So last night’s “American Idol” featured mentor Andrew Lloyd Weber, who has written the music for pretty much every major Broadway musical in the last 30 years. The man is a living legend, and whether or not show tunes are your thing, the remaining six contestants did a fine job of adjusting to the material last night. Let’s recap, shall we?
THE GOOD
David Archuleta sang “Think of Me,” and forgive me in advance if I mess up these titles…I know as much about show tunes as Weber probably does about the NBA. Anyway, young David did a really nice pop version of a song that is sung by a woman (okay, Mrs. Mike told me that!)…well, the kid really hit this one out of the park. Randy said David could sing anything, Paula said it was a risk but came out “absolutely perfect,” and Simon said it was pleasant but not as good as some of David’s past performances.
Carly Smithson has had trouble with song choice, and yesterday she was aided by Weber nixing her first choice, and telling her she should go with her second option of “Jesus Christ Superstar.” I tell you, Mr. Weber is no idiot. Carly took that song and wowed everyone, including me. Randy said it might not have been Carly’s best, but was very good; Paula said it was unexpected and that she loved the arrangement; and Simon thought it was shouty in the middle but otherwise one of the best showings of the night.
David Cook finished the show by singing “The Music Of the Night” which I believe is from Phanton of the Opera. Anyway, this time, David did not make it into a rock song. Rather, he stayed true to the song and showed everyone that he’s just a great singer, period. I don’t think he missed a single note either. Randy said it was an amazing vocal and “molten hot,” Paula said David is well-rounded as a performer, and Simon said that while it’s not a side of David he likes, David defiinitely made the best of it.
Syesha Mercado opened the show with “One Rock and Roll Too Many” (I’m really not sure that that is the song title, sorry!) and it wasn’t bad at all. She was wearing a nice dress and really looked kind of hot. Randy said that while he didn’t realize show tunes were Syesha’s thing, she really did great and it was her best performance to date. Paula said Syesha was definitely in her element, and Simon said it was very sexy and Syesha’s strongest performance so far.
THE IN-BETWEEN
Jason Castro took on “Memory” from Cats, and it was kind of okay, but kind of boring. This was definitely not Jason’s strong point. Randy said it was a bit of a train wreck, Paula said it was not who Jason is but still a wise choice of song, and Simon said it felt like the longest two minutes of his life. That’s exaggerating, because I didn’t think it was all that bad.
THE BAD
Brooke White sang “You Must Love Me,” and may have messed up to the point of going home this week. Brooke forgot the words in the beginning and asked the band to start over. Yikes. Randy said it was not great, but that Brooke did look like she believed what she was singing. Paula said it was strong enough but that starting and stopping was not good, and Simon said the fact that Brooke messed up showed that she was nervous and uncomfortable…however, he added that he would have done the same thing, and that it really wasn’t that horrible of a mistake.
So I think the bottom 3 will be Brooke, Jason and Syesha…and as Mrs. Mike pointed out, this will likely be the battle of the Davids in the finale. But we won’t get ahead of ourselves too much. I won’t be surprised if Brooke goes home, but I also won’t be surprised if it’s Jason, with a long shot going to Syesha. The two Davids and probably Carly should be guaranteed safe.
So that’s it….I’m learning a bit more about show tunes, but if Mr. Weber tells Ryan Seacrest tonight that he likes the Spurs over the Suns in 7 games, I need to re-think my analogies. See you all tomorrow….