Idol Recap 5/13

So the night of the "semifinals." Three left. I'm guessing just about everyone (myself included) predicted the results of tonight before the singers even set foot on stage. Syesha bowing out leaving the two Davids for the finals. I'm not so sure that anything that happened tonight will change that result although, if the results are as close as Seacrest tells us they are (and who really trusts Fox, forefathers of the "fair and balanced Fox News" to give us the truth), there could be a shocker tomorrow.

"Celebrity" spottings tonight - Justin Guarini and Lloyd from Entourage. Also, nice job by Ryan by picking on Syesha's dad forgetting that it was her father and (a) suggesting that he may be gay, and; (b) reminding him about the finals next week. You know Ryan's fucked up when Paula is shooting him reminders to jar him back into reality.

Best way for me to recap is to give an overall review of each performer:

David Archuleta:
And So It Goes is one of my all-time favorite Billy Joel songs and Billy Joel is one of my all-time favorite artists. I thought David hit this one out of the park. Unfortunately if David was in danger of having trouble getting votes, this performance was his first. David's take on Chris Brown in his second performance was about as believable as if I got up and started rapping Fitty Cent. Really it was just pitiful. And painful. The producers did him no favors with the final song, a drippingly sacharine number that I recognize from the late-night dedication shows on the soft rock radio stations. Look, it's no surprise by now that he's got a great voice. He's just not a terrific performer. By the way... this kid is going to be a lot of fun on the Idol tour. He's dumb as a fucking brick. Have you ever seen a performer have so much trouble understanding the concept of a vamp? The hardest working person in show business - Archuleta's tutor.

Syesha Mercado:
Unlike the judges, I thought Syesha shined on Fever tonight. However, that's because I too see her true talent as a Broadway/cabaret-type singer. She's got stage presence that makes up for sometimes lagging vocals. And by lagging, I mean she suffers from the fact that as a black woman, she just can't quite measure up to Alicia Keyes and Whitney and Mariah when she covers them. She still has a great voice. As for her final song, I'd never heard of it and am not quite sure why the producers picked it. All I remember is that Syesha's wardrobe looked like something out of Flashdance. Also, am I the only one noticing that Syesha is looking more and more like Vanessa Williams every night? Nice job Idol stylists.

David Cook:
Look, it's no secret that I have a total man crush on David Cook. I think he's an incredible performer, has an incredible voice, and he's the first Idol contestant ever (and by ever I mean in the two seasons I've followed the show) that I could see myself buying a CD from. I was not familiar with the Roberta Flack song that Simon had him take on, but judging by the reaction, I'm guessing it was on par with his Mariah remake of Always Be My Baby. The second song was totally rushed. As for his final song, even though I'm not such a huge fan of Don't Want to Miss a Thing, or as most people know it, "That Armageddon Song," I understand why the producers picked it and I thought David did a great job with it. That said, I really, really, really hope now that he doesn't win because I fear what Clive Davis will force him to do on a CD.

Continued Prediction:
The two David's in the finals.