American Idol - Top 3

I have my new red Coke cup filled and ready to go. Three songs tonight and they had to travel home for 48 hours or so. Less rehearsal time + more songs = more possibility of going up in flames.

Round 1 - Judges' Choice

David Archuleta
"And So It Goes" by Billy Joel (Chosen by Paula)
I liked the a'cappella at the beginning. He played around with the melody a lot. A lot, a lot. I'm not sure if the judges are going to like it...He sounds really great. There was a minor lyric glitch that he covered pretty well. We got the "a bit predictable" standby comment from Simon. Sidenote: Mayor Snarr has the coolest mustache EVER.
Grade: A-

Syesha Mercado
"If I Ain't Got You" by Alicia Keys (Chosen by Randy)
I love this song. She's singing the entire verse. I would have cut to the chorus as soon as possible. She needs the big vocals in a song this short. She sounds great, but the performance was a little boring, in my opinion. The lyrics are intense and I thought she should have thrown some acting in there...she is an actress, after all.
Grade: B+

David Cook
"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" by Roberta Flack (Chosen by Simon)
Very cool song choice. Unlikely and give David a chance to arrange it and do his thing. Wow. He sounds outstanding. Wow. Head voice at the beginning was outstanding, the build was great. Great arrangement. SHUT UP. The ending was awesome. I didn't even want to type while he was singing. I'm buying that single tomorrow. Simon: "Round one goes to Cook and Cowell." Yes, indeed.
Grade: A+

Rankings after Round 1:
1. David Cook
2. David Archuleta
3. Syesha Mercado


Round 2 - Contestant Choice:

David Archuleta
"With You" by Chris Brown
Hmmm...not sure how this will go. He's having trouble with the words. But he sounds great and is doing some cool stuff with the melody. I'm slightly bothered by the fact that he can't really dance since Chris Brown is such a crazy good dancer. Simon's right. It was slightly awkward. Especially when he said "my boo" at the beginning. Maybe he could have cut it differently and avoided that.
Grade: B-

Syesha Mercado
"Fever" by Peggy Lee
This is one of my favorite songs to sing. Great, great song. Using a chair and we have a bass on stage. Good.They don't have her chair in the light. That's annoying. She sounded good. Interesting what Simon said - that this is their chance to show that they are a contemporary recording artist with the song that they choose. I didn't realize that was the point. Makes sense though. And if that was the point, she did not choose a good song for that purpose. Though it is a great song and she sang it well...am I making sense?
Grade: B-

David Cook
"Dare You to Move" by Switchfoot
He's a little pitchy on the long notes from what I'm hearing. Especially on the word "move" and "before." Both those vowels are tough. Nothing special on this tune.
Grade: B-

Rankings after Round 2:
It's a draw. They were all pretty boring/awkward.


Round 3 - Producer (Nigel Lithgoe, I assume) Choice

David Archuleta
"Longer" by Dan Fogelberg
Excellent song. Very wordy though. I'm worried with his lyric forgetting tonight that this could be trouble... Key change! I love a good key change. I'm glad he didn't mess with the melody much until after the key change. It sounded good. No lyric troubles. Simon thinks he's in the final next week. I hope so. I've been a little nervous that he is singing first tonight.
Grade: B+

Syesha Mercado
"Hit Me Up" by Gia Farrell (?)
I've never heard this song. I feel like she's a little awkward on this performance. She's pitchy in the second half of the song. Not a good song for her. Judges agree.
Grade: C

David Cook
"I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith
He's surrounded by strings like in the music video. The strings sound slightly different than the Aerosmith recording. Interesting cut straight to the bridge without doing the chorus. Gives him a bigger build at the end of the song. They keep showing the musicians instead of David. That's lame. He wasn't as pitchy on this one. Good ending to the show. Diane Warren in the house! She is an amazing songwriter.
Grade: A-

Final Ranking:
1. David Cook
2. David Archuleta
3. Syesha Mercado

Final Thoughts:
David Cook was the best tonight. David Archuleta was a little shaky, but still sounded great. I'm wondering if all the drama with his dad is taking its toll. Vote for the Worst picked David A. this week. We'll see what effect that has. I think (hope) Syesha is finally going home.