Season 7 Top 8 Performance Recap
Click Song Link for Video!
- Michael Johns – à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Dream Onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ by Aerosmith
- Syesha Mercado – à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“I Believeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ by Fantasia
- Jason Castro – à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Over The Rainbowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ by Israel Kamakawiwo
- Kristy Lee Cook – à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Anywayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ by Martina McBride
- David Cook – à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Innocentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ by Our Lady Peace
- Carly Smithson – à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The Show Must Go Onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ by Queen
- David Archuleta – à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Angelsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ by Robbie Williams
- Brooke White – à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ve Got A Friendà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ by James Taylor/Carole King
Thanks, Lawrence, for the video…
I suppose this is going to be a tradition in Idol-land. Gearing up for the big Idol Gives Back telecast will have the contestants singing songs of “Inspiration”. It became clear to me last night why this is such a bad idea. Nearly every Idol chose their song for a sentimental reason, rather than considering the bigger questions of strategy and suitability. The wind-up was a night of mostly uninspired performances. The best of night was Jason Castro who brought it, just when he needed it. His rendition of the lovely “Over the Rainbow” was the performance of the evening.
Michael Johns – à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Dream Onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ by Aerosmith – Actually, I think the judges were harsh on Michael–particularly Randy who seemed almost agitated as he criticized his song choice. Granted, last week’s bluesy “It’s All Wrong, But it’s Alright” put Michael in what appears to be his perfect element–blue eyed soul. That performance was a Eureka! moment for the judges–Michael! We’ve found your box! Now stay in it! Unfair. Michael’s performance of “Dream On” is powerful. Even those final high notes were fine. When Randy tells him it’s the wrong song, Michael becomes exasperated. “How could I NOT pick this song? With the orchestra here? With me living my dream in America!” Paula says. Paula liked it. Simon did too, but like Randy, he didn’t like the song choice. Thing is, if Michael were playing to win, he would have chosen another R&B number to perform this week, and it would have earned him higher marks from the judges. Kinda sucks for Michael, but that’s the Idol game. PS. I don’t mind the ascot. It suits him.
Syesha Mercado – à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“I Believeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ by Fantasia – Gah. Only Fantasia can sing this song. Fantasia’s raw emotional delivery manages to transcend every treacly sentiment that bogs down this cliche ridden song. Fantasia is a very special talent. Syesha is not. Oh, she tries. She tricks-out the song with every glory note she can muster, including a dog-howling high note to finish. In the end, Syesha’s performance doesn’t have even a pinky’s worth of the emotion that Fanty’s has. Sorry. Sing an iconic song? You are going to be compared to the original. The judges declare it a technically good performance, but I don’t think so. Listening to it again, her melisma-fest at the end is way pitchy. Both Randy and Simon compare her unfavorably to Fantasia, but Paula says this was Syesha’s night to shine. Despite being #2 in the line-up–which is often the death-spot for contestants–I don’t think Syesha is going anywhere. She’s the last remaining African American, and the only R&B singer that remains. She’s got a voting bloc to herself. I think she’ll be around for at least a few more weeks.
Jason Castro – à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Over The Rainbowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ by Israel Kamakawiwo – Jason is the only contestant who truly chose wisely this week. He needed a good performance, and he pulled one out. The Hawaiinized arrangement of “Over the Rainbow” he chose to sing is a cult classic at this point. It’s a perfect song choice for Jason, because it allows him to do what he does best–wrap his gorgeous phrasing around a beautiful, classic song, without distractions. It’s just Jason and his ukulele and some lovely backing strings that don’t overpower. I got chills listening to that. Randy, who basically said, on Larry King Live Monday night, that Jason was a mediocre bar singer with a guitar, is completely turned around, “Jason Castro is back in the hunt. That is the hottest so far there…that was blazing molten hot!” He says it sounds like “A record!”–even though, Randy said on LKL that he’d never sign him. I’m beginning to think Randy might be a little psychotic. Paula calls his voice “definitive” which is the wrong use of that word, but I take her point. Simon calls it fantastic. Jason is back in the race. Yay.
Kristy Lee Cook – à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Anywayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ by Martina McBride – To Kristy Lee, this song is a big FU to the haters out there. She’s going to sing her song whether we like it or not. Judging by tonight’s performance, she’s not going anywhere. She did enough to keep her country music loving base happy, plus encourage some casual viewers to pick up the phone. All sparkly in a gold tank top, her performance is solid, if not spectacular. The song itself is a country music show stopper. One thing about Kristy Lee–she often chooses her songs well, which is half the battle. Randy thought the song was “really good for you.” So are you going to sign her now Randy? Paula says it was her best by far. Simon says, “I thought you were very, very good indeed.” I got to hand it to her, she lands in the Bottom 3 nearly every week, and somehow always dodges that bullet. This week she may even wind up safe on the couches.
David Cook – à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Innocentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ by Our Lady Peace – David is my pick to win this whole shebang. But tonight wasn’t one of his better performances. I have no idea what went on behind the scenes–maybe the desire to help out a favorite band, or sing a song that’s close to his heart–despite the fact that’s it’s obscure and doesn’t quite fit his vocals. When a contestant chooses an unfamiliar song to sing, they need to turn in a spectacular performance to make it work If not, the audience tunes out–they aren’t going to work that hard to get it. David struggles on the low notes at the beginning of the song, and sounds strained as he switches up quickly to a higher note. Things improve by the chorus, but by now, the audience is lost, I’m afraid. By the time the song ends and he holds up his hand to reveal “Give Back” written on it…well too late for that gesture to have any effect. David faces the judges with a look on his face that says, “I know I effed up.” Randy says it wasn’t one of his strongest weeks. Paula really liked it, but Simon says it’s “a teensy weensy bit pompous.” David has been the most consistent out of this whole crew. He’s allowed one bad performance. And he can afford it. His fanbase will see him through this week.
Carly Smithson – à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The Show Must Go Onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ by Queen – I love Carly’s lower register. She’s all velvety smooth there. When she hits the high notes, though, she sounds strained and overblown. She’s painful to listen to in spots. There’s lots of vocal showboating, but no emotional connect with the audience. Carly has never defined her musical style in this competition. What’s going to ultimately kill her (and that may be as soon as Thursday night) is her inability to connect to the viewing audience. She comes across as cold, haughty and desperate. Man, all those hard knocks–have they made Carly bitter? Maybe. These are not attributes that are going to help Carly succeed in the popularity contest that is American Idol. I honestly could not remember a thing about this performance minutes after I heard it. The song was pitchy and “just ok” for Randy. Paula gives her first negative critique of the night when she says she didn’t feel connected to the song. Simon says she oversang it, lost control of the song, and sounded angry. Simon thinks she’s in trouble this week, and I agree.
David Archuleta – à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Angelsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ by Robbie Williams – Heh. David talks about “Angels” as if he just came across it, rather than it being part of his vocal repertoire since elementary school. Which it is. He’s sung “inspirational” songs nearly every week–this is old hat for David. And I’m guessing there is many more where “Angels” came from. As always, David’s vocals are very pretty, very nice, but very bland. His performances aren’t memorable. He’s a kid with a great voice, but no charisma. Randy is totally excited by David’s vocal runs. And as we all know by now, Randy Jackson has never met a vocal run he didn’t like. Needless hyperbole sets in as Randy tells David it was his “hottest performance the whole season!” Paula says, “Fantastic!” Simon thinks it’s the best song choice of the night so far, but found his vocal a bit nasally.
Brooke White – à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ve Got A Friendà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ by James Taylor/Carole King – This song is not one of the more dynamic songs from the Carole King catalog. James Taylor, a wonderful singer, puts me to sleep when he sings it. So, I figured there really wasn’t much hope for Brooke when I heard the pick. She really needed to choose something a little more dramatic in order to pop, otherwise, she pales in comparison to her competition. Her performance is nice, but a little dull, and a little sad. If she’d brightened it up instead of singing it like a dirge, she might have pulled it off. Randy thought it was just “OK”. Paula loves the song, she thought it was a perfect way to close the evening. Simon describes it as a pleasant walk in the park, but not original. Lucky Brooke, this week, she’s saved by the pimp spot.
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246 Responses to “Season 7 Top 8 Performance Recap”
If Jason plays a coffee house near me, you can bet,I’ll be there. I’ll take that any day over having to sit through a concert of Archie and his never-ending theme of message songs. His aw shucks is getting annoying too. Opie Taylor he ain’t, but, a child who has been groomed since the womb to be a star. Did he ever play with Matchbox cars? Hit a baseball? Go tadpole hunting in a creek? I doubt it. He was probably plopped at the piano strapped to a booster seat from the time he could pull himself up to the leg of the piano. I think he’s a sweet kid, but, way too young to handle a win of this magnitude.
Well, I’m thinking Syesha will probably be eliminated. I can’t say that I was crazy about any performance last night. I’m sorry but I didn’t get the Tiny Tim bit at all and how much Jason was praised. I actually laughed at that performance. Jason sounds kind of the same to me every week but I did like some of his performances in the past and I don’t mind him though. Again, I don’t get the fascination with Archie–don’t get mad at me–the kid bores me silly and I definitely don’t think he’s cute at all or has “IT.” I guess I’m not into little boys who look about 10-12 yrs old. He was nasily; however, yet again, the judges “loved” him, so he will usually take the # 1 spot–even when he forgets the lyrics, he’s #1.
Week after week David Cook has been consistently good. This is his 1st off week. I was surprised to see him in the bottom 3 on dialidol. Where the heck are his fans? Please don’t let one bad night alter your support. I think that he has a big heart and sings with his soul but he did not deserve those nasty comments from Simon. He has “the package” that’s for sure and he’s the most marketable of the lot. He is the only reason I am watching the show–the rest I couldn’t care less about. I voted 2 hours straight for him because I feel he is the best of the lot even if he had one off night. I could just see me going to one of his concerts right now!!!! I do not see me going to a concert of any of the other idols this season.
David Cook YOU ARE STILL MY #1 :clap_tb:
people keep mentioning it, and i agree. he seems sad, jaded, something. TMZ said a few weeks ago that his brother had suffered a “setback” in his treatment. i admire the fact that he is keeping this to himself because we all know how the idol machine loves a good sob story.
i just really hope he can pull it together next week.
yay, reinharv!! loved your DC coments.
And off performance from David is still better than most of the others. This guy is just amazing. I really hope the fans pulled him through to next week.
Gah I hope Carly doesn’t get voted off.
I don’t think anyone is going home tomorrow–if they do the same thing they did last year, no one was sent home so as not to put a damper on the “Idol Gives Back” atmosphere. I bet they’ll do the same thing this year.
IIRC, last year they didn’t have a separate results show. And the fact that nobody got the boot pissed off a lot of peeps. I think the extra hour on Thursday is meant to separate the charity from the negative aspect of someone being eliminated. If no one goes home, they wouldn’t need a Thursday show.
Love Jason and KLC (whaaat? I KNOW!), thought Carly looked hot but her voice seemed off, was meh for everyone else and was let down by DC but only cause i have crazy high expectations for him every week.
DC may be put in bottom three just to mix it up a bit but I think about 3 people are due to go home this season before he’s in any danger. That said, he will need to step it up again next week to avoid a “downward spiral” storyline. He has fanbase but it’s in no way the immunity that Archie’s fanbase is.
I have now watched “Over the Rainbow” more times than I care to admit and I just have to say, I still love it. Oh, and Jason has the longest eyelashes I’ve ever seen.
Okay, I am weighing in with apparently a somewhat unpopular opinion. I have re-listened to David’s “Innocent” a few times today and don’t think it was at all horrid and it is growing on me quite a bit. It just wasn’t “Little Sparrow”, “Billie Jean”, or “Eleanor Rigby”. It was another facet to the artist that is David Cook. I plan to buy the “Innocent” studio version when Itunes makes it available and am looking forward to hearing that.
With all Cook is going through personally with the escalation of his brother’s brain/spine cancer relapse recently I fervently hope he is NOT in the bottom 3. I haven’t been voting this season but I was moved enough to send some votes his way Tuesday night.
I think this song choice had nothing to do with pompousness or self-indulgence. He went with a song that inspires and really means something to him during what was categorized as Inspirational Song week and I respect him for that choice. It seemed to me that the “Idol Gives Back” cause means a lot to him as well.
With his increased emphasis on the cancer line in the Our Lady Peace song “Innocent” (much more so than in the OLP version), I think David partly did this song for Lindsey Rose (She’s the 7 year old Florida fan with leukemia, that he wears the orange bracelet for each week.) and for his older brother Adam who is again seriously ill with a cancer relapse of the disease he beat back in 1998. I hope this performance meant a lot to Adam Cook as well and that he successfully continues his personal fight against that disease. It did make me wonder if both brothers share an affinity for OLP.
It would be so awful for David if he were to lose his brother while David is out in LA for this American Idol competition. Whether you like David Cook the singer or not, prayers for his brother’s health sure wouldn’t hurt.
I do also really like some of the other competitors this season as well but this post is long enough at this point. (End of novelette)
I noticed it, too. To me, he didn’t seem very enthusiastic last night — he was very subdued, very melancholy, and he barely smiled. He’s doing a pretty good job of keeping himself together on-camera, but after last night it became clear to me how much he’s been suffering. Damn it, I hope he’ll be able to pull himself together. I haven’t been able to concentrate lately because I’m so worried about him. Aoiw;oaiw;
Nah. I’m a “tween”, but I don’t quite get Archie, either. Cute — yes. Good voice — yes. “IT” factor to win Idol — no. I think he’s being just a tad too mature for his age; he isn’t even out of high school yet. And the thing I don’t like is that the only thing he really seems capable of doing is power ballads (I didn’t like his upbeat Top 24 performance anywhere near as much as the judges did). Not to say that he doesn’t do those well, because he does. That said, Archie should just try and have some more fun and stop worrying so much about if the judges are going to slam him — that kid is pretty much cemented to get signed at this point, crown or otherwise.
My final bottom 3 verdict – Syesha, Carly, and Michael. Carly going home in the first shocking!boot! of the season.
I don’t think that David Cook will be in the bottom 3, because I think he’s built up enough momentum over the past several weeks to weather one bad performance (which I didn’t think was all that bad, but YMMV). Also, I don’t think TPTB would put him there if wasn’t legitimately in the bottom 3, because #1 he knew before the critiques started that he blew it, therefore doesn’t need a kick in the ass to wake him up, and #2 if DCook lands in the bottom 3, it makes him appear vulnerable and will make this appear like it’s back to a one-horse race. Which I don’t think TPTB would want to happen, especially if the ratings are still slipping.
I’m having second thoughts about David C. I haven’t really liked any of his performances since Hello and possibly Eleanor Rigby (I don’t like that one even by the Beatles). I’ve always liked his voice so he’s been my 2nd favorite but now I’m not so sure I’ll even buy his cd if it tends to be too emo. I do think his performance last night was one of the 2 worst along with Brooke but doubt he’ll be in the bottom 3.
I think it will be Brooke, Carly, and Syesha with Syesha leaving tomorrow night.
rebecca rose: I so didn’t like DC’s performance last nite, but I watched it again today and I have to say it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was, like you said.
I think the problem is that the song isn’t apparently well known, and maybe that tilted my opinion, because the whole time I was listening last night I was busy thinking that it wasn’t going to be received well because it wasn’t well known. Actually, if I listen to it a little more I may just download it and burn it to a CD that is fast becoming my favorite, called “David Cook’s Greatest Hits.”
And YES, I would go see him perform no matter how far he gets on AI.
Just crossing my fingers no B3!!!
Often hear Syesha referred to as R&B but haven’t heard her singing that way..mostly power ballads. Think she should actually do more R&B.
I want to restate that. I haven’t really liked the arrangements of the more recent songs including Billie Jean. I haven’t minded his performances until now even when I didn’t like the song.
I’m bummed. I got my emails saying that Michael’s and Jason’s single were ready to download but they didn’t work. It said they were no longer available which I’m sure is a glitch. :down_tb:
Jason’s studio recording is slightly different from his live performance….but equally mesmerizing. It’s “sweeter” than Iz’s version and slightly less Hawaiian. I absolutely love Jason’s recording voice.
This will be on repeat on my iPod…for the next month.
I downloaded Jason’s studio version too. It’s good but not quite as magical as the live performance. I’m not crazy about the background singers.
I find it interesting that people keep listening to songs/watching performances that they do not like until they like them or find them less awful.
I was recording Tuesday’s show but after some performances, I would just rewind and delete them. Some contestants I did not bother to record because I would not want to hear them again no matter what. I did not regret it because those performance were not good, IMO.
This comes from a singer and first time commenter:
David C. better be careful – he was AWEFUL and he has generally been getting better each week….what a BIG step back this week! And WAY too cheesy.
Christy did the best she has ever done, she usually falls short of being really good.
Brook and Jason are pretty good and consistent but WAY too one sided and can’t step outside their “sound”.
Carly is one cold fish when she sings….and she needs to go. She has the tech skills but NOT the warmth to ever connect. These was a reason her fist album failed and NOT because the co. went out of business (which I don’t think it did).
Syesha has the vocal skills but cannot find herself and is disconnected from many of the songs she sings….she also over sings and screams too many notes. SHe’s pretty and she will do well as a host on some show.
Michael is good only on one type of song, he won’t make it unless the teeny bopper girls like him more than David A.
My opinion (until this week) was it should come down to the two Davids with David c. coming in second so he can make his album after the first year and David A. will get all the help he needs becoming a grown up who can give a decent interview and people will write him great songs he will sound perfect on.
Just my opinion.