Not too sure what the thinking was about tonight's theme, the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber. The favorite critique of Simon and Randy has always been that singers are "cabaret" and the like. So tonight Idol is going to force the remaining six competitors to enter a realm that has been scorned by the judges as something Idol doesn't stand for? Don't really get it. I do get that tonight separated the contenders from the pretenders, as being forced to get out of their comfort zone really exposed two of the competitors. Also, what's with all the picture time for Ricky of Ricky and The Band fame this season? And is he a conductor? Is he a background dancer? Is he a set piece? An enigma wrapped in a riddle. Here we go, from best to worst performances:
Syesha Mercado
The problem is that she was too good at this form of music. Clearly her strength is musical theatre. Clearly she has a good voice. But when it comes to pop music, the best she can muster is faux-Mariah Carey and faux-Whitney Houston. She would be a Broadway star. She will not be a recording star. I think that despite her having the best performance of the night, she'll be bottom three based upon her going first and based upon Carly's performance being simply more memorable.
David Cook
David showed tonight why, to me, he is the winner of this year's competition. A guy who has convincingly showed us that he can be the next lead singer of a rock band was able to step right into the music of Broadway and do a dynamite version of Music of the Night, a song with a very high degree of difficulty. David hit every note, even the upper registers that we don't normally hear from him. He was fantastic again.
David Archuleta
Little Davey had a good night tonight. He's so consistent, he's boring. You know what you're going to get every week from him. You know you're going to get a good vocal. You're not going to get a great vocal. You're not going to get something that you rewind the DVR to re-watch or that you hit the Idol website the next day to see again. The final will be the two Davids. That's pretty clear right now.
Carly Smithson
Carly had a great time on stage tonight. She performed with energy and conviction. She picked the right song, with an assist from Andrew Lloyd Webber. She was presumptuous with that little shirt pre-printed that said "Simon Likes Me (for this week)." Still, a good week for Carly and I think it kept her out of the bottom three this week. It was one of only two upbeat songs and because it was the latter of the two, it will be the most memorable.
Brooke White
For the second time this season, she stopped and started. This time, unlike last time, she stopped because she blanked on a vocal. That's unforgiveable at this stage of the competition. However, essentially by default, she wasn't the worst performance simply because Jason was so bad. Brooke sang with some feeling but was clearly a deer in headlights after stumbling right at the gate. It's kind of like the guy who false starts in a track meet NEVER, EVER wins the race because he's so on edge the rest of the race when he gets the right start. We saw Paula show her claws for the first time this season, scolding Brooke for stopping. And clearly Brooke was spooked because for once, she didn't talk back to the judges. Or maybe she reads this blog. Who knows?
Jason Castro
One of my favorite Broadway songs ever that was totally and completely butchered. I don't want to hear Jack Johnson cover the song, and that's essentially what I got. I knew we were in trouble when Andrew Lloyd Webber told us all that Jason flat out didn't get what the song was about. It just was not good. It wasn't excruciating, because fortunately once you get to the Bottom Six you rarely see any excruciating performances anymore. Hell, even Sanjaya was gone by this time last year. But it just really wasn't good. At all.
Predicted Bottom Three:
Jason, Brooke, Syesha
April 22, 2008
Idol Recap 4/22
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14 Responses:
Andrew Lloyd Webber flat-out sucks. I shouldn't have bothered with watching tonight, because I knew the music would be bad. Brooke and Jason can both reasonably go, based on performances. I found Carly's performance to be unpleasant.
really? He sucks? Just because you are not a fan of the genre doesn't mean he sucks. I don't get why they did an Andrew Lloyd Webber week, but that doesn't take away from what a talent he is and how good his music is.
I thought it was a good choice for a theme. It's a nice change of pace from the standard Idol fare, and I enjoyed it far more than Mariah Carey and Dolly Parton.
I don't know if he sucks, but I don't like any of his musicals except Jesus Christ Superstar.
Carly is going home tonight, and here's why. She picked that song to pander, only she didn't really find out what the musical is about. Jesus Christ Superstar is HATED by churchgoers. It covers the Passion from Judas' perspective, and includes Jesus carousing with Mary Magdalene as a lover. The lyrics kind of give some clues about the rest of the show. "Do you think you're what they say you are?" "Don't you get me wrong, I only want to know [if you really think you're the son of God]." Judas was on board with the movement when he thought Jesus was a prophet, but as a Jew, he couldn't buy the Messiah stuff.
So many Christians have been taught for 30 years now to hate Jesus Christ Superstar. Less serious Christians, agnostics and other religions will be a little turned off by what they perceive as a gospel song. I don't see who votes for her.
Of course, it also wasn't very good.
Bottom three: Carly, Brooke, Syesha. Jason Castro gets a pass because he was so far out of his element that he earned pity votes.
I think Brook is going home...
I think you are a bit off on Jesus Christ Superstar. I think there are a large number of Christians who can separate the musical from what they believe. I am a churchgoer and I really enjoy JCS because I appreciate it for the work of art it is. I think that is probably the more common opinion among the American Idol watching churchgoers but maybe I am giving them too much credit.
I didn't really like her performance though. You could tell she had no idea what it was about or the context that it is performed in the musical. That was my major problem with the night. Couldn't they at least take the 2 hours to watch the crappy movie versions of the musicals they are singing from?
I like plenty of musical theater stuff, I just think that ALW is the worst thing to happen to it in its history. I went out with a girl last year who was very into the whole genre, and she introduced me to some Stephen Sondheim and other, actually talented, composers and writers of musicals.
Just because he's made more money than anyone else in theater doesn't mean that ALW is better than them, or even good. He just makes big productions that laypeople want to see, like with the falling chandelier in Phantom of the Opera. Now, I haven't seen Jesus Christ Superstar, but Jason says it's good. Maybe there's one decent piece of work in ALW's career, between Cats and Phantom and Starlight Express or whatever. I don't care enough to check. I just can't stand what I've seen of his and with the exception of a song or two, I feel justified in painting him with a broad brush.
Josh
Anonymous, I think you can chalk Andrew Lloyd Webber's fame up to Phantom and a series of songs that do well standing alone.
Most people are at least familiar with I Don't Know How to Love Him, Memory, Don't Cry for Me Argentina, Music of the Night, Tell Me On a Sunday, etc. If you can find two people outside of New York City who have actually seen the musical Tell Me On a Sunday, I'd be impressed.
Jesus Christ Superstar has music that holds up well over time. The original Judas, who was touring with the traveling production last I checked and when I last saw it in New Orleans, is incredible. I could do without Sebastian Bach (Skid Row) as Jesus.
Oh, I see anonymous is actually Josh.
Actually, we should give Andrew Lloyd Webber and Phantom in particular for shifting musical theater towards the Les Miserables, Miss Saigon style that was so popular in the 90's. It beats the hell out of Mamma Mia.
Sorry, I didn't realize what we are dealing with here. I thought you fell into the group that hates musicals. You are on the opposite end. I didn't realize that those who like ALW musicals are just laypeople who cannot think for themselves.
I respect your opinion but to suggest that someone who enjoys his work is an ignorant layperson who only likes it because he is supposed to makes you sound like a snob.
I majored in film criticism in college, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy a good dumb comedy like Old School. I just happen to think that ALW's music tends to be pretty bad and the lyrics that go with it awful, and the plots pretty much on par with the lyrics. I do generally sniff at a large chunk of popular tastes...for instance, on Friday, I walked out of Street Kings after a half hour - only the third movie I've ever done that with - laughing at how ridiculous the dialogue and plot were. Lo and behold, it got a 34% on RottenTomatoes.com and a 7.4 on imdb.com...Mumford, I actually reviewed back in college, and panned - making a motif out of the word "suck" - but it got a reasonably high 6.7 on imdb (compared with 56% on rottentomatoes). If having better taste than the average American makes me a snob, I welcome it.
I'm more concerned that you would pay money to see Street Kings when Forgetting Sarah Marshall (83% and hilarious) was also available. That definitely calls into question your judgment.
Jesus Christ Superstar was her second choice. When ALW said I see you also picked JCS, she gave a sneaky little look. I've never seen any of ALW's work so I was pretty clueless, though I did recognize Jason's song. And growing up I had heard that JCS was a devilish inspired play, however taking in that little clip before her performance I think people will forgive her.
I was drunk, needing a few hours to sober up, and I walked over to the theater and asked for a ticket to the next movie. I wound up heading over to see Horton Hears A Who, which was alright but nothing special. I saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall the next day, and had planned to see it, with a friend (Nina), the next day (plans made before I got drunk). Forgetting Sarah Marshall was pretty awesome.
Do you guys not get the Idol exit polling data I get?
Carly did very poorly among self-described evangelicals and atheists. She managed to offend both groups for opposite reasons.
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