I'm glad I got back from vacation just in time for a round of boring performances from the top three "Idol" contenders. It was also glaringly obvious who the show wanted to get voted off...and she didn't help herself out much with her own song choice either....
The evening kicked off with America's favorite abused stage kid David Archuleta. Paula Abdul did the little guy a big favor by choosing "And So It Goes." He was made for this slow Billy Joel song. However he seemed to make it predictable and uninspired. He nearly smiled while singing "and you can have this heart to break." Weird. Simon thought it was predictable but the other two thought he was "in it to win it (stay tuned to see if that opinion makes ANY sense)"
Randy chose "If I Ain't Got You" by Alicia Keys for Syesha...it was a snap and it should have been since she sang it on that other reality singing show she was on called "The One." She gave a good performance, it was standard, but better than most. She's pretty but that dress was a bit too Miss Teen Alabama for my taste.
Just to see how much he could make David Cook squirm, Simon chose "First Time I Ever Saw Your Face." I'll go ahead and admit I haven't heard this song so I don't have a comparison to make.I liked it - it was a bit slow toward the beginning but I thought he nailed it at the end. Of course Simon and Randy are contractually obligated to get in some fake tiff over who chose the best song.
"Round one goes to Cook and Cowell."
Round Two
This is where every one of them took a gun and shot themselves in the foot. What a bucket of awful choices.
So far this season I have yet to strike a "hear no evil, see no evil" pose, but I made an exception for Archie's performance of Chris Brown's "With You." It's not the fact that he said the word "boo" or "figure" but just the fact he is asexual. It was awkward to the point of painful. The bobbing up and down and forced vocals. It was like watching Josh Groban sing Ludacris or something. UGH!
Syesha decided that her poor choice would not be shown up by the Archuleta and chose the old relic "Fever." She pranced around the chair in a short sparkly dress and bored us to tears. I will give her credit though, that last run was well played and expertly sung, subtle yet technically difficult. Of course the judges ripped her a new one even though her performance technically was light years ahead of David A. Her futile attempts to catch the Southern votes with that accent are just sad.
If I were to place bets on what song David Cook would pick for his choice (mind you I guessed correctly for Webber night!) I wouldn't have even considered Switchfoot. I listened to Switchfoot when they were just playing Christian rock festivals (yeah a lot has changed for both of us) I wasn't totally feeling that...I really think he had a few pitch issues and it seemed so slow in the beginning. I was hoping for more..
Round Three
Since David A. didn't choose treacly for himself, the producers decided to do it for him..bravo for choosing "Longer" by Dan Fogelberg. This is the sort of song I turn off when it comes on the radio...I would rather listen to one of those annoying Ben Satcher Ford commercials...Shockingly all the judges thought this was a pretty boring choice. Oh...and how many times does the dawg have to tell people they can sing the phone book?
The producer's choice of "Hit Me Up" just tied the anchor to Syesha's ankles. It's as if they want her to go home (SHOCKING!) It wasn't a horrible performance. It had a few bum notes but she had fun and showed a little more personality than normal. Still the judges docked her, as if she has a choice when she's given a song from a penguin movie. So long, Syesha.
David Cook probably won the night by default. His version of Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" was pretty good. I stopped reading Google News long enough to watch the whole thing. I can't say the same for the other two. It's pretty safe to say that it will be a David x 2 finale.
Here's Cathy's opinion:
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