American Idol 7 - 4/8/08 - Inspiration My Foot

This is….American Idol. Last night the Idol contestants hit the stage with inspirational songs. I believe the night was filled with strange song selection, bickering among the judges and a night of very little inspirational music or performances.

I applaud the producer’s of Idol for what they want to do with “Idol Gives Back”. When you have a machine like this one raking in the dough and a very big audience it is important to use the voice for the good but sticking these contestants with such a theme is asking for trouble and tonight was not any different then last year’s.

On with my thoughts about the performances from last night:

Michael Johns

First of all I have to say Michael the ascots are getting to be way too much, they look ridiculous, stop wearing them. Michael’s selection of song “Dream On” for whatever reason was stupid. He clearly does not understand what this song is really truly about. This song is about someone at the end of their life dreaming about what might have been because it is all they have left. It doesn’t really inspire me it is almost pathetic actually but what do I know.

I totally enjoyed Michael’s performance overall, it was engaging and fun. The vocals though were not as good as last week. There were several sharp and pitchy moments. Michael’s first attempt at the high notes was my fingers down the chalk board moment but he rallied at the end for the high note but just barely. Changing the arrangement would have helped avoid that issue. It was good but there was no wow.

Note to Michael – don’t get in a pissing match with the judges, you came across as an indulgent little brat, give the audience credit, you told them why you chose the song but the judges are right, this is a singing contest regardless of the inspiration theme.

Randy – this is an important week, we need the contestants to show us who they are, there were some pitch problems, it was alright. This is not about dreams, it is about singing.

Paula – I couldn’t disagree with Randy more, it was a perfect song choice for you, you sound as good as you look and the high notes were unbelievable, my dogs will be joining you on stage

Simon – it was a very good performance but I have to slightly agree with Randy, it came across as an impersonation of a rock star, wannabish

Syesha Mercado

I see the “fro” is back although it didn’t seem as out of control as usual. Oh tell me I didn’t just hear her say she is performing Fantasia’s “I Believe”. What is wrong with these contestants? Never and I say never sing a prior contestant’s signature song. You are asking for the worst type of comparison and almost begging to be sent packing.

I have to throw out I was never a fan of Fantasia, I did not vote for her to win and I really did not like her version of this song. If there was ever an indulgent singer it is Fantasia, her dropping to the ground and practically spasming out is very distracting. I thought Diana DeGarmo sang the song much better when they were battling for the winner spot during Season 3.

I have to give Syesha credit because I thought this was a technically flawless vocal. I actually liked what she did with the song. She was definitely in diva mode and that last note was killer and I am not sure in a good way. She hit it and sustained it and it was on pitch but it was almost too high and it painful to the ear, she could have broken a glass. She was pitch perfect and had very impressive phrasing as well. The choir (good heavens) was overpowering her quite a bit though.

Randy – I will give you credit for taking on another tiger in the room. Fantasia is one of the best singers ever to be on the show (oh give me a break). There was no connection to the song like Fantasia. It was okay.

I have to totally disagree here with Randy and while comparisons were absolutely going to happen you can’t say Syesha didn’t connect to the song she did, if you compare her to the recorded version as opposed to the live version after Fantasia won then I might agree. Come on the woman just won American Idol of course she would friggin’ be emotional, every winner has been. Poor Jordan lost it when she was singing. More on this comparison issue later about how the judges are inconsistent.

Paula – Fantasia is your idol, you flipped the song a little bit and made it your own, it was one of your most shining nights

Simon – it is inevitable to have a comparison, technically you sang it well but it lacked the big wave of emotion, I want you to stop tackling the divas and show us who you are.

I will agree with Simon about showing us who you are as an artist but as has been pointed out already, this is a singing competition so if you technically sang it well then let’s move on.


Jason Castro

I am going to say this is the performance of the night which one will either love or hate. I am in the later category for several reasons.

Jason is once again in his comfort zone, sitting and instead of a guitar we have a ukulele, yes a ukulele and I know it is so wrong but all I could think about was Tiny Tim.

Jason chose “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” which I also think is a very strange song selection and given the fantastic version that Katherine McPhee had not a good idea.

I thought this was just a ridiculous performance. The choppy arrangement was irritating and it was boring. I have heard this version of the song and if any performance last night was an exact carbon copy it was this one. There was nothing new or original from this performance. It was just the same thing week after week. Outside of Jason’s audible breathing which is so distracting he was in good voice. Once again Jason was so clearly high on something it was crazy although this might be a perfect song choice if you want to be high when you are performing. I was just bored by the whole thing and I just didn’t get it.

I have to insert my disagreement with the judges, they pick apart others for not being original or compare them to the artist but yet for Jason’s performance they did not say anything about how this was an exact karaoke rendition of this version of the song.

Randy – dude Jason Castro is back in the hunt, hot, blazing molten hot

Paula – you have a definitive sound, perfect song, great job

Simon – fantastic


I also have to break away from my comments on the performances to say how much I really hated the AT&T go phone commercial with Meatloaf, I guess he is desperate for cash, it was just stupid.

Kristy Lee Cook

Kristy was looking pretty good last night I have to say.

Kristy chose “Anyway”. I at least understood this choice although I still think the song was a bit too big for her. Overall I liked her vocal performance. There were some pitch problems especially in her lower register. She started out really good, sucked during the chorus but on the other hand she was so overpowered by the choir it didn’t matter but her ending was superb, the best notes I have heard from her in a long time. The one problem I have with Kristy is she lacks emotion, she can’t sell the song. She is like a robot up on stage; she almost looks awkward, like a deer in the headlights.

Randy – a few pitchy moments, loved it, cool for you

Paula – best by far, excellent

Simon – it was very, very good indeed; you looked like a star tonight, smart choice appealing to your audience

David Cook

I liked David’s outfit. David went with “Innocent”. I am not sure this was an appropriate choice of an inspirational song and it really is not a song to showcase your voice. It is almost one note; the words were repetitive, like there is only one verse. For the first time David too was overpowered by that stupid choir. It wasn’t a good vocal performance as he was all over the place. David though is an accomplished performance; he sold the number via the performance not the vocal. This was not his best showing.

Randy – I am a huge fan but this is not your strongest week, I didn’t get it

Paula – you are well defined, you are the total package, I believe in you

Simon – I didn’t like this performance; it was a teensy bit pompous, it was your weakest performance, not nearly as good as the last 2 weeks

Carly Smithson

I didn’t like Carly’s outfit but she definitely proved she is not pregnant in that outfit. It appears she has lost some weight as well. It was a pretty tight outfit; it left nothing to the imagination.

Carly chose “The Show Must go On”. This is a song I very much love. This is a very personal song from Freddie Mercury he was dying and it is a love song to his audience not to grieve for him because the show will go on. I always choke up and cry when I hear Freddie singing this song. I understand why it is important to Carly but I don’t believe she really sold the true emotional impact of this song.

Overall her performance was good but her vocals were just so so. In the verses her pitch and phrasing were perfect but then when she reached the chorus, oh my god it was awful. It also totally fell apart at the end. I give Carly credit she doesn’t let that affect her, she just barrels through. I have to agree with Simon Carly did come across as angry which was a disconnect from the theme of the week.

Randy – started good, middle a little pitchy, ended okay, you were disconnected

Paula – your voice is pretty perfect but I will agree slightly with Randy – I didn’t feel engaged by your performance but your voice is amazing

Simon – you look good tonight, it was an unusual choice of song, you over sang it and lost control of it, it was an angry performance

David Archuleta

David is back in his element, inspirational songs seem to be David’s theme regardless of the actual theme.

David chose “Angels”, a song I have on my IPod. David playing the piano worked with this song overall and David gave one of his usual very heartfelt and truly moving performances but there wasn’t any wow and nothing original about it. Outside of the very rough start the vocals were excellent. David can definitely sing.

Randy – awesome, the refrain and the runs you threw in, this was the hottest moment of the whole season, loved it, loved it

Paula – fantastic

Simon – This was the best song choice of the evening, it is a great pop song, I don’t think it was your best vocal, it was a little nasally, I liked the first part better than the end but it doesn’t matter you will sail through to the next round

Brooke White

Oh my heavens who picked out this horrible outfit, that dress was beyond bad. It made her look like matronly. It did nothing for her. It was just plain scary.

I was happy to see Brooke actually just singing and it is good she doesn’t move around too much. Brooke chose “You’ve Got A Friend”. This has got to be one of the weakest and strangest endings to a program ever. I totally did not like this at all. Brooke sounded like she was whining and I didn’t feel any emotional impact from the song. The vocals were okay but nothing special, there was no wow. It was basically very good karaoke.

Randy – not your best, okay, alright

Paula – My sister use to play this over and over, it was a perfect way to end the night, I love you

Simon – it was like a pleasant walk in the park, nice, not original, you won’t remember it


It was another very uneven night. These contestants are having a hard time picking the right song. With all the great inspirational songs out there we end up with some of these. Why don’t they consult me about song selection?

I really can’t say anyone truly shined last night. Everyone was overpowered by the orchestra and that choir at least once some more then others. I certainly wasn’t inspired outside of finding a version of the song I like and listening to it so I could forget all these numbers.

The question isn’t who will be in the bottom 3 but who shouldn’t be there and I think they all could end up in the bottom 3.

Based on my view of the performances the bottom 3 should be Carly, David Cook and Jason.

I believe the bottom 3 will be Carly, Syesha and Jason. Kristy Lee could slip in there though.

Syesha is packing to go home on Thursday.

I swear to god, if I watch the entire results show and the producers don’t send anyone home I will be royally pissed off.

I probably will write my comments about Idol gives back after Thursday’s result show so I end up with just one blog instead of two more.

Until later…