idolreview.net - Blogging American Idol

The show brought to you by the number 3

3 contestants, 3 songs, 3 judges, 3 phone lines. (And Paula probably had 3 drinks). Let’s get to the singing!

01. David Archuleta	Rating:+1/2	“And So It Goes” by Billy Joel - It was really nice. I loved the a capella, I loved the strings. His voice really matched that one.
02. Syesha Mercado	Rating:	“If I Ain’t Got You” by Alicia Keys - Sidenote: the mayor of Sarasota did Syesha’s song choice announcement but she kept effing it up, so they had to put together this little texting thing. The performance was good, but somewhat predictable. She had a great vocal though, and I really do think she has the best vocals left. But there was no wow factor with this.
03. David Cook	Rating:	“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” by Roberta Flack - I enjoyed this rendition, and I agree with Simon that round 1 goes to Cook, but I am still left craving even more. Top 3, kids! Step it up!

04. David Archuleta	Rating:	“With You” by Chris Brown - I LURVE this song. I was singing it the car on the way home from work. And I love Chris Brown singing it. I did not love David on this so much for a few reasons–I was immediately distracted by his slight word fumble. I know it is a lot of words to get out in the lyrics, and I also think he was concentrating to hard. Which in turn affected his “dancing” which was more like bouncing. Also distracting. I guess I just have high expectations. Or I just love the original? Props for trying something new though.
05. Syesha Mercado	Rating:	“Fever” by Peggy Lee - It was good and very theatrical. Can she go be in Chicago or something? It felt very Chicago-esque. I agree that while she may not necessarily advance to the finale with that performance, she may have been using this opportunity as her Broadway audition? But as far as Idol goes, I agree that probably wasn’t the greatest. However, again a consistent, amazing vocal.
06. David Cook	Rating:	“Dare You To Move” by Switchfoot - Again, I’m not feeling it - it was a not so great arrangement, but the performance was pretty good. Not his best vocal though. Put pretty entertaining.

07. David Archuleta	Rating:+1/2	“Longer” by Dan Fogelburg - I liked this one for him. I think it was his best performance of the three. And I think that this is the type of song he might end up recording. I will be EXTREMELY curious what type of record he will come out with.
08. Syesha Mercado	Rating:	“Hit Me Up” by Gia Farrell - The beginning was good, young and very fun. But it got a little manic at the end. Again, the arrangement sucked. I don’t know. But there has been now wow from her at all tonight. Sad. Istill <3 you Syesha, but I think your road is ending.
09. David Cook	Rating:	“I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” by Aerosmith - Best song of the night by far. And Dianne Warren liked it, so that must be good. The beginning was a little on the rough side, but the end was great.

Quite honestly, for top 3 I expect better. No one was the best, no one was the worst. So I think tonight will come down to fanbase. Syesha will leave tomorrow, and the long awaited David-David finale will ensue. A little disappointing, because I always love a shocker, but it will be the first guy-guy finale since season 2, and will probably be as close of a race as that one was as well. See you tomorrow!

11 comments May 13th, 2008

Final Prediction

It’s the top 3, the season is wrapping up, so what can we expect this next two weeks? See, at this point in season 4, everyone knew Carrie would win. Even last season, Melinda was losing steam, and we could see Jordin becoming the front-runner. In season 5, once Chris got the boot, it was Taylor’s game to lose. This season? It is hard to pick the winner, even now.

Although Syesha has been picking up steam, (and believe me, I would love to be proven wrong in a huge upset), I think she is going this week. Jason had a lot of teen voters who are also loyal to the show. His votes will probably filter towards Cookie, with a few towards Archie. I think this will leave Syesha a day late and a dollar short this week, despite the likely-hood of turning out some killer performances.

A David-David finale is fairly inevitable at this point.

But then what? Mr. Cook has been consistently fantastic. He has a great chance of winning the whole thing at this point. I can see him, despite getting a pathetically crappy original song to sing next week, tweaking it to his benefit. It could be awesome.

And as we all know, Archie is having his own set of parental issues off set, so that could shake him this week and into next. And I know I am going against logic and common sense, but I STILL predict Archuleta to take this puppy home. He has his vices: his blubbering stage banter and a crazy parental unit, but I think a week from today, when you see the fireworks, and the gospel choir, and his adorable chubby cheeks singing his heart out on stage, he is going to get a bunch of swing voters.

There is always the upset scenario: Archie self-destructs tonight and Syesha and Cookie have another sing-off, with David taking the cake. And while I could see this panning out as well, I have learned to go with my gut instinct at this stage of the game.

Am I crazy? You tell me…

8 comments May 13th, 2008