Monday, March 31, 2008

American Idol - Top 9

Welcome to Top 9 Week! Dolly Parton is here to mentor the kids. Ryan's April Fools' joke to start the show was lame. Is that Michael Kors behind Paula?!? Nice! Now, to the singing!

The Favorites:
Brooke White - "Jolene"
Brooke is first? NO! Dolly likes her. I like this song. Brooke is back playing an instrument, which is a good thing for her. I like the pared down group backing her up. Kind of a folk band vibe. Good performance. Good start to the show. She did have a pitchy moment there at the beginning. We can always count on Randy to point those out. Paula is trying so hard to be relevant. Bless her. I guess I can see Simon's point - I could have done with a little more facial expression on this song. The woman in the song is fighting hard for her man against another woman she thinks she doesn't have a prayer against. It's a pretty desperate lyric. Brooke didn't look so desperate.

David Cook - "Little Sparrow"
David Cook is second? What is happening here? Do the producers think these first two are strong enough to handle the first two spots? I loved the pre-song interview with Ryan. David Cook has been getting all kinds of flak for getting credit for other people's arrangements the last three weeks. The producers set that up so all three artists could get credit. And it allowed David to tell the world that he arranged the song on his own this week. He sounds great. I like him going up into falsetto on the hook of the song. I really want the girls waving their arms in the front to sit down. They aren't on the beat. Paula likes David's haircut. *sigh*
He did a good job with that.

Carly Smithson - "Here You Come Again"
I really liked that. I don't feel like she was yelling at me. It was a great arrangement. She put the focus on the lyric, which was wonderful. I love Dolly's bouncy, fun version and this was an excellent take on the song. (Paula - please don't try to tell Randy about pitch. Your voice on your tracks is processed within an inch of its life. Sorry. But it is. You look pretty though. :) ) Simon is being really hard on Carly. I'm trying to decide if I agree with him about her clothes. She needs to dress like herself, but is herself an image that will be marketable?

David Archuleta - "Smoky Mountain Memories"
Awww. David and Dolly were so cute. David sounded great on this song. NICE high note there at the end. You rule, David. I love a good high note. That was excellent. What a cutie. Paula - don't talk about auras. The judges love David! Yay!!! (Someone needs to do something about the mosh pit in the front. They're driving me crazy.)

Michael Johns - "It's All Wrong, But It's All Right"
Pimp spot! And wearing a neck scarf! I actually like his performance tonight. And I'm not a fan of Michael Johns. He deserved the closing spot tonight. That was the cleanest, best vocal I've heard him sing since Hollywood Week. Nice falsetto at the end.

The Others:
Ramiele Malubay - "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind?" Nope. Not with that performance. It was a mess. It just wasn't good for me dawg. It was pitchy and kind of a mess.
Jason Castro - "Travelin' Thru" It was fine. I think he does a good job.
Kristy Lee Cook - "Coat of Many Colors" She looks pretty. (There's my Paula comment.) I don't know why she's barefoot. I should count how many times she shuts her eyes. At least she put glitter on her eyelids to make them interesting to look at when they are shut. (It's not just that she shuts her eyes. Everyone does that. She KEEPS them shut for seconds at a time. And she does it a lot.) She's a country singer, so I'm sure she'll be here next week. *huge sigh*
Syesha Mercado - "I Will Always Love You" Oh, no she didn't. I didn't think anyone would have the guts to sing this. Smart starting with the way Dolly sang it. I don't like the Whitney part. She went sharp on the long note at the end. Ouch. Lots of glittery eyelids tonight.

That was a good show tonight. That Dolly Parton can really write a song. Even the kids I don't like as well had great songs to sing. I'm going to go look through our music collection for some Dolly Parton songs. I'm predicting (well, hoping) Ramiele, Kristy and Syesha in the bottom 3.

2 comments:

Miranda J said...

Agree, agree, agree.

David Cook, David Archuleta, Brooke White -- final four.

The 4th one is a wild card -- Carly? Michael Johns? I don't like him either. But tonight was good.

Miranda J said...

Oh, and Carly Smithson -- I loved her tonight, and I didn't want to love her.

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