American Idol Report - Top 8

Before we get to "inspirational song" night, here's a little background reading for everyone if you are interested:

There is a cool article in one of the Salt Lake papers about David Archuleta's vocal coach, Dean Kaelin. I was lucky enough to work with Dean for a couple years when I lived in Utah. He's an amazing teacher. The article has some interesting behind the scenes info.

Also, this article by former contestant Carmen Rasmusen validates what I've been saying about the singing lineup on performance night.

Okay, here we go.

The Favorites:

Jason Castro - "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"
I adore this arrangement. And big props to Jason for giving credit to the original artist. He really did a great job. That was a perfect song for him.

David Archuleta - "Angels"
Outstanding. I'm so glad he played the piano. And he sounded great. He did some great things with the melody. Awesome note at the end. Fantastic.


Brooke White - "You've Got a Friend"
Excellent song choice for her. I'm glad she's connecting the with the audience and just singing at the mike stand. (Now, Brooke is shutting her eyes occasionally, but she actually opens them and looks at the people for the majority of the song. As opposed to keeping them closed for the entire song.) Brooke is so cute.

Brooke and David had the pimp spots! Woo hoo!


The Others:
(I have to say in advance - I was not loving the performances this week.)
Michael Johns - "Dream On" Michael Johns is first. Sweet. Sorry, Carolyn. I didn't like the performance and I don't like him very much at all. I think he's our shocker in the bottom 3 this week.

Syesha Mercado - "I Believe" This was a pretty gutsy song to sing. Fantasia killed it when she won. Syesha sounded pretty good, even though there were a couple notes that were pitchy. She tried to make it her own, but it just didn't work for me dawg. Probably because no one should ever sing that song except Fantasia. Especially on the American Idol stage.

Kristy Lee Cook - "Anyway" OPEN YOUR EYES! I've seen her eyeballs three times and she is halfway through the song. Arrgghh. She annoys me so much. Pitchy at the beginning of the second verse. She was flat for a good line and a half. The chorus was good, but I just don't like her at all.

David Cook - "Innocent" Is it just me, or does he sound really weird this week? That low register was weird for me. I don't like the song and I don't think singing right in front of Paula "Crazy Juice" Abdul is going to help. (Seriously - what is in her red Coca-Cola cup?) Ummm...why did we write on our hand? It's a nice sentiment, "Give back" and with Idol Gives Back going on tomorrow, we should certainly encourage people to do it, but it was a little odd to me. I think this is the first week I haven't liked David Cook very much. Here's a picture of David's hand. Simon's face in the background is priceless.

Carly Smithson - "The Show Must Go On" More glamorous makeup this week. She looks more like a pop star this week. Thanks for the fashion tips last week, Simon! She had some rough notes in the high part of the first chorus and she was REALLY flat at the end. She might be another shocking bottom 3 contestant.

We have to wait until Thursday for results this week because of the Idol Gives Back special which is on tomorrow. It should be a pretty great show. Lots of famous people. Last year, Josh Groban sang with the sweetest little African boys choir. It is still one of my favorite live performances I have ever seen. Results on Thursday!