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Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2008 > May > 06
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
5/6: Top 4 performance show
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s songs that cleared from the 500 most influential songs of the rock era courtesy of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here’s the list for reference.
The Who and Bob Dylan cleared songs, I think, for the first time. And that may have been the first time we heard Bob Marley. The Who should be happy. Not so with Dylan.
Jason Castro should have gone home last week. Can his fans save him tonight after? It will probably be Syesha and Jason in the bottom two, if they even give us a bottom two. I liked his first performance but you can’t mess up lyrics in the final four and expect to skate by again. As Simon says, sorry. (Fortunately, it looks like Jason is in danger, based on dialidol.com. Let’s avoid a Daughtry/Tamyra repeat!)
My rankings:
1-David Cook (“Baba O’Riley” The Who) fifth - The song everyone mistakenly thinks is called “Teenage Wasteland” is a much better pic than Duran Duran for Cook. He, as usual, mellows it out in the opening. He actually misses a note but he’s much more comfortable here. And it begged, begged for a much longer arrangement. I wanted more! Randy: “That’s more like the David Cook I’ve grown to love.” Paula: “I want more David Cook!” Simon: “Welcome back, David Cook!” A/A-minus
2-David Archuleta (“Stand By Me” Ben E. King) Fourth - Remember Josiah Leming, the homeless kid, murder this song during Hollywood round? Well, Archuleta won’t repeat that. This is a your usual earnest song that fits Archuleta’s voice and style. He even throws in a little bit of Sean Kingston’s “Beautiful Girls.” He plays to the teen gals and they love it. Randy: “At least there’s one guy hitting the stage trying to win the whole thing. It was hot!” Paula: “You’re seasoned already.” Simon: “You could have whistled and it would have sounded better than Jason’s song. I thought you struggled a little at the end. But look, in the grand scheme of things, I’ll call that as the best performance so far.” A-minus
3-David Archuleta (“Love Me Tender” Elvis Presley) eighth and the pimp spot! - His first attempt at a romantic ballad. He tries to look smoldering but instead, he just looks like he’s squinting early on. I’m not sure I’m enjoying seeing him that close up. He kind of whispers the high note at the end. Can’t tell if that was accidental or deliberate. It was good, not quite worth a pimp spot. Randy: “Another great performance for you.” Paula: “That was my favorite performances from you. I felt your heart.” Simon: “You didn’t beat the competition tonight. You crushed the competition.” B-plus/A-minus (I noticed he hit that second to last note better in the rehearsal version when they showed it at the end.)
4-Syesha Mercado (“Proud Mary” Tina Turner) Second - This song shows her strengths and her ultimate weaknesss. She’s an actress with solid pipes, a pretty face and great stage presence. But it comes down to authenticity and however good she is, it still feels like play acting. A good act, nonetheless. And she’s about as confident as it gets. She is going for broke. Randy: “You’re showing the heat late in the competition. Very nice. ” Paula: “You look like a star. Magic happens and you made it happen.” Simon: “I’m sorry to put a slight damper on things. I thought it was a bad shrieky version. A bad version of Tina Turner.” B-plus/A-minus
5-*Jason Castro (“I Shot the Sheriff” Bob Marley & the Wailers) *Third - He finally gets to really go reggae to match his dreads. He actually seems to be enjoying this one, as opposed to Neil Diamond. I enjoyed it. It’s his best performance in ages though he didn’t really add much to it in terms of arrangement. Randy: “That was really karaoke Bob Marley.” Paula: “I never saw you perform more to the audience. I wasn’t crazy about the performance or the song.” Simon: “Stand back. That was utterly atrocious. That was a song you do not touch. This was like a first round audition massacre. I don’t know what you’re thinking.” [I don’t agree!] B-plus
6-Syesha Mercado (“A Change Is Gonna Come” Sam Cooke) sixth - It’s reasonably heartfelt but kind of boring. She does successfully hit the money note at the end. Randy: “For me, the first song I loved. I did not love this one as much. I didn’t love the arrangement. I felt you pushed out things that weren’t there. You don’t need to do anything extra. It felt all disconnected. Fell flat for me.” Paula stand and claps. “I want to hug you. How you orchestrated the vocals. Beautiful. Welcome to your dream. This is it, Syesha.” [She starts crying. That’s kinda sweet. And she keeps crying and crying.] Simon: “I have to be fair. I’m going to agree with Paula. I thought Randy got that completely wrong.” [Wow! Didn’t see that comng!] “Before I sang the song, I researched it. Found out why it was written. It came out during the civil rights movement. I feel like I’ve changed a lot.” B
7-David Cook (“Hungry Like the Wolf” - Duran Duran) First up - A bit of an odd choice. Cook has charisma but it’s not like that of Simon Le Bon and this was a rare time when it felt kind of grunge-karaoke. He didn’t add much to the song at all. So it was okay, nothing to remember in a week or two. Randy: “That was just okay for you.” Paula: “You left me with a big appetite.” Simon: “It was good. I know where he’s coming from. It’s a little copycat. Is it good enough to get you through next week, yes.” B
8-Jason Castro (“Mr. Tambourine Man” Bob Dylan/The Byrds) seventh - He goes all folksy and it’s vintage Castro for the first 15 seconds. But then he completely botches it by forgetting the lyrics and fails to fake it by going uh uh uh uh. He recovered afterwards but at this stage, there’s no excuse for that. Randy: “Jason’s not in the zone tonight.” Paula: “It is what it is. At this point in the competition, you’ve solidified your niche.” Simon: “I’d pack your suitcase.” Agreed. C
And I’d like to apologize to the Claymate folks for not making it to the CD release party. The problem: I lost my camera. I arrived at Manuel’s Tavern at about 10 p.m. yesterday and realized my camera had disappeared sometime between work, playing tennis and Manuel’s. I went back to work to try to find it but alas, it was gone. I suspect I dropped it while placing my laptop in my trunk at a parking lot downtown. And I stupidly left no contact info in the camera bag for even an honest person to figure out. So some lucky schmo has my camera and 3GB in photos. If they know anything about “Idol,” they’ll be amused. Fortunately,
Anyway, Clay’s CD “On My Way Here” is out today. And so is Chris Sligh’s “Running Back To You.”
I left a message with Jenn McBride, the organizer of the Claymate party and will update to see how it went.
In other “Idol” news:
-MJ’s Big Blog has Michael Johns and Carly Smithson dueting “One Love” on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. It’s kind of a strange take. Not nearly as good as Bono dueting with Mary J. Blige.
-CMT’s “Gone Country” was renewed and inevitably, another “Idol” finalist is in: season four contestant with the really strange pronunciation skills Mikalah Gordon. I know, I know. I can’t see it either. The others competing: Sebastian Bach (Skid Row), Lorenzo Lamas (yes, “Grease”), Irene Cara (“Fame,” “Flashdance”), Chris Kirkpatrick (N Sync), Jermaine Jackson (yes, he is a Jackson), and Sean Young (actress, “No Way Out”). Sounds like a fun crew but I don’t see any of them becoming country stars. It’s in production now and set to premiere in August.
