Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2008 > May > 13
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
5/13: Idol top 3 performance show
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sorry about starting this so late. Played tennis, then hit the weights (negating the exercise with a yummy coffee mocha milkshake at Steak n Shake, ahem). So it’s now past 10 p.m. and I’m hitting the DVR.
Interestingly, the personal picks by the trio were relatively weak. The producer’s picks were truly atrocious. But the judges did a solid job and their picks made my top three. Overall, it wasn’t a terribly memorable night.
As for the performances, David Cook does indeed win the night, as Simon said. And David Archuleta was a solid second, doing about as well as you’d expect, with or without Daddy Dearest. Syesha was good but not good enough at this stage.
It’s an easy call: say goodbye to Syesha. Even with Paula predicting a David/David finale, I can’t see enough Syesha fans rallying to defeat either David. The fact is, since neither Dave tripped up, they didn’t change what has been an almost inevitable outcome since the beginning of the top 12. Syesha has made an admirable late run but no way she can break the combo. [Dialidol.com has Syesha safely at the bottom.]
My predictive track record this season is abysmal—I’m only 2 out of 8. I actually did better before the top 12 started—I’ve gotten three right so far from that stage.
My rankings:
1-David Cook (“First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” Roberta Flack, Simon’s pick) third - What a strange choice. “It’s one of the great songs of all time,” Simon said. “Unlike Randy [with Syesha,] I wanted him to do something different. David has a chance to show some originality.” I’m sure Daughtry couldn’t do this song as well as David. This forces David to hit his higher register, which isn’t half bad. He clearly decided to infuse it with some real soul, as opposed to phoning it in, which he easily could have done. Great money shot note at the end. Even Simon clapped! Randy: “Loved the high note at the end but I wish Simon had picked something as predictable as this older kind of song. I want you to rock.” Paula: “That is one of my favorite songs. Now you’re the second favorite person to sing it.” Simon: “I thought it was one of your best performances to date. This is what makes you brilliant. Round one goes to Cook and Cowell!” A
2-David Archuleta (“And So It Goes” by Billy Joel, Paula’s pick) first song sung - I’m a huge Billy Joel song and since season two, Billy has seldom, if ever, has popped up. This was a top 5 soft rock hit for Billy but not one of his better known songs. Carmen Rasmussen did it not quite so well that year during Billy Joel week. I do love it. It’s pensive, yet melodically sweet. He slows it down and gives it a hymnal feeling. David hits it out of the park. Randy: “The Billy Joel thing works for you… You’re in the zone. You’re in it to win it, baby!” (Hasn’t he said those phrases like 40 times already? Get a thesaurus, dawg!) Paula: “It was a pure and stunning performance.” Simon: “It was very good. You know, no surprises. Bit predictable.” A/A-minus
3-Syesha Mercardo (“If I Ain’t Go You” Alicia Keys, Randy’s pick) second - I think purposely picked this song to see if she could be an R&B star. She does it well but is she a commercial R&B artist along the lines of Alicia Keys? I’m really not sure. It’s good but she simply can’t transcend the essence that is Alicia. Randy: “I thought that would work really well on you. You did an amazing job. I’m so happy you’re peaking at the right time.” Paula: “I’m very proud you’re the very last lady standing.” Simon: “You sang that very well. I just wish that Randy had chosen something for you, you weren’t going to sound like the original.” B-plus
4-David Archuleta (“With You” by Chris Brown, David’s pick) fourth — Yah! A current song! We haven’t had many of those this season. And this is one of my favorite songs of 2008. it’s hilarious seeing him utter the word “boo.” He almost messes up partway through proving this is a deceptively difficult song to sing. And a smart choice to appeal to the googly-eyed teens. And he doesn’t embarrass himself. Randy: “I applaud you are trying something new and young. Seeing you sing ‘my boo’ is unbelievable.” Paula: “It’s in the right tone of your voice. You’re so used to singing ballads…This is another part of who you. I’d work getting into it and not extending the phrases.” Simon: “I applaud you didn’t do a treacly ballad. It was a little bit like a chihuahua being a tiger in so much as it’s not really you. It was a bit awkward, the dancing.” [Simon is right.] But I like the song so he gets a B-plus
5-David Cook (“I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing,” producer’s pick) pimp spot - I hate, hate, hate this song. Did I emphasize I hate this song? But give David credit: he makes it almost tolerable. [Josh Gracin took a stab at it and so did, get this—Antonella Barba last year.] And he is working’ the money note again! Randy: “I love the song. It was okay for me. Very predictable.” Paula: “This is where the beginning, middle and ending is. David—see ya in the finals!” Simon: “One of the great songs of all time. David Cook wins the night.” B-plus
6-Syesha Mercado (“Hit Me Up” Gia Farrell, producer’s pick) eighth up — This was a No. 1 hit — in Hungary but barely scraped the charts here in 2006. It’s not a bad party song, the type of song Syesha hasn’t done much of. He does a perfectly adequate job. Randy: “It was just okay for me.” Paula: “It was from the ‘Happy Feet’ soundtrack. You did the song very well. I just want to tell you. As much as I liked it, I’m not sure if it defines you as Syesha the artist. I don’t know if it will get you into the finals of American Idol.” Simon: “It was better than the second song. Your best moment last week was the Sam Cooke song. The problem with that song. It’s a little bit forgettable. It’s fun and young but didn’t give you the defining moment at the end of this song.” [You can’t blame her. She didn’t pick the song!] B/B-plus
7-David Archuleta (“Longer” Dan Fogelberg, producer’s pick) seventh up — Speaking of treacly ballads, this one truly takes the cake, a cake with two tablespoons of sugar too many. The late great Fogelberg’s hit feels so retro ’70s and Archuleta can’t do much to save it from the mush that it is. Randy: “You can sing the phone book. You’re in the zone. Another hot one from you.” Paula: “Very lovely.” Simon: “You sang the song very well. However, the song and the lyrics are horrible. It’s so gooey. But you’ve done enough to get in the finals next week.” B
8-Syesha Mercado (“Fever” by Peggy Lee, Syesha’s pick) fifth up “I like the vibe of the song,” she said. “And I wanted to use the chair.” Paris Bennett did a pretty good job on this song two years ago. This is a good pick cos it has a Broadway vibe to it. Although she does a competent job, I was left kinda cold. No fever for me. Now if Kat McPhee had done it… Randy: “Very interesting song choice. What I will highlight. You sang it amazingly well.” Paula: “Out of all the songs, I’m surprised you picked this song. I’m not sure it shows who Syesha is as an artist.” [harsh for Paula!] Simon: “You will probably regret that decision tomorrow. You could have picked a song to show you as a contemporary. artist. It was a lame cabaret performance.” B/B-minus [My wife noted that she didn’t really work the chair well either.]
9-David Cook (“Dare You To Move” Switchfoot, David’s personal pick) sixth up - He had already planned to sing Collective Soul but switched to Switchfoot instead. Not sure why. It was a top 10 hit for the alternative rock band though I was personally bored by the song whenever it hit the radio. And he only makes it marginally better, even though he did finish with a flourish. Randy: “A little pitchy.” Paula: “I feel like you just got to the beginning when it hit the end of the song. I wanted more.” [Yes, it felt truncated.] Simon: “I don’t think it’s the best melodic song.” B/B-minus
In a TV Guide interview, Archuleta defended his dad before Jeff’s banishment: “I’ve heard the weird things that people have been saying, and it’s kind of a bummer. My dad’s been great. He understands more than anyone what I want.” (Would you expect anything else from the Arch?)
Executive producer Nigel Lythgoe explained the situation with Jeff at ew.com::
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: There have been reports that Jeff Archuleta was banished from backstage, but then David’s vocal coach gave a radio interview in which he said that wasn’t the case. What light can you shed on this?
NIGEL LYTHGOE: “Banished” is a terrible word, isn’t it? It sounds like we’re in some far-off kingdom. He has been asked not to participate in the choice of music with David or be in the room when David is working out his routines that he wants to sing. He’s fine to be in the studio — nothing wrong with that. We just want David to be able to be free like everybody else to get on and do what they want to do.
Naturally, TMZ reports that Jeff Archuleta Tuesday night was buddy buddy with Randy but not Nigel!.
