New URL for the American Idol buzz blog!
Please go to the new American Idol Buzz blog at http://blogs.ajc.com/american-idol-blog/
Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2008 > May > 14
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
5/14: Top 3 Idol results show - David vs. David!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We now have the top two we anticipated two months ago: David Cook vs. David Archuleta. This should be a humdinger, as Simon dubbed it. And yes, kids, that’s not a dirty phrase. Dated, yes. Not dirty.
Syesha Mercado finished No. 3, the spot I predicted in mid March before the top 12 performed. I’m proud of that one!
She’s a beautiful gal who sang consistently well throughout the competition. I really enjoyed her “Tobacco Road” and “Me and Mr. Jones” in the semifinals and became a fan. Her “Yesterday” was exceptional. Along the way, she made a few minor stumbles in song choice (Fantasia’s “I Believe,” especially) and skirted defeat five times. She picked up some steam near the end, with “A Change is Gonna Come” receiving her the most praise.
Through all the themes, her versatility was her strength and weakness. She always managed to make something out of whatever was handed to her. She never had a truly awful jaw-droppingly bad performance. She didn’t forget her lyrics. She moved the stage well. On the downside, she never had that Fantasia “Summertime” moment. She lacked that singular presence that would make her a potentially successful R&B singer. I’m not sure who she is as a performer. But Broadway? Perfect! She can become somebody else and do it well.
So I’ve gotten three out of nine guesses right based on night-after predictions. Of the top 12 I picked in order nine weeks ago, I got four correct. I made two wildly bad predictions—Kristy Lee out week one and David Hernandez landing in the top 5. My original top 12 was 12-Kristy Lee 11-Ramiele 10-Chikezie 9-Ramiele 8-Michael Johns 7-Brooke 6-Carly 5-David H. 4-Jason 3-Syesha 2-David C. 1-David A.
Anyway, here’s a quick rundown of the episode before the results:
Ryan’s hyperbole is in full force tonight as he notes that missing the top 2 for the third-place finisher is “devastating.” Not… really.
David Hernandez and Chikezie Ezie are in the audience, along with Andrew Lloyd Weber. Group sing: “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us now.” There were 56 million votes for the top 3, up from 51 million a week earlier. (Last year, there were 60 million votes tallied at this point and 50 million season five.)
Fantasia comes on relatively early for the results show. Her hair is very, um, red. It’s a very funky song. But I’m not likin’ it. It’s called “Bore Me” and comes from her second album. Simon looks flummoxed to say the least!
I guess they want to reserve time for the three hometown visits. First up: David Archuleta. Murray, Utah. “Good Day Utah.” 101.5/The Eagle. The Gateway Mall. Lotsa screaming girls. He’s overwhelmed and teary. “Gosh!” he says many times.
And to kill more time, they show his “farewell” video, just in case. And they use Graham Colton’s “Best Days” instead of “Celebrate Me Home.”
Syesha goes to Sarasota. “Good Day Tampa Bay.” Her elementary school in Bradenton. She goes to her house. (David somehow misses out on that.) “I struggled with drugs and alcohol for years,” her dad said. “This is like a natural high to me. This gives me a purpose to stay clean.” She gets a parade with the parents to her high school. The Fox TV copter to a concert in Sarasota. “I didn’t expect to cry so much,” she said.
During her “farewell” video, they use Fantasia’s “I Believe” while Syesha utters cliche after cliche about “if you believe in yourself, anything is possible.” (The problem being, that isn’t really true. Just watch the “Idol” auditions!)
At 9:42 p.m., David Cook gets the spotlight. “Good Day Kansas City.” He does a weather report. Hits a radio station. Goes downtown for a big concert where he does an acoustic version of “Living on a Prayer.” His elementary school, where he sees his proud music teacher. We meet his bro and he chokes up during the parade. Is David crying, too? Fox knows how to push those buttons, eh? We see his high school stadium appearance and a brief moment at the Royals game.
His video features “What About Now” by Daughtry.
