Well, well, well Archuleta fans. Where, oh where to begin with tonight’s show. It was certainly an enjoyable two hours……and not because the singing or the performances were really any good. I guess I just have to start with the absolute best of the night! It was most certainly at around the 20-25 minute mark or so that David Archuleta came back with a monumentally soul-stirring rendition of “The Long and Winding Road.”
I have something to say about each contestant (believe me, as painful as some of their performances were, they still deserve a mentioning……..because I’m going to verbally skewer them), but first things first…
……….David Archuleta was amazing tonight! The thoughts that must have crossed his mind throughout the week whilst getting ready, the mental preparation, the memorization process, the rehearsals with the band…everything seemed to come together perfectly into a compact 1′45″ of sheer vocal perfection! To all the naysayers…..yeah yeah yeah, I know I speak from a biased standpoint, but here’s the thing. I kinda know what I’m talking about, based on my 15+ years of playing as a freelance musician and teaching middle schoolers. Yes folks, David brought it big time tonight. “The Long and Winding Road” is NOT an easy song by any means, and it takes a huge degree of emotion and vulnerability to pull it off. David immediately took hold of that song, commanded the stage, and delivered the heartfelt pathos contained within. Great job, David!!! I think you gained a lot more fans with tonight’s performance!
Follow me over the jump to read my thoughts on the other contestants………you won’t regret it!!!
So anyway, Amanda Overmyer performed “Back in the U.S.S.R.”……….yawn, predictable. Big freakin’ surprise. Don’t get me wrong, I like Amanda and I think she’s an incredible breath of fresh air, in terms of both her attitude and her demeanor. Vocally??? Not so much. Tonight’s Amanda performance featured an incredibly loud band that drowned her out. Even the back-up singers were at the forefront of the vocal aspect! The thing about Amanda is that as a performer, she’s excellent, but I honestly do not think she can last long in this competition with the voice that she has. Her range is incredibly limited, and I’m growing bored with her…immeasurably bored. There’s only so much time that one, such as Amanda Overmyer, can rely on his or her Janis Joplin-esque vibe before the voting public plays the role of dream-killer.
Next came Kristy Lee Cook with her rendition of “You Got to Hide Your Love Away.” Man, she looked hot tonight. She’s got this “girl next door” vibe that makes me smile. She began the song, and it sounded as if her voice was breaking a bit on the longer notes. She seemed to have a bit of trouble staying on pitch. For example, her lower notes were way off. When she reached for the lower notes, her voice dipped up to the note (which I recognize is a trait of country music…I like the country music), but here’s the thing……………..it wasn’t always in tune with the band. I thought it was definitely a better effort from her this week, as opposed to last week…………and then she pulled the inappropriate double-entendre on the judges and the viewing public. Kristy, Kristy, Kristy…….I want your number!!!!
So after David Archuleta came Michael Johns, performing “A Day in a Life.” Okay, first off, bad song choice. I love the song, it is iconic and wonderful and it defined a generation….and if a contestant is going to perform this particular Beatles song, it better be performed and not half-assed. Michael Johns, you bare-ass mooned it! That was pathetic! It was pitchy from the get-go, and that higher note on the word “love” was absolutely painful. I don’t understand why this guy hops around the stage like he’s running the hot coal gauntlet. I guess he’s trying to avoid getting tied down to the ground by all the little people from Gulliver’s Travels or something along those lines. He is not picking his songs well. And his attempt to pull at our heart-strings with the reason of exactly why he chose that song……….ridiculous. If I were the recently deceased friend, I would’ve haunted his dreams and demanded that he choose a different song. “Dang, Progressive!!! You just a H8ter!!!!” No, not really, I’m being honest. Do I think Michael Johns has the potential to be a knock-out performer on this show?? ABSOLUTELY!! He’s really been disappointing me, though, since his initial audition.
Then came Brooke with her performance of “Here Comes the Sun.” Man, oh man…Brooke, you know I love you. I am a HUGE Joni Mitchell/Carly Simon/Carole King fan…….but dude, what the hell was that? Brooke did not do so well tonight, and it all began with the word………..or rather the ululation “WOOOOO!!!!” For God’s sake, one knows things aren’t going to go well at all when an American Idol contestant has to rely on the word WOOOOOO!!!!!! to help him or her to get through a performance which HE OR SHE DAMN WELL KNOWS is not as good as previous performances. Also, Brooke, when the judges are critiquing you, please just listen to them and take their criticism with grace and humility rather than talking over them whilst attempting to explain yourself. The audience knows you know you screwed up, you know???? You’ll do better next week, I’m sure.
Then came David Cook with a rather interesting arrangement of “Daytripper.” Now, I remember listening to Whitesnake back when I was in 6th Grade. Their songs “Wait” and “When the Children Cry” are still played regularly on my iPod, however, I’m not really keen to this arrangement of “Daytripper.” David Cook, without question, has an amazing voice and he is a wonderful performer and musician. There was a problem with the overall performance, though…..I really couldn’t hear David Cook’s voice very well because there was too much extra…………..CRAP that went into the performance. The guitars were so darn loud that it completely distorted the rock quality of David’s voice, and I also unfortunately do not approve of his use of the vocoder. I know I’m sounding completely negative about this performance….but don’t get me wrong, I liked it! I truly thought he performed well! It’s just that I thought he was drowned out, moreso than Chris Daughtry was ever drowned out.
Then came Carly Smithson with her performance of “Blackbird.” I honestly didn’t think it was going to go so well because her very first entrance into the song with the four sixteenth-notes and two eighth-notes, it sounded very hesitant…and her pitch suffered because of it. She recovered well though and continued on. Oooooh, she sang sharp on her high notes ever so slightly. I thought that the key change was very nice, but then she sang flat on the higher notes! Carly, control your pitch and always listen to the instruments that accompany you! I really thought she did an amazing job overall, but here’s my nitpick with her. She has an incredible lower range, phenomenal! My problem with her is when she goes for the glory notes. She does something funky with her voice when she soars into “glory note territory”…when she holds out whole notes for four beats or whole notes held out over multiple measures. She closes off her palette and starts singing from her nose, and it’s not entirely pleasing to the ear. Watch next week when she sings in her higher range. She opens her mouth really tall, and the glory note happens, and then the entire quality of her voice changes and it sounds like a buzzsaw or a swarm of bees. Oh, and Carly, that thing that I mentioned to Brooke about talking to the judges whilst giving you their critiques…the same goes for you. You came off really bad.
Next was Jason Castro’s performance of “Michelle.” First off, I thought his French pronunciation was very good. Secondly, the arrangement was very hokey…bordering on honky-tonk (Paula mentioned polka…close enough). Thirdly, I actually thought he sounded very nice tonight. I’ve been completely underwhelmed with practically every single performance by this kid, and I am frequently baffled by the amount of support he maintains…but oh well. He just doesn’t impress me…and I still contend that he is like a fish out of the water without his guitar.
Syesha Mercado was next with her performance of “Yesterday.” Just to mention a little reaction of mine whilst watching her pre-vid….Syesha needs to learn how to dial down her ego several hundred thousand notches. It’s okay to be confident and sure of oneself, but Syesha takes that concept to an exponential degree. Believe me, Syesha, you’re not as half as good as you think you are. Now, the performance….it was wonderful, definitely top 3 of the night. I liked the understated quality of the overall performance, and she only went over-the-top once, but it was for a brief two seconds, and then she pulled back and used some brilliantly soft dynamics to add color, nuance, and emotion to the song. This is the first performance of her’s that I genuinely liked…but unfortunately, her attitude bugs beyond belief.
Next was Chikezie singing “I’ve Just Seen a Face.” What the hell was that? Did I just watch two different performances? Did I just hear the harmonica, one of the most easily playable instruments on the earth, played poorly? Why was I watching a revue at the Apollo Theater that suddenly turned into Nashville Star’s worst nightmare??? Chikezie, that was just an awfully unwise route to take. Please go back to doing what you do well, and cut out this crap. Last week was good, this week was just dumb. You’re better than that! I’ve got nothing else to say about this…..
And lastly, Ramiele Malubay performed “I Should’ve Known Better.” Well, I don’t know what to say about this performance. It wasn’t very good…but then again it wasn’t bad. I’m completely indifferent about this one. She looked uncomfortable on that stage singing that song. I just don’t see her lasting much longer in this competition…and she showed so much promise in her initial audition. Was there something that I missed about this performance??? It seems like it was a big waste of a pimp spot.
So, here is my final verdict:
11. Michael Johns - F
10. Chikezie - F
9. Ramiele Malubay - D
8. Brooke White - D
7. Jason Castro - C
6. Kristy Lee Cook - C+
5. Amanda Overmyer - B-
4. Carly Smithson - B
3. David Cook - B+
2. Syesha Mercado - A-
1. DAVID ARCHULETA!!!!!!!!! - A++++++
I agree with you with most of your critique. I think David Archuleta did a great job after last week bad performance. When he is on, he is on! Tecnically this song was pure perfection. The song choice was not the best for him, but David did an amazing rendition. I thought he was very wise and in a way played this song in the safe territory. I think David knew he needed a comeback and he went back to his strenghs. Because I’ve been following David’s performances including his youtube ones, I feel happy because he hasn’t show his whole vocal range yet (Even Randy knows it and is waiting for it). If you want to really listen to what David is capable of doing just see his Oh Holy Night, Angels and Mary did you know videos… He is amazing!!!
I will share my thoughs of yerterday performances:
11. Kristy- She is beautiful, but its time for her to go. The song was better than last week, but not good enough to stay another week. C-
10. Michael Johns- I really like him and want him to do well, but he is picking bad songs and looking and sounding worse every week. C-
9. Ramielle Malubay- I love this girl but her song choices are not showing her potential. This wasn’t a bad performance but did nothing for her. C
8. Amanda Overmyer- I try to like her but I can’t. She has a unique voice but every week she sounds the same and is getting boring. C
7. Brooke White- I love her, but this week was an akward disaster. She doesn’t have the best vocal range among the girls so she needs to pull off performances that connect with the public. This week she failed at that. C
6. Jason Castro- I love his style but you cannot deny that he is the weakest in vocal ability among the guys. Not bad, but more of the same. C
5. Chikezee- I didn’t like it, but I didn’t hate it. It was entertaining and he showed his personality. He is fun to watch, but the song arrangemet was too much. C+
4. David Cook- I like him, he has a good voice and is the best performer in the bunch, but this week he fell a little flat for me. Like you said I felt he was drowned by the music and the props… At the end as much an entertainer he is, this is a singing competition and I didn’t really enjoy his singing this time. B
3. Carly Smithson- She has the best voice among the contestants but I still feel she has problems conecting her voice, to the song to the audience. She is really good, and tecnically it was a superior performance, but I expect more from her. B
2. Syesha Mercado- like Chikezee last week, she was the standout of the night. I think many predicted she was going tomorrow, but this performance will make her stay at least two more weeks. She chose a great song and did a very good job connecting with the public. I think she is a good singer, but I really don’t like her personality. B+
1. David Archuleta- I have to confess I didn’t like the song until David sang it last night. When Simon said David did a Masterclass I knew what he ment by it… Arch didn’t do the “entertaining performance, full of props or high notes” he chose that his singing will do the talking for him. His voice was beautiful and technically it was spot on. He connected to the song and made people appreciate the melody and the lyrics. That’s what real singers do. As much as I love his performance i think David is capable of much more. A-
Excellent analysis of Beatle’s Night II.
David’s musicality, and attention to lyric meaning shows a maturity far beyond his years. He’s a breath of fresh air.
archuleta u ROCK!!!!!
and i mean it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
who dont u like on idol ppl???
4 me id have to say
Kristy Lee Cook