Okay, so we’ve made it to the top eight, soon to be the final seven, and I’m fully committed now. Up until this point, I don’t think I’d made that emotional investment in the Idols. Ramiele, Chikezie, David Hernandez… these are names — and performances — that, in six months, I’ll have a hard time remembering. But season seven’s last ones standing, for better (hello, Michael Johns!) or worse, have definitely made an impression, and it’s a lasting one. So with good will from Sunday’s Idol Gives Back bonanza still tugging at the heart, I came into the Idol studio full of positive thoughts and anticipation. How fitting that it was inspiration night.
But before we get into that, a survey of the room: Taylor Swift had a seat near the judges, not too far from Sinbad and Lacey from So You Think You Can Dance. And speaking of dancing, standing off by the side door was Julianne Hough in full make-up but still wearing her pre-show robe. It was elimination night next door on Dancing with the Stars, but Julianne looked surprisingly relaxed. Maybe she had a hunch it was her time to go.
As for me, I was settling into the D section, but within five minutes of sitting down, inadvertently dropped the f-bomb twice, oblivious to the fact that I was surrounded on all sides by tween-age girls. Needless to say, I felt terrible and kept the cursing in check for the rest of the show. (Sorry, moms.)
With 10 minutes to go, Corey the warm-up guy gets his crowd on and we learn, by cheer volume, that a good half of the audience is made up of first-timers. Which may explain the proliferation of signs — MJ’s The Wonder From Down Under, Hallelujah For Jason, Sing It David! (which one? It didn’t specify) — that didn’t look like they were drawn outside in the parking lot.
Corey’s instructions tonight were a bit more emphatic. "You don’thave to be polite," he tells the audience when it comes to disagreeingwith the judges. "And when you clap, try to do it above your head. Itlooks great from the back." And just to remind us all that this is,after all, television, Corey’s last directive is to give "a hugestanding ovation after each performance."
Enter the judges. Randy blows kisses to the crowd, Simon makes nicewith the fans, Ryan walks out to the stage and shakes hands with thegirls in the mosh pit. "Welcome to the front," he tells them. And withthree minutes to go, out come the Idols. On the applause meter, MichaelJohns, looking foxy even with the unnecessary scarf, certainlyregisters, but it’s David Archuleta (pictured) who sends it into the red. Thecrowd just loves that kid!
With all the hoopla on stage, Paula sneaks in with no introductionand quickly slinks into her seat. There’s one minute to go and everyonetakes their places. Michael Johns double-checks the exit direction, butit’s Syesha who screws it up and walks the opposite way. Oops.
Since Michael Johns is up first, he stays put at the side of thestage, taking his time getting there and savoring every moment in thespotlight. The red light and the Jim Morrison vibe suits him, and thecrowd goes wild as soon as the chorus to "Dream On" kicks in. Paula’sfeeling some MJ love too, and once he hits the falsetto, quickly hopsto her feet with a "you the man" finger pointed in his direction.Randy, on the other hand? Not so much, so he gets the loudest boos ofthe night. As for Simon? Between all the Chihuahua comments, he justlooked confused. Or maybe he was having a start-of-show nic fit becausehe bolted before Ryan could finish saying his famous mantra, "after thebreak." It was during the commercial that we first got a glance atPaula’s boobs, which looked like they could use a breather. Her look ingeneral was a bit off tonight, even if her critiques were slightly moreastute.
Corey returns to entertain us for three minutes and launches rightback into TV101. This time, it’s about clapping along to the songs.Don’t do it, especially during ballads. (Apparently, keeping properrhythm is not the Idol audience’s forté and, subsequently,looks bad on TV). Syesha, meanwhile, takes her position on the stool,chatting with Ryan and downing water. We had a sneaky suspicion therewould be another power ballad in our near future and, sure enough, thegospel choir was brought out in no time. But for Syesha, this actuallytook away from the performance by overpowering her vocals, which wasn’tthe case when Fantasia belted "I Believe." You could barely hear Syeshaover a total of 11 background singers. And when you did, more often itwas an off note that you noticed. So I generally agreed with Randy’sassessment, but not everybody did. "What’s up with Randy tonight?" onegirl remarked.
Next up: Jason Castro, whose entrance on stage prompted severalpeople around me to note that he could be on the brink of elimination,so he really had to bring it tonight. And judging by his somberappearance, it seems Jason sensed that, too. Fortunately, hisluau-styled lullaby did not disappoint. Far from it, he impressed justabout everybody, especially Simon. I’ve never seen Cowell so focused,but the way he stared intently as Jason handled the ukulele like an oldpro reaffirmed my faith in the doe-eyed and dreadlocked wonder. JCpulled it off, put a smile on peoples’ faces and even shed a tearhimself. Awww…
The next commercial break was a welcome respite from aroller-coaster of emotions. Randy checked his blackberry while Ryanpaced and Simon glad-handed. Little did we know that another majorswell was on the horizon: Miss Kristy Lee Cook. She took the samecenter-stage balladeer mark that the rest of the Idols favor (makes iteasy for the camera guys), dressed in, what one of my EW colleaguescalled, a Forever 21 ensemble. Expectations in my corner of the studiowere decidedly low, but what transpired was a complete 180. KLC was theonly Idol to get a mid-song applause, and even Nigel Lythgoe tooknotice. Seems our little country girl still has some kick left in herboots, and Paula, for one, stood up to pump her fists in solidarity.Was it sappy and somewhat predictable? Sure. Strategic? Absolutely. Butit was also sung well. Still, I loved Randy’s backhanded compliment:"It was good… for you." Ouch!
KLC looked elated following the judges’ comments, and CarlySmithson, ever the cheerleader, ran over to hug her, screaming "yay!"There was little time for rejoicing though, and she quickly took herplace beside David Cook, who was up next.
So here’s where anticipation was exceptionally high and the resultsdevastatingly disappointing. With David C’s choice of song, I couldn’thelp but think of Chris Daughtry’s obsession with Live, a huge band fora brief period, but currently residing deep in the "where are theynow?" file. Does David Cook have the same unapologetic love for OurLady Peace? If it’s an obscure Canadian band he’s looking for, I couldsuggest about a dozen awesome Sloan songs that would rock your socks off.
Truthfully, David looked a little out of it tonight. During hispre-performance shot, he seemed spacey (the outfit wasn’t helping hiscomfort level, I imagine). And unlike Jason Castro’s performance whereall eyes were on him, Simon looked distracted and borderline offendedby David’s descent on the judges’ table. Theatrics, it seems, doesn’tcompensate for a weak song or a shaky delivery.
Needless to say, David’s post-performance demeanor was one of defeatand disappointment, though maybe he wasn’t entirely surprised. Aseveryone knows, what works for the Idol producers, the studioaudience and people voting at home are recognizable, super-popularsongs. Deep album cuts by marginally successful modern rock bands don’texactly cut it on this kind of competition.
It’s a tough night indeed as Carly gives David C. an empathy hug.She’s got a challenge ahead as well, and ambition may have finallygotten the best of her. In the studio, Carly’s take on Queen’s "TheShow Must Go On" sounded downright screechy. The vocal gymnastics,which I’ve been critical of in the past, did nothing for her… onceagain. I wonder: there’s no doubt Carly’s probably the most competentof the girl singers, but why isn’t it coming through week after week?She seems to be slipping to the bottom, and it’s a shame.
Carly claims she was distracted by Simon, but the crowd was alsothrown by the presence of one David Archuleta. The poor kid held astatic smile for a good three minutes straight while positioneddirectly in front of his dad and legions of psycho fans (oneeight-year-old held a sign that read "lick those lips, David A.") Bythe time the camera rolled, it looked like his jaw was about to break.
Struggling with his nerves, David A. took to the piano, breatheddeep and suddenly seemed at peace again. And if he was aiming to scorepoints with Simon, going with a British superstar’s smash single was asmart call. Robbie Williams’ "Angels" in the UK was like WhitneyHouston’s "I Will Always Love You" here in the US — you couldn’tescape it for a very long time. Plus, David did it justice with acrowd-pleasing performance that had Paula, Nigel and the rest of theroom swaying. Like Simon said, there’s no question he’s coastingthrough to the next round.
David waves goodbye as Brooke, looking more like a Brady with eachpassing week, says hello… to every single person in the front row.Choosing a singer-songwriter powerhouse like Carole King is certainlynot unexpected for Brooke, who has that Carly Simon, ’70s-artifact vibeabout her, but did it resonate? It was hard to tell. Paula sang along,plenty of parents seemed pleased, but the response was kind of tepid.It’s strange — I find Brooke to have great stage manners and a reallystrong presence, but I’ve met some haters, too and I don’t really getit.
No matter, once all was said and done, it was hugs all around on the Idolstage. The eight finalists faced the video screen to watch theirrecaps, Kristy doing a little jig to Jason’s "Over theRainbow" snippet, David Cook clapping for Carly, Syesha fussing withher hair, and David A. blushing through his moment. Ryan, ever thegracious host, shakes hands with all the contestants and calls it anight. With two more days of Idol responsibilities ahead of him, he needs his beauty sleep.
An inspiring night or did your eyes hurt from excessive rolling? Andmore importantly, who’s going home? Speak your piece, PopWatchers…
Comments (1-30) of 94 Add your comment
Shirley– if you see the father of that 8-year old girl holding the “Lick Those Lips” sign from last night, please beat the living daylights out of him. Completely unappropriate, regardless of the age of the subject or holder of said sign. Thanks!
Yep, spot on Ms. Halperin. Lackluster. My opinion is,I think Syesha is going. And I wish Carly would sing ballads, less is more.
And one more thing, I wish these contestants would just stand quietly and take the criticize without all the yakking. They probably don’t realize how distracting it is for us at home trying to hear. Voice over voice over voice is mega annoying.
Last night stank. I was inspired for sure…to vote for David Cook like a mad woman.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure Syesha is going. Poor girl. I think, had she competed in any other season, that she would have done much better. But at this point, her sound has been done before. She’s competing against much more talent and individuality. She’s not bad at all. In fact, her vocals are great. She’s just not very likeable, and there’s nothing new about what she does. Oh well.
David Cook was not good last night. The song he sang was a bit out of his range. I could tell he struggled. I’m still rooting for him, though.
It was a so-so night. I still haven’t seen that “WOW” moment. They’re all competent singers, but not performers….they’re being very safe….and the songs just did. not. inspire. me. or make me want to run out and buy their tunes. This may be the best vocally, but their personality is stale. Oh how I wish Amanda was there with her rocker chick attitude, or even Danny with his snap-snap…or Chikezie hopping around the stage…anything to liven up this group. Does anybody see anyone of them being recording star quality? And I’m not on the David A bandwagon, he reminds me of the lead singer to some gospel group.
I think Syesha is going for two reasons. She has the same problem as Ramielle did – song choice. She keeps doing overdone songs. The second reason is that she’s not likable. Remember that comment about Ramielle being the first contestant who got voted off that bothered her. She’s made comments like that throughout the competition. I personally don’t care for her voice but even if I did, I really do not like her personality. She was the only performance that I buzzed through on my tivo.
I think Syesha is going for two reasons. She has the same problem as Ramielle did – song choice. She keeps doing overdone songs. The second reason is that she’s not likable. Remember that comment about Ramielle being the first contestant who got voted off that bothered her. She’s made comments like that throughout the competition. I personally don’t care for her voice but even if I did, I really do not like her personality. She was the only performance that I buzzed through on my tivo.
SHIRLEY: “Brooke, looking more like a Brady with each passing week” = LOL! Tonight, should they just have them do “Sunshine Day” for the Group Number and get it over with?
David A. was the best, Jason C., then Kristy Lee (OMG!)
Syesha should go home, just for being a fool.
Syesha (would she be a better actress than a singer?) should be next to go home, then KLC (there’s too much competition out there for her to make it, nothing special about her, nice voice, no control, no imagination), I thought Jason’s performance reminded me of Tiny Tim (he’s cute, but I believe he should leave after KLC goes home), Michael Johns is good at singing blues not rock (he screeches his high notes, not appealing to my ears, if he continues to pick these rock songs he’ll probably go home sooner rather than later); Carly needs to sing songs in her vocal range, when she tries to hit high notes she doesn’t quite make it, hurts me ears; David Cook picked the wrong song but hopefully he should win the whole enchilada, and David A. picked the right song and should be runner up in the idol contest. Brooke is not as good as Carly Simon, sorry (she should go home before Michael Johns)!!
Has anyone heard anything about David Cook’s brother (who got sick last week)? I’ll bet that’s affecting David’s concentration in this contest. David can make anything sound good, but he really needs to make sure he picks a better song next week.
Still diggin’ on Jason’s “anti-Idol” persona and hope he gets another week to establish a foundation for a fine solo career after this season. What’s with Carly’s weak upper register? What was Mr. Cook thinking by picking something so obscure? Where is Syesha’s soul? She needs to leave tomorrow night to look for it.
Jason Castro is my favorite and last night he sang one of my very favorite songs. I’ve already replayed it several times and will be downloading the full version from I Tunes today.
I won’t be surprised if Carly or Syesha goes home on Thursday. They’re both good singers, but they’re having trouble connecting with people. Syesha is still kind of a blank slate, and Carly has chosen a lot of songs that just haven’t come across very well. David Cook’s song was not great, but his performance was enjoyable.
They keep saying that this the best talent pool in Idol history but I don’t see it! Is it me? There’s only been two or three “better than average” performances all season, two by David Cook and one by Chickeze (sp?) who’s gone. My daughter and I are Idol fans but we have a hard time getting motivated by any one of these people. We eagerly await “So You Think You Can Dance” which has become a much more entertaining contest to watch.
Sloan! Woo! Glad someone else has heard of them.
Yeah, totally agree about the sign. It’s stupid and nonsensical.
I remember hearing Reuben Studdard once say during an interview that after he had one particularly bad week, he learned not to pick his favorite songs, but to pick songs that the audience likes that fit his vocal style. That was David Cook’s problem last night. Our Lady Peace is his favorite band, but not enough people are familiar with their music. Plus, it didn’t really play to his vocal strengths. I guess he was due for a bad week.
Shirley, let me try to shed some light on the anti-Brooke movement. I wouldn’t call myself a “hater,” but her level of desperation and neediness is creeping up on Carly-like proportions, and to be perfectly honest I do not like the feeling that I am partly responsible for this girl’s sense of well-being. What is being exposed is a lack of toughness and drive that this show’s winner will need. I thought at first that Brooke might actually have an identity outside of “girl who can sing,” (unlike Carly) but Brooke’s overly emotional responses to what I believe are fair criticisms from the judges are pretty revealing. Does she even believe in herself enough to win? Does she have the discipline to take advice or critique and improve? Or does she only enjoy singing when everybody tells her how great she is? I think she’s super super nice and has a pretty voice, but her fragility makes me wonder if this is the industry for her. I guess I’m just saying that I’m over her, sorry to say.
Elizabeth, I 100% agree with you, that is the first thing I thought when I read that. VERY inappropriate for an 8 year old girl to have a sign that is sexually suggestive like that – it is not her fault though, it is her parents.
Personally, I’ve found pretty much everything David A’s done recently to be pretty forgetable. I don’t know if it just didn’t play as well over TV (at least to me), but tonight was no exception.
Shirley–Thanks very much for doing these write ups. It’s great to read what it’s like. You seem to have had a much better time there than Michael Slezak did whereever he watched the show. Maybe you could go comfort him for us?
It was so weak when that girl with the dreads copied the fat Hawaiian dude’s version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, and took credit for it. What a terrible, terrible show that is.
David A was amazing last nite. His voice is beautiful and so is his smile. Jason has no range and no performing skills. DCook showed how great or NOT of a vocalist he is. The rest are all forgetable. David FTMFW!
Well I have to say last night was not the best week I have seen so far. However I do agree with most that Syesha or little Ms.Kristy with her country twang style need to go home! There performances lack any stage persona all together. There is no presence they stand or sit and they sing. They do not get into it at all leaving an audience rather bored I would think. I know they have decent voices but they just are NOT Idol material. David A. well don’t get me going he just seems to do nothing but smile and suck up and play the “Oh look at me I am so cute and loveable” hand to the crowd and judges. Jason is adorable has a wonderful voice and I see him getting a career from this show but not winning the whole enchilada. David Cook however has wonderful tone, pitch, and style to his singing (voice) and has wonderful stage presence. He gets into what he does. Last night was not a good song choice for him but I still enjoyed it. Want to know how much? Between my daughter and I 8-900 votes!
I liked Brooke early on, but the past several weeks of her nervous prattling constantly talking back to the judges was wearing my patience thin. Then her reported meltdown on the commercial break last week upon learning she was bottom three. So this week when she hit the stage with lower lip trembling, fighting tears and deer in the headlights look all while giving a very karaoke version of a great song – well, I’ve completely lost interest in her. She’s clearly not got the strength at this point in her life to take criticism or survive in this industry. But I hope she brings her shiny happy attitude into an area that suits her better like working with kids. People need sunshine and she can bring that – when she’s not melting down in this competition.
This season=bleh. I like Brooke and Jason, but they won’t win. I chose to walk my dogs during David A’s performance. Even after learning that he’s a member of his high school’s GLBT club, I STILL can’t stand him! And I’m a hard core fag hag!! KLC needs to go. Even though she did well last night, she’s a one trick pony. Blah blah blah meow…
Carly’s lackluster performance tore me away from the Dancing with the Stars results show so that I could vote, and I’m most certainly not a regular voter. This is a great season of contestants, but for some reason, I’m attached to Carly more than any other singer whose been on the show. Jason Castro is the most similar to artists that I usually follow (file me in the 25-year-old eclectic hipster category), but Carly’s just got this amazing presence and IT factor that I cannot get enough of. If she goes tonight, I’ll be depressed on behalf of my growing Smithson mp3 collection. I hope her past performances carry her through to safety…
Since I’m not a vocals expert and I don’t know anything about the music business, the only way I know to assess the current Idols is whether or not I am willing to pay the 99 cents to download their songs/videos. Yes, there have been some enjoyable performances . . . Brooke’s “Love is a Battlefield” KLC’s “God Bless the USA”, but did I enjoy them enough to want to purchase them so that I could listen to them again and again? No. There have only been three performances so far this season that have been “download-worthy” for me, and they all involve young men named David. My iTunes now includes David Cook’s “Hello” and “Billie Jean” and David A’s “The Long and Winding Road” which is my absolute favorite of the season so far. IDOL Season 7 is definitely “The Year of the Davids.”
a Sloan reference on EW.com … Shirley, you rock!!!
David Archuleta and Jason Castro were amazing. The parents of the sign-holding child need to get a handle on the br*t.