Click the links for video…
- Syesha Mercado - “One Rock & Roll Too Many” from Starlight
- Jason Castro - “Memory” from Cats
- Brooke White - “You Must Love Me” from the film adaption of Evita
- David Archuleta - “Think of Me” from Phantom of the Opera
- Carly Smithson - “Jesus Christ Superstar”
- David Cook - “Music of the Night” from Phantom of the Opera Simon’s Critique
Although he came across as sort of an asshat in recent interviews, I have to say Andrew Lloyd Webber proved to be a very helpful mentor. A little honesty doesn’t hurt, especially when it helps a contestant’s performance. I also give him kudos for sitting in the audience of the CBS studios while his students performed his songs. That’s called follow-through people.
The Idol stage is filled with a huge orchestra to help the kids do the Broadway thing. This is a tough theme. Performing Andrew Lloyd Webber requires not only vocal skill, but the ability to tell a story through song–a challenge for any singer. Some were up to the task, others were not. The folkies of the group–Jason Castro and Brooke White–suffered the most.
Syesha Mercado seems to be absolutely in her element tonight. Too bad the producers appear to be completely done with her. If they weren’t, her show stopping performance would have ended the show. But as it is, she opens the show with a bang. Hopefully, viewers didn’t forget her, because I think she has one of the best performances of the night. The song itself is pretty lame (One rock and roll too many? Corny!) but the actress Syesha manages to bring it to life with some good choreography and decent singing. In a situation where her vocals aren’t up-front and center, Syesha is able to shine, because she has proven to be primarily an actress who can sing. I think her post Idol career will take her in a theatrical direction. She’s probably really wanted to act all along anyway, kinda like Katharine McPhee from Season 5. Randy thinks she could be a huge Broadway star, and calls it her best performance to date. Simon calls it “very sexy” and says she showed “masses of personality.” He almost calls it “Broadway”, but he would have meant that in a good way.
Jason Castro admits in his pre-performance video that he didn’t know that “Memory” is sung by a cat. At that moment, it’s pretty clear that Jason is in over his head, and what’s more, he knows it. I’m thinking that he picked the most familiar song on the list. He probably heard that one growing up, maybe someone in his family sang it. As ALW explains to Jason that the song is sung by “an old glamour puss” it’s obvious Jason has no idea what he’s talking about. The performance isn’t a trainwreck, as Randy claims later. In fact, listening to it again, it’s really not that bad. Jason looks uncomfortable singing it. He’s trying hard–maybe too hard. He’s a little overwhelmed by the melody, especially in the bridge, but he brings emotion to it. A very different version of “Memory” to be sure, but not awful. Simon says that he looks uncomfortable, and that nobody should vote for him. I think his fans should keep voting for him. The competition would suffer if Jason left it now.
It’s fascinating to watch ALW coach Brooke White. He helps her understand the song and connect to it in the most intimate way. Brooke could have had a huge moment with this song, but instead she has another false start. Half-way through the first lyric, she stops the song and asks to begin again. Wow. Total meltdown. After that she’s kinda thrown off, and as a result, the rest of the performance is strained. Webber must have been very disappointed watching her in the audience. Sadly, accounts from her rehearsal performances say that she was fabulous. The judges spend time–too much time dissecting her break down. Randy thought it was tough vocally. Paula says flat out that she should never stop–make up words if you must. Simon says he thinks she’s going to be disappointed when she watches it back, but he sticks up for her stopping the song. Brooke’s stage fright is killing her here. I think she’s run her course in this competition. It’s time to cut her loose.
ALW is a little taken aback that David Archuleta is singing a song written with a female diva in mind. Of course, we Idol fans aren’t surprised at all. David sang “And I Am Telling You” to Kelly Clarkson when he was only 11 years old. He told Mariah Carey she was one of his favorites. Webber’s main advice to David is to keep his eyes open when he sings. OK, there’s that lip-licking and outstretched hand thingy he’s got going, but baby steps, right? Another step David takes in the right direction is that he’s finally gotten off the puppies and rainbows kick. Nevertheless, to me, he’s still merely the nice boy with the nice voice. I can imagine hearing this at a high school recital. Nothing special. Randy says, “This boys the one to beat!” He likes what he calls the “Stevie” runs. Paula thinks the song is perfect, but Simon isn’t impressed. He says it’s pleasant, but “all a bit forgettable for me.” He adds hastily, “it’s enough to get you through to the next round.” Don’t want to mess up that big David vs David finale the producers are gunning for.
ALW persuaded Carly Smithson to perform “Jesus Christ Superstar” instead of “All I Ask of You” from Phantom of the Opera. He says that the ballad is not the song for a girl with “a big chest voice” to sing. This is totally the Vegas version of “Jesus Christ Superstar”. She’s supposed to be asking Jesus. You know Jesus the Big Questions. It needs to be passionate and urgent, and maybe a little angry. I’m not digging this smiley version at all. She’s all strained and shouty on the high notes. It’s all frentic without any substance. Randy thought it wasn’t her best performance, but it was good. Paula loved the chorus. Simon finally tells his little girl he loves her. He probably decided he better before she completely freaks out. But oh look, she’s freaking out anyway, she’s so happy that Daddy is finally praising her. She’s all YAY! and breaks out a shirt that says “Simon Loves Me”. Ok, this seems a little desperate. The fact that her fans bought her the shirt is a mitigating factor here. But still.
Woah, the word-nerd is also a theater geek! Who knew? David Cook always stays a step ahead of the competition. Now, wouldn’t you figure this season’s rocker would pick something from Jesus Christ Superstar for Andrew Lord Webber week? That would have been the obvious pick. But, David isn’t one to be obvious in this competition. He’s in this to win, and part of his strategy has been to keep things fresh. This week he picks “Music of the Night” from Phantom of the Opera and proves he can belt a show tune with the best of them. This is a side of David we haven’t seen yet, and it’s pretty cool. Randy says, “Another molten hot lava bomb tonight!” Uh, ok Randy! Paula says the song proves that he is well-rounded as a performer, and that he has a beautiful instrument. She thinks the performance is fantastic. Simon wishes he had stuck to rock, but appreciates what he did with the song.
There was some pretty big pimping for David Cook tonight. It’s pretty obvious the producers want him in the final. He’s got a lot of momentum right now, and I dare say it’s possible that he could win the whole deal. At any rate, the David vs David final, which seams inevitable right now, won’t be as lopsided as nearly every contest has been other than Season 2. It could be a nail-biter, this one could.
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They’re trying to make Jason out as the “Kelly Pickler” of Season 7. They’re typecasting him big-time! Some of it he does to himself (I think he’s a goof and enjoys that role sometimes) and they’re run with it (to the embarrasing extreme now). I would HATE
oops, logged out by mistake…SORRY! Anyway, I would HATE to lose Jason prior to Neil Diamond week. There are so many wonderful songs with which he could choose from and just shine brilliantly.
Amanda was sick during her performance of IHMFLY…and made a point of not telling anyone….suck it up kiddies.
You make an excellent point! The show really isn’t fair, but I guess I have to remind myself that they really CAN’T be completely fair (because it’s subjective). Plus, they’re not in this to be fair, they’re in this to make money, and the contestants agree to help them do that by being on the show and following their rules.
Actually, Jason is a pretty decent writer. Some of his stuff, that was on his MySpace from before the show, impressed me. And I know the coffeehouse scene well too. You can find the songs on Project Playlist if you’re interested, but I couldn’t tell you the names of them.
I was completely blown away by Cookie’s performance. I can’t stop listening to MOTN even thought I’m not a ALW fan. Love musicals, just not his. I don’t buy into that Archie is the one to beat. Cookie’s been performing and singing circles around him and people still think Archie will win. I don’t.
Jason was quite ill. I believe he had to receive a shot to be well enough to do his studio recording. This is what the people in his camp are saying. The thing that disappointed me most about Jason’s performance (and I don’t think it was worth Simon dogging him like that) was that all week, I was hearing his “spoiler people” talk about how he was changing the song up and making it current and making it his own. I felt let down.
Part of the reason I like David Cook is that he never ceases to surprise me. But, another thing I like is that he never, ever lets his song choice out of the bag. If his family knows (and I know he runs the song choices by his brothers), he must have threatened them with bodily harm if they let anything leak. The only time we even got a clue was when Our Lady Peace let the cat out the bag that he was singing “Innocent”. That song choice was picked apart all day.
Truthfully, these contestants seem like they spend a lot of time online. They seem to know what is being said about them, what people think of them and their song choice. So…if they keep everything to themselves and only get input from trusted confidents, coaches, mentors, and maybe producers, they can give a more confident performance.
That’s just my 2¢. At the rate of inflation , that ain’t much. :)
Of course, I love gobbling up and dissecting spoilers as much as the next person…..so I’ll just contradict myself and say “Keep ‘em comin!” to every spoiler site out there. Heh.
Did Jason have this fever when he chose “Memory?”
Buhbye Jason.
My two cents.
When David sang Little Sparrow, we all felt he was not looking well. Nothing was mentioned by the judges or Ryan. David did not even finish out the show because they took him to the hospital. TMZ reports after the show that he was rushed to the hospital with heart problems and many of us (myself included for about two minutes) thought it was a very very bad April Fool’s joke. David being ill was not mentioned until the results night. I think the producer’s had asked David before he sang if he wanted to go to the hospital, but David did sing that night.
I think and would HOPE Ryan brings up the fact that Jason was so sick tonight with Jason. Jason is my second fave and I hope he gets well soon.
I know at the beginning of the season the girl’s were all sick and that was mentioned alot. Has it been mentioned since getting on the big stage that anyone has been ill on the night they actually perform?
I think “Memory” could have worked if he had changed it up more. With all the Jason-insiders saying that he would make it current and bring something special to the song, I have to admit, I was very disappointed to hear him sing it straight.
No, but I think it does affect the delivery on performance night. I don’t think it’s his time to leave yet.
I knew there had to be some explanation for picking that song. He was delirious!
After listening again, there were parts that were quite lovely and I do think he succeeded in putting emotion into it. Unfortunately, there were also parts that weren’t so lovely at all.
I really do think it’s time for Jason to depart. Cute kid, good voice; but I can’t bare another Tiny Tim moment.
http://thumbsnap.com/v/PChwJpoR.jpg
He looked sick - pale, with fever-glazed eyes. He was out of it, that’s for sure. I think he did good just to get through the song.
I think they mentioned Ramiele’s illness the night she performed.
LOL. Just call me Queen of the Nitpickers….
No, David C did not get the title correct. It’s “Lord Lloyd-Webber” (say that 10 times fast). You don’t refer to a Lord by their first name and some funky “lord” rule required that Lloyd-Webber hyphenate his name for the title (sheesh, you get to be a Baron and they make you change your name, no respect). If you are a friend or family member, you just call them by their first name. No titles are required. It’s like using Mr. or Dr. or whatever.
Thanks, but that was JJ (I don’t want her to come and kick my ass).
LMAO. Very well put.
I don’t care if he was spouting differential equations for the 10 minutes prior to that, not knowing about the cat was monumentally stupid. My goodness, show a little interest in the subject. Sure, you don’t know about ALW’s song at the beginning of the week, but take a moment and find out a thing our two about the subject. If you at all cared, you’d use wiki or youtube or your parents or your theatre geek friend for some background. The theme was songs from musicals, grab some context.
He fought off two other contestants to get that song. Why go mano-o-mano for a song if you haven’t got an enough interest in the song to even find out even the most elemental information about the musical it came from? Yes, I know he won the lottery on that one, but still. Be nice. If you don’t care about the song, let somebody who does care sing the song. Kind of dog in the manger there, Jason. That said, if Syesha was the one who wanted “Memory” thank goodness Jason got it. She was worth the price of admission last night.
It was a strategic move that apparently backfired. Deny the big-voiced divas their money song, and maybe they won’t be as successful? Heh. Well, I don’t think anyone counted on Syesha being that good, Carly rocking that hard, or sadly, him becoming ill.
Aw, Kirsten, I like reading your posts even when your being mean to my favorite!
A couple of people have mentioned that Carly power-trained over the meaning and nuance in “Superstar”, but seriously… did she have a choice?
It’s a song accusing Jesus of being stupid. She might as well have done “Springtime for Hitler”. It’s like she was channeling Kristy Lee Cook’s polar opposite.
Turning it into a dizzying psychedelic whirl in which only “Jesus Christ”, “superstar”, and “sacrifice” were comprehensible may have saved her rear.
At least she didn’t do “All I Ask of You”. Two in-danger female contestants begging me to love them would have been severe overkill.
Perhaps the issue with Jason was more about the way he performed the song and not so much about his actual singing. I didn’t think he sounded bad at all - I don’t like that stool though, not at all. It makes him sit hunched over - it looks like a little boy sitting in daddy’s chair.
My issue with Jason has been that he consistently does not project his voice. Yet, during the group song drivel, he does project his voice.
I’m not sure this is happening because he is a “coffee house” singer (as some have labeled). He also doesn’t appear nervous, so I’m not real sure how to assess what is happening with him.
I am a permanent resident of Cooktardistan and will never leave, but I sure hope Jason doesn’t go home tonite.
Please please let Brooke be the one going - she is a sweet girl, but in over her pretty blonde head.
LOL. That performance just annoyed me beyond belief. I could see if he loved that song and just had to sing it. Sure, it would still have been a trainwreck, but almost everybody has one. The Cat thing just got to me. I’m not an ALW fan and I’ve never seen Cats, but 2 seconds of research would have revealed that detail.
I’m singing Syesha’s praises all over MJs today and I’ve had no use for her before. If Jason can bring it next week, I’ll be back on his side. I have no real favourites this year. Just favourite performances.
Okay, now I have visions of her tackling that number. Oh, that would have been fun. I wonder if Nigel would have sprung for the big production number? To be honest, I was a little stunned that people were suggesting JSS for any contestant. I’ve met a lot of people who are really offended by that song (I disagree with them, but that doesn’t stop them from being offended). I don’t think you’ll be picking up too many votes in the thick of the Bible Belt based on that one.
I would like to know what everybody sees in J.C. ? I can not stand him ! he sings the same every week , it’s old ! they need to send him home the first chance they get . right along with David A. ! these are 2 young kids that are get’n fan votes because of little girls have’n goo goo eyes for them . this show is not about performance if so Michael Johns would still be in it . people need to start vote’n for who sounds good not who looks good .
Somebody over at TWoP suggested that when the stylists take Jason shopping for clothes each week, he stops by Pottery Barn to get himself a new “stool of the week”.
Dude needs to eat a Power Bar before he gets on stage so he can stand for an entire performance (I prefer to forget “Michelle”, thank you very much).
My two cents on this debacle:
Syesha - She bought herself one more week, tops, with that performance. I agree with MJ. She’s an actress who can sing, not the other way around. Her voice is just one step below what it takes to elevate her material, but tonight, it worked for her and for that I’m glad.
Jason - Wow. No matter how you cut it, he picked the WRONG SONG for himself. Too much song for too little voice. I know he was sick, but I think every singer has been sick this season and everyone has managed to pull it off to a certain extent. This leads me back to the original point. WRONG SONG.
Brooke - That was terrible. She broke so many cardinal rules with that performance that I could barely watch it. She’s not only about one microstep from requiring lifelong doses of Haldol in a mental ward, but she continues to make excuses for her shortcomings. Brooke…it is what it is, so suck it up (see Castro for a good example of taking it like a champ).
Archuleta - Wasn’t bad. He sang well, but in switching the song like he did, he just gutted the meaning of the material. It’s not like he replaced the emotion of the song with something else (ala. David Cook’s ABMB), no, he just ripped it’s heart out and left nothing there.
Carly - GOOD. FOR. HER. For the first time, she looked like she actually loved to sing. The desperation was gone and Carly just let it fly. Wasn’t the best, but it was certainly nice to the see the light come back into her eyes.
Cook - Played it straight. Showed off what a good voice he actually has. It will be a 50/50 split on this…those who liked his versatility…those who are gonna wait till next week to see the ‘real’ DC return. That being said. He’s gaining fans by the droves and he lost absolutely NONE with that performance. Way to march towards that finale kid!
Bottom 3: Carly, Castro, Brooke
Going Home: Brooke (I’m just tired of the whining and endless excuses)
Ah, Craig, I’m voting for Jason big time and believe me, I’m no teenage girl who is goo goo eyed over him. Far from it. I am also a Taylor Hicks fan, after all,
. I enjoy mellow voices and understated performances. Heck, I married a guy that I met while he was playing guitar in a coffeehouse. Different opinions is what keeps life interesting!
Jason said that he was initially familiar with the songs, but not the musicals in his pre-clip chat with Ryan. I don’t think it’s unreasonable that he could have said something like, “Before I picked my song, I didn’t know a cat was singing it” and he got the dunce edit. I’d be surprised if he didn’t do some research on his selection. No way to know for sure. Maybe I’m still smarting over the Ace/Queen edit of Season 5. Or maybe I’m just a Castrotard.
I think he picked the song because 1)he liked it (he did defend it to Simon last night and that’s the first time he’s ever talked back to a judge) and 2) It’s time in the competition to take a risk. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out for him.
“Ignorance of a certain genre does not mean that you are dumb, Theater was just not Jasons interest but he wasnt mean about it or dum, he just plain did not have a frame of reference when it came to theater.”
It’s funny on one of my theater sites they were very upset that none of these kids did their homework when it came to musicals. If there is one thing I always though Katharine was smart for saying was as soon as you make the top 32 she said you should learn as many different songs so you are ready for each theme night. It’s not like having a theme night is a shock anymore they’re told in advance what the themes are and are allowed internet access so at that point you type of Andrew Lloyd Webber and look for songs that fit you instead of just singing anything. If Jason really wanted he could have sang “Everything’s Allright”, “High Flying Adored,” Any Dream Will Do, “No Matter What” or any one of the other songs that could have fit his style but he did himself in by choosing a song that was made for a bigger voice then what he had.
As for Carl Anderson as Judas he’s okay but I preferred Ben Vereen who won a Tony Award for it. I thought Carly was best of the night even with a few lyric missteps which weren’t as noticeable as Brooke or David A’s. Also if she had sang the song in the standard angry way she would have been accused of falling into her scary angry face instead she gave the song vocal fireworks and was sensational.
I do think the competition would be fine without Jason’s voice although I prefer him to Syesha and Brooke. I don’t think we’ll find out because he’s most certainly safe. My guess is that Brooke will go and that’s probably a good thing although I’m not sure we can handle the tears. I’d hate to see Carly go because she makes it interesting at least.
I did enjoy DC’s performance last night but did he have to put in those last two notes? I had planned on buying his studio version until then.
Any word fom Nigel on tonight’s bootee? No mention of a shocker? If not, then it is probably Brooke, due to her meltdown last night and progressive downward spiral.
5 pages! It’s just like old times on here, love it.
Anyone else get the video version of Music of the Night? It made me download a new version of iTunes. After downloading the video, I hit play & all I see is a green screen, no video just audio. Is that what it is suppose to do? Thanks for any help from anyone
StevenD - I know I already said this but …if the song was such a bad fit for Jason, I wonder why ALW didn’t steer him to a better choice.
Andrew Lloyd Webber said something about how he was going to be edited so maybe he did try to steer him to a different song or since this was such a fought over song maybe Jason didn’t have the leeway to change the song since so many others wanted it. I remember in Season 5 Katharine had a few songs she wanted to run by Rod Stewart during big band night so maybe they all had a few other songs to sing. Andrew Lloyd Webber is not going to want one of his most well known songs butchered on Idol so I don’t think he was at fault for this.
I don’t think it was “butchered”, but to each his own. And if he tried to steer Jason elsewhere and Jason didn’t take his advice, I have to believe they’d have shown that. The whole thing just bugged me. It was editted to make ALW look like he didn’t take Jason seriously. Then the over the top comments from R and S. They sure made it look like they hung Jason out to dry. I suppose I’ll just have to get on with my life!
I think Jason put a lot of feeling into his song. I thought he made it his own. He didn’t go off pitch. I liked it.