American Idol (2008) - Week 10 - Top 3

Andrew Lloyd Webber week…really? I was definitely skeptical going into last nights show and wondering how some of the contestants were going to fair. Too my surprise, a couple did much better than I thought and the rest did just as I thought - not all that great overall. No doubt A.L.W. has skills when it comes to composition, but this seemed as an odd pairing from the get-go.

My top three are in the following order:

1. David Cook
2. Carly Smithson
3. Syesha Mercado

David Cook continues to impress and last nights belting of Music of the Night was no exception. Is anyone going to beat this guy? Incredible! Actually gave me chills…

Carly Smithson is in the two spot, although it truly was a toss up between her and Syesha. Carly sang Jesus Christ Superstar and did a really, really good job with it. Also impressive.

Syesha Mercado finally showed her personality and was feeling the song One Rock and Roll Too Many. She blew it up and this was definitely the best that I have seen her since she has been on the show. She can have a huge career in musical theater if she wants to - just amazing.

Here are their performances:

David Cook - Music of the Night:

Carly Smithson - Jesus Christ Superstar:

Syesha Mercado - One Rock and Roll Too Many:

American Idol (2008) - Week 9 - Top 3

Well, it was Mariah Carey themed week. I did not start the show as a fan and I did not end it as a fan. I guess she is ok. She definitely has proven herself with a slew of #1 hits, but it just is not my type of music that I enjoy. However, a five-octave vocal range is massive and anyone that can boast of that is truly talented.

My top three are in the following order:

1. David Cook
2. David Cook
3. Jason Castro

David Cook rocked the joint with his own twist on Mariah’s Always Be My Baby. His arrangement was smoking hot and by far and away the best performance of the night. David is definitely in a league of his own right now and it appears that everyone else is battling for second place.

David Cook is also my number two of the night. Why? Because he was just that good tonight and everyone else was just that bad.

Jason Castro barely made took the number three spot. He performed Mariah’s I Don’t Want To Cry and did a terrific job with it. Actually, it was better than terrific, it was fantastic - probably the best he has ever done on the show. If he had not have done as well as he did, David Cook most likely would have taken this spot as well!

Here are their performances:

David Cook - Always Be My Baby

David Cook - Always Be My Baby [encore]

Jason Castro - I Don’t Want To Cry

American Idol (2008) - Week 8 - Top 3

If I’m being honest, dawg, this week was a little rough for me. Not the best week for my front-runners - not really sure what happened…

Anyway, my top three, in the following order are:

1. Jason Castro
2. David Archuleta
3. Brooke White

Jason Castro broke out the Ukulele for Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. This is perhaps my favorite version of the song. While I think he did an excellent job of it, I do not think it was as good as Katharine McPhee’s version from Season 5. Still, it was brilliant and better than anyone else tonight.

David Archuleta went pop on us tonight and busted out with Robbie Williams’ Angels. Great song, great lyric, and great performance. David is starting to get his groove back and is beginning to regain some of the ground that he lost in the past few weeks.

Brooke White did Carole King’s You’ve Got a Friend. Another solid choice and, as typical for Brooke, she turned in another solid performance and delivery. She is probably the best in the competition at connecting with the song and with the audience as well as being the most consistent with her singing and performances.

Here are their performances:

Jason Castro - Somewhere Over the Rainbow:

David Archuleta - Angels:

Brooke White - You’ve Got a Friend:

American Idol (2008) - Week 7 - Top 3

Ok, I’m not sure how I did it, but I have my counting off in terms of weeks. You will notice that my posts jump from Week 5 to Week 7. However, I assure you that I did not skip a week, I just miscounted/labeled all the other posts before this one. Anyway, on to my top three for this past week…

I was expecting a train wreck this week with Dolly Parton being the guest mentor. Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised. I knew she was active as a songwriter, but 3,000 songs, over 100 millions albums sold, and 25 #1 hits - HOLY COW. That’s incredible. The only thing I would caution is keeping her away from all the stage lights. Those things get super hot and with all the plastic surgery, she is likely to melt like that Nazi soldier at the end of Indiana Jones and the Ark of the Covenant.

My top 3 for this week are as follow (again the top 2 were no-brainers, the third was a struggle for me to pick):

1. Michael Johns
2. David Cook
3. Carly Smithson

Michael Johns sang Dolly’s It’s All Wrong, But It’s All Right in a wonderful, soulful bluesy/rock style. It was great and I loved it, but I’m partial to the entire southern blues/rock genre anyway since that is what I write, play, perform.

David Cook did an absolutely amazing version of Dolly’s Little Sparrow. If Michael Johns had picked any other song to sing, David would have been my #1 choice. These two guys have been neck-and-neck the last couple of weeks - very good singers and very entertaining to see what they are bringing each week.

Carly Smithson did Dolly’s Here You Come Again. A classy, understated song that fit very well with her voice. She was tough to pick at the third spot with the other second-tier singers in the competition, but I felt she had a slight edge over the rest of that group.

Here are their performances:

Michael Johns - It’s All Wrong, But It’s All Right:

David Cook - Little Sparrow:

Carly Smithson - Here You Come Again:

American Idol (2008) - Week 5 - Top 3

1. I’m a huge Beatles fan
2. Thank goodness that atrocity is now over…

Memo to American Idol: please do not ever have a Lennon/McCartney catalog theme again - for the love of all that is right…

This week was a marked improvement over the last couple of weeks. We finally have the Top 10 and some of these vocalists actually stepped up and brought their A-game. Having said that, it was easy to pick the top two and a bit difficult picking someone for the third spot. This weeks top two were clearly far and away better than the rest of the field.

My top three, in order, are as follows:

1. David Cook
2. Michael Johns
3. Jason Castro

David Cook did a great rendition of Chris Cornell’s version of Billie Jean (originally by Michael Jackson). Very, very impressive and in my opinion the best performance of the night.

Michael Johns pulled off American Idol’s first ever medley with Queen’s We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions. Brave. Bold. Brilliant.

Jason Castro pulled off a difficult Sting song Fragile. Pretty much anything by Sting ought to win marks for difficulty alone. While it was a subdued performance and not exactly spot-on, it was still worthy of a top three spot this week.

Here are their performances:

David Cook - Billie Jean:

Michael Johns - We Will Rock You/We are the Champions:

Jason Castro - Fragile:

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