Tonight I can only assume there was a panoply of songs for the Idolists to choose from. We've heard lots of bemoaning from the Idolists in prior weeks about song choice and having trouble. I mean, in all honesty, it's hard for a woman to pick Dolly Parton songs and it's hard for a man to pick Neil Diamond songs. Hell, it's hard to pick Dolly Parton songs in general. But tonight, if the Idolists truly could pick just about any song in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, we should have been able to really see some separation in the contestants. And we did.
1) David Archuleta
He's the best vocalist of the group. He's a Josh Groban-type performer. He's not going to be a frontman of a band. He's going to be a soloist with a few back up singers or some strings behind him. His takes on Stand By Me and Love Me Tender were pretty stunning vocally. I actually didn't like the version of Love Me Tender but I just don't really love the song. He did great and he's one of the two finalists. No question. I would bet my wife on it. And my firstborn.
2) David Cook
Unlike Archuleta, he's the frontman of a band. He's got a distinctive voice and enjoys rising above a crescendo of hard music behind him. I didn't mind Hungry Like the Wolf, but it wasn't up to what we're used to and did seem a little karaoke. I really did love Baba O'Reilly and would actually have loved to have heard Cook sing the entire version. Really it's a two-man race. And I actually like David Cook's odds given that once Castro falls out, I'm not seeing his voters falling in line with Archuleta. I gotta say, I'd buy a David Cook CD.
3) Syesha Mercado
I liked her version of Proud Mary and yeah, it was a little bit of a large take on Tina Turner's version. But she's got a big voice and big stage presence and did just fine with it. I wasn't familiar with the Sam Cooke song (Change is Gonna Come) and really didn't love it except to say that Syesha sang it beautifully. However, I'm pretty convinced that Simon was going to have some not-so-nice things to say about it until Paula made Syesha cry. Then Simon saw that there was no way he could slam the performance with Syesha crying. Some of you may think Simon wouldn't care. I think he does. He looked pained at the end of her song.
4) Jason Castro
Really what can you say. A total clusterfuck on just about every level. I mean, he took on not one, but two singers who, according to the Idol Bible (as of yet unwritten), you never, ever, ever cover. Bob Marley and Bob Dylan. Yeah. Those two, Stevie Wonder, and a few others you just don't touch. I Shot the Sheriff was totally, insanely dreadful and painful. Simon was dead on. If he sang that in one of the cattle call auditions, he wouldn't have even gotten a golden ticket to Hollywood. Then forgetting the lyrics in the middle of Mr. Tambourine Man... that's just the cherry on top of a horrid evening. Jason doesn't care. He's just along for the ride at this point. Hell, he was even quoted in the most recent Entertainment Weekly as saying that he was kind of tired of Idol and ready to go home. Well, he'll get his wish. He's straight gone tomorrow.
May 6, 2008
Idol Recap 5/6
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6 Responses:
David A. - As Simon said crushed the competition.
David C- Was alright. Not as good as other weeks, but you know he's going.
Syesha- Again I was dissappointed. Tina Turner owns that song, and if she was to give it up it would be to Beyonce. She's covered it twice for Tina already in dedications. Syeshas little dance...no no no darling. Also her cover of Change is Coming was good. However I hated how she "personalized it" when it was written during the Civil Rights movement,and I'm sorry but Idol comes no where close to AI.
Jason- I'm part of the minority that wants to vote for him (but who lack a desire to pick up a phone). He has style, even if he's singing was so so. At least he knows something about good music.
Sorry, typed to fast, sorry about the typos.
In order of strength tonight:
1) Archuleta - Stand By Me and Love Me Tender were right up his alley. Great theme for all the contestants.
2) Syesha - Her take of Sam Cooke's "A Change Gonna Come" was emotional for her and it came across very well. It's one of my favorite songs. She didn't do anything to hurt Proud Mary, and she showed a lot of stage presence without mimicking Tina.
3) David Cook - He didn't add anything to his songs, but he didn't brutalize them either.
4) Jason Castro - Possibly the train wreck of the year.
As for Nic's criticism that Syesha "personalized" "A Change Gonna Come" when it was written about the Civil Rights Movement, I think she can. Many times this season singers (okay, Carly) have sung songs with an obvious disregard for what the song means. Syesha acknolwedged what the song means. She said it also has additional meaning for her. She wanted to say more about the original meaning of the song, but she wisely didn't want to get political on a show that's huge in middle America. I'm reading between the lines, but I think she said, "This song is very powerful to me because of what it symbolizes, but it also applies to my journey in this competition. I didn't come from much, but I'm going to be something."
"without mimicking Tina" -- WHAT??? She wore a Tina Turner dress, did the Tina Turner dance, and sang the song in a Tina Turner fashion. I'm not sure how she could have mimicked Tina Turner more without having Ike come on stage and punch her.
Am I the only one who noticed that the mix was all screwed up the whole night? During Hungry Like the Wolf you could barely hear the band at all, and it didn't get much better the rest of the night. When they did the recap at the end, the songs sounded much better because it didn't sound like they were singing a capella.
I agree with Brien. I thought Syesha went out of her way to immitate Tina Turner.
I was not a huge Syesha fan last night (partly because of her new OMG, I'm a valley girl schtick), but I still think she has one of the better voices right now. I don't really understand what makes David A. better than Syesha, anyway. David A. can carry a tune, but I really don't like his style.
I'm back to David C. as my winner. And that's my final answer.
David Archuleta did do the best job last night, but both David Cook and Syesha deserve to move on to the next week. Jason was really horrendous, and it's obvious that he's stopped caring about American Idol, since he knew all along that he wasn't gonna win.
Josh
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