does it again next year with S8. I had almost forgot that Bo was on this week. Noticed that DC was definitely listening to his advice for the Idols. One thing I noticed is that this was the year of barefoot performances from Syesha and KLC.
Once again thanks MJ :thumbup_tb:
Could lack of time be the reason for no AIRNIY and BOR studios? DC maybe picked the two easier songs for studios because he had only rearranged AIRNIY and BOR to fit into the 1:30 time slot he had and didn’t have time to do full versions of them.
I don’t think it was the contestants’ choice which song got a studio version. Some guessed it had something to do with paying more for rights to record certain songs, but who knows really.
All I know, is I would buy an EP of AIRNIY, Baba O’Reily, Hello and The World I Know from DC in about 1/2 a second.
Fling First Time I Ever Saw Your Face on there, and I’m totally with you there, Jolene.
Well I missed all of Top 5 results show, so i won’t even bother with that. Other than that I will say again Syesha was NOT I am 99.99% in the bottom 2. If you think she was, well look she was in the bottom 2 Top 6 so fans must be cautious Plus get on Dialidol and look for yourself ( was a personal voter and she was busy forever)
Top 4:
Jason Castro- should never have made it this far, lol
David Cook- very meh first performance. Second was good, but not amazing… still liked it.
Syesha Mercado- Top 4 was her week baby! She was incredible, in my opinion, her best week as a whole. It’s not usual someone doing really well on both performances, but she did it. Loved watching A Change Is Gonna Come on the big screen again- it was amazing.
David A.- Good first performance- ending was NOT good lol. Simon said it was the best performance so far I disagree completely Syesha blew him off the stage performance and power-wise. Easily the 2nd best though.
2nd performance: it was good. I dont think he crushed the competition. No way. He was really good, and a lot less mediocre than the past few weeks, but it was not HIS night
Loved both of David Cook’s performances, but I am one of those who thought All I Really Need is You was one of his very best. I loved the song, had never heard of it before and was so glad that he chose something less familiar. No offense, but I really am not a big fan of Neil Diamond’s voice although I thought he was a good mentor. I loved David’s play with the camera and therefore with us. Loved it! And, Jolene, as so often, I agree with you completely. I was very disappointed that there were not studio versions available of AIRNIY and Baba O’Riley. Both were great performances. And, The World I Know was my favorite of the entire season seven. I also agree with those who said that Syesha rocked the house this night. It was the first night I actually appreciated her voice and she seemed to have a bit more personality. Neither Jason nor David A. did it for me this night. Too predictable. Brooke was kind of a hot mess in my honest opinion.
So who does choose what the studio recordings are? Producers I assume?
Also, how come David didn’t get to do All Along the Watchtower? I watched the Idolatry video months ago but I can’t remember. I’m guessing they just couldn’t get it cleared?
I would love to hear David’s take of that song. I wish he would do it in concert. Heck, I would love for him to do all the songs I wanted studio versions of (AIRNIY, Baba O’Riley, and First Time Ever I Saw Your Face) but I know that’s just wishful thinking.
LOL! I have to admit I thought during Top 5 Results when Ryan was reading David Cook’s recap, he ended by saying that Paula was right in regards to her comment that she was looking at the American Idol. He tried to cover quickly by adding “you’re at least safe for another week”. If I had been a believer of the show being rigged (which I’m not), that would’ve sealed the deal for me as to silence any lingering doubts. That plus all the supposed songs that Archie was told he could not rearrange when Cook got free reign to do whatever he wanted. I think Archie’s camp might have gone a tad over the top and exaggerated just how many times that actually happened to him. The only one I’ve heard Archie himself confirm was Top 3 Week for the song Longer, Producer’s crappy choice. Oh my…could it be sabotage?! *note the sarcasm* I am a huge Archuleta fan, by the way, but the conspiracy theories were getting out of hand by this point.