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Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2008 > April > 01
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
4/1: Top 9 performance show w/ Dolly Parton, David Cook goes to hospital
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For folks who have been blogging for hours, I apologize for being so late with my thoughts, but I hung out with Michael Johns’ Atlanta buds at Tin Roof Cantina for three hours. Great folks. I’ll post photos and info I gleaned about Michael tomorrow. (I went to collect what we call “string” for the print edition next Tuesday.)
Anyway, since I wasn’t paying 100% attention during my stay at Tin Roof, I am re-watching the show now. Note to Ryan: I hope you didn’t write that lame April Fool’s joke. Unfortunately, my knowledge of Dolly songs is fairly shallow, starting with “Jolene” and “Here You Come Again” and ending with “9 to 5,” “Islands in the Stream” and “I Will Always Love You.” So several of these songs I’m 100% unfamiliar with.
Overall, there were no disastrous performances, nothing quite as bad as, say, Ramiele’s “Alone” last week. So here’s my order from best to worst, with No’s 3 to 6 virtually indistinguishable, ranking wise, for me.
1- Michael Johns (Hopefully, I’m not being too biased because I spent the night with his friends!) 2- Syesha Mercado (Justin-you and I are holding up the fort here!) 3- David Cook 4- Brooke White 5- Jason Castro 6- Carly Smithson 7- Kristy Lee Cook 8- David Archuleta 9- Ramiele Malubay.
I expect Ramiele will make her very first appearance in the bottom three and get eliminated. The other two? As usual, Kristy Lee will pop in there and survive. The third one is tougher. Carly may land there a second time, though this may just be wishful thinking to keep Syesha from having to stand by Ryan yet again. Jason’s fans will keep him safe this week, I suspect, and David A. has zero chance of being in the bottom at this stage no matter how bored I was. (I’m making these predictions without seeing Dialidol.)
ADDENDUM: TMZ reports that David Cook landed in the hospital after tonight’s show because of heart palpitations. His blood pressure was too high. He was treated and released. TMZ speculates that it might be stress related to the show and his brother’s cancer.
Up first: Brooke White (“Jolene”) I enjoyed it. It was a standard Brooke White performance. She certainly didn’t improve upon the Dolly Parton version but she’s safe. Randy: “I don’t know if that was a stellar performance. You had some pitch problems.” Paula: “You put your heart and soul and have an emotional connection with every song you pick.” Simon: “I think what was lacking was any emotional… I thought all of you looked odd together as a group.” B/B-plus
David Cook (“Little Sparrow”) Curiously, “Idol” decided to have Ryan ask Cook about his arrangement, giving him a chance to credit Neil Zaza and Doxology, the band bitching he took their version of “Eleanor Rigby” and Whitesnake for “Day Tripper,” as well as Chris Cornell for “Billie Jean.” “Tonight, I’m going to do my own arrangement of ‘Little Sparrow.’ ” he said. The song is about a man crushing a woman like a sparrow, so it’s a bit odd for a guy to sing it. Nonetheless, he does yet another vocally solid, heartfelt performance. Randy: “I like how you went into the false. You made your own arrangement and it was very cool.” Paula: “I like your haircut… I’ve never heard a guy do that song. It was fantastic.” Simon: “I’m not going to say it was as good as last week. If you can make a song about sparrows good, which you did, congratulations.” B-plus/A-minus
Ramiele Malubay (“Do I Ever Cross Your Mind”) She hasn’t been in the bottom three yet. Maybe it’s time. She adds a little twang and puts a bit more verve into it than normal. For Ramiele, it was pretty good though her bouncy movements are awkward. Nice final note. Randy: “You showed some signs of strength and conviction. 6 1/2 out of 10.” Paula: “You really connected with the audience and you were having fun!” Simon: “We’re not going to remember this in 10 years time. It was cute. You sang it quite well. It was forgettable. Something reminiscent of what you’d hear on a cruise ship.” (Yes, that’s her future job, in all likelihood.) B
Jason Castro (“Travelin’ Thru”) - That laid-back surfer vibe is prevalant as usual. It should satisfy Castro fans though I’m not sure if he can anything new to his persona that could expand his fan base. The song picks up and improves as he goes along. Randy: “It was pretty good.” Paula: “You seem so comfortable. Your voice sounded strong and rich.” Simon: “I didn’t like that at all… if this had been the first time I had seen you or heard you, I wouldn’t get it. Sorry!” B-plus
Carly Smithson (“Here You Come Again”) - Did Carly smile while she sang? She gives a throatier, heartier version of this pop crossover hit from the late 1970s than Dolly. It was good, not amazing. Randy: “That will probably be one of the better performances of the night. Nice job.” Paula: “That voice of yours. Oh my god!” Simon: “It was good, I didn’t think it was great. You’ve got to have a word with whoever is dressing you. I think at this stage, without being rude, you have to start looking like a star and I’m not seeing that progression.” B-plus
David Archuleta (“Smoky Mountain Memories”) - One of Michael’s friends tonight said he is like Josh Grobin. Good comparison! David’s strength is ballads and he picked one tonight that fit his voice perfectly. It’s a bit sleepy for me and is that hand-waving audience getting deeply annoying or what? Technically, note perfect. Just not my style. And look—there’s his dad or as we always call him “stage dad.” Randy: “I stand corrected—THAT was the best performance of the night.” Paula: “You are just glorious.” Simon: “This week, absolutely on the money!” B
Kristy Lee Cook (“Coat of Many Colors”) - She can’t possibly mess up a Dolly song, could she? Barefoot and in a dress of many colors, Kristy looks wonderful and sounds fine. Will it keep her around? Probably—just barely. For Kristy, this was . Randy: “This is definitely your wheelhouse.” Paula: “You look stunning and gave a beautiful performance.” Simon: “This was pleasant but forgettable.” Kristy then Simon an air kiss—semi-sarcastically. B/B-plus
Syesha Mercado (“I Will Always Love You”) - She merges a bit of Dolly and Whitney with it. I have always loved Syesha but this is a major risk given it’s iconic nature. But you almost think she has to go for it at this stage to avoid elimination. She doesn’t quite have the powerhouse vocal theatrics of a Lakisha or Whitney. But it’s warm and silky and that end note hits the heart. Go Syesha! Randy: “You took on the biggest tiger of the night. I think you did pretty good. It’s still hard for me to hear anybody else do that.” Paula: “I think you’re growing and connecting with the audience so much more. I love it.” SImon: “I almost wish you hadn’t gotten it. First part was good. Second part paled by comparison to the Whitney version. I don’t know if it helped you. It was good, wasn’t fantastic version.” A-minus
Pimp spot! Michael Johns (“It’s all Wrong, But It’s All Right”) - It was a good night to be on a patio full of Johns’ buds. He made them proud. He added a huge dose of soul and blues. With the one-hour format, the songs were even shorter than normal and I wanted more this time around. Randy: “You keep on bringing it up a notch. That was blazing hot.” Paula: “You’re a star, a rock star.” Simon: “This is the best I’ve ever heard you sing!”
Here’s other “Idol” news:
— Claudette Yamin, Elliott Yamin’s feisty mom, has died. She was featured on the sho was having medical problems but rooting emotionally for her son’s success. More details here.
— Randy Jackson’s “Best Dance Crew” show on MTV became a monstrous hit - at least in MTV land. It opened at a solid 1.7 million and built up to 4.9 million viewers for the finale last Thursday. If you haven’t seen the winning dance troupe JabbaWockeez, here’s a sample. They’re incredible!
— The Today Show ran a story about “Idol” and notes that the two frontrunners are now David Cook and David Archuleta. And the rumors about Archuleta’s stage dad are brought up again. Thank you MJ for posting this.
— And the controversy over David Cook covering other band’s covers of famous songs won’t die down. Doxology keeps claiming he took their version of “Eleanor Rigby” without attribution. He did give Chris Cornell credit for his version of “Billie Jean.” More info here at ew.com.
[Former Soundgarden lead singer Chris Cornell is both flattered and mildly concerned that fans were confused, even though Ryan Seacrest namedropped him.}(http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN0144532620080401)
“Don’t get me wrong. He sang it great,” Cornell continued. “But it was literally a note-for-note take on what I came up with. At the end of the day, it’s all good. It’s a good thing for me. There was a moment when I was sitting there writing this new arrangement thinking, ‘Is this a good idea or a bad idea?’ Watching the response from the judges was really gratifying. They were signing off on it right there. It was something that worked. It was an idea that went over huge. When I play it live on tour, it brings the house down every time.”
