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American Idol Top 4 Performances - Season 7, May 6 2008
By PopSavant | May 6, 2008 | Email This Post
Hello again everybody, and welcome to the liveblog American Idol Season top 4 performance show for season 7, airing on May 6, 2008. Read along as they sing and ad your own comments.
The end is in sight. We lost Brooke last week, leaving us with Jason Castro, Syesha, David Cook, and David Archuleta. My favorite to win for a number of weeks has been David Cook. Jason is a one-trick pony (the 1970s mellow acoustic thing,) Syesha belongs on Broadway, and David Archuleta is just way past his sell-by date. Maybe one of those three will prove me wrong and have a performance for the ages tonight, but basically right now they’re in a runoff for second place. Not that that’s a bad thing when it comes to Idol; as we all know, the absolute best choice rarely wins, and the also-rans sometimes go on to better careers.
Here we go.
Ryan opens the show, telling us “tonight you must vote.” If you were in North Carolina or Indiana, hopefully you already voted once today. Have you got the Obama-mania yet? Those results should be in before the Idol show has concluded. (Actually, NC is already in… Obama carries that one.)
Tonight is Rock and Roll Hall of Fame night, so surely all of the Idols should be able to find a couple songs with which they are comfortable. Right? Right? Yeah. Even Hall of Famers can write bad songs, and you just know someone is going to bust out with Teenager in Love or something like that.
David Cook will go all New Romantic on us and open the show with Duran Duran’s Hungry Like The Wolf; is he taking a note from Reel Big Fish? And help me out here, did Duran Duran go in the hall of fame and I missed it? Doesn’t matter, they’ll be there at some point. Anyway, this will either be awesome or completely suck. David’s voice is unremarkable on this song, but then how much do want him to do with it? Other than that, he gives it a bit of a hard rock edge the original lacked, and tears his way through it very respectably… unfortunately, there’s no magic here; David doesn’t act like he really feels it, he’s just running down the lyric sheet in his mind. My summation: okay, but nothing special… disappointing for someone of David’s talent. Randy says “that was an okay choice, and a solid performance” but he’s looking for “mad hot vocals” and thinks David’s performance was just okay. Paula said David’s Hungry Like The Wolf “gave her a big appetite.” Simon thought it was all right, but “a bit copycat.” Props to David for always coming up with an interesting choice.
Was it obvious they would go back to the judges-comment-after-every-song routine after the Paula fiasco last week?
Syesha is up next, saying she’s excited about the AI tour because she’ll have a chance to meet all her fans. She’ll be singing Proud Mary. Say this for Syesha, she always swings for the fences… this is an all-time rock classic, and has been done by the most heavyweight acts in rock and roll. She starts it out slow and bluesy, then goes for the fast up tempo ending, retreating from the edge of the stage to dance between the musicians. Unfortunately, that’s where she loses me… if she’d kept the slow vibe all the way through, she would have been onto something, but by going for speed and energy she invites the Tina comparison, and I think she’s found lacking. That being said, though, her voice is as good as its always is, and she looked dynamite. Randy says she’s “in the zone… nice doin’!” Paula says “you look like a star.” Simon “is sorry to put a slight damper on things” but for him “it was a bad shrieky version, a bad impersonation of Tina Turner,” making the comparison I predicted. Syesha says “I had fun,” to which Simon responds “I didn’t.”
Carly’s in the audience! Carly sighting! My night is complete.
Jason Castro goes reggae on us with Bob Marley’s I Shot The Sheriff; about time he got some mileage of the dreads. He’s clearly having fun, but it’s not very good. Actually, the verses aren’t completely awful, but he completely tanks the chorus; in trying to make it his own, he basically butchers it. Randy says “Man. Listen. Dude. For me, that was a really karaoke Bob Marley… it was just okay, there was nothing special about it.” Paula says “I’ve never seen you perform more to the audience than you did…. I wasn’t crazy about the song or performance” but goes on to say he’s “genuine and real.” Simon says “that was utterly atrocious…. that is a song you do not touch…. this was like a first round audition massacre.”
Speaking of Bob Marley, here’s how to have a bit of fun: next time you’re walking through the mall and see a white suburbanite thirteen year old walking out of Hot Topic with a Marley shirt on ask them to name three of his songs.
David Archuleta will sing Ben E. King’s Stand By Me. He’s going for the expressive hand motions (”and the moon” involves him consciously holding his hand up in the sky.) As with Simon’s comments before, there’s exactly one version of this song, and it’s not by David Archuleta. Again the chorus is worse than the verse (though the verse isn’t good) making me wonder if whoever does the arrangements is just having an awful week and the contestants just have to suffer because it. He also tries to show off by adding in some moody runs that just fall flat. Randy says “at least here’s one guy who’s trying to win the whole thing. He brought the hot mad vocals!” Randy’s clearly watching a different show than I am. Paula says “we all forget that you’re way beyond your years.” Simon says “the truth is you could have whistled the song and it would have sounded better than the last song… you were very well placed” and goes on to say that “I thought you lost it at the end…. but in the grand scheme of things it was the best performance so far.”
Halfway through the show. David Cook has the only thing even close to a decent start-to-finish effort. Syesha had half a song, and Jason Castro and David Archuleta just went off the rails.
David Cook is up again, and says the judges’ criticism was “right on” about his first song. His second effort will be The Who’s Baba O’Riley. Now there’s a Hall of Fame song, and David tells us it’s never been done on the show before. He starts out soft and moody, going for the anthem thing… the Who also went for the anthem, but in a completely different than the way David is doing it. They were all in-your-face, he’s all angst; characteristic of their generations? There’s a thesis there somewhere. Anyway, it’s a great choice; you know the song, but you’re so interested in what he’s doing with it you’re actually listening to it like it’s a new song. He goes for a bigger Who-style chorus which, again, isn’t quite as good as the opening bit, but overall it’s quite good. The overall impression is fantastic, another song he could release as a successful record right now. Randy says “that’s more like the David Cook I’ve grown to love.” Paula says “I just want more.” Simon says “Welcome back David Cook.”
Syesha is back, again looking amazing, with Sam Cooke’s A Change Is Gonna Come. Now, Sam could do some singing, so Syesha once again has chosen to measure herself against a real legend. I’m at a bit of a loss here, because my reviews of Syesha are all starting to sound the same: technically very good, feels scripted/Broadwayish. Her “change gone come” line doesn’t sound authentic, but rather sounds like an educated person consciously trying to talk in dialect. Randy says “The first song I loved, this one I didn’t love as much… I thought you were pushing for things that weren’t there. It felt disconnected, trying to be something that it wasn’t.” Paula stands and applauds, saying “you turned this into a superstar performance… welcome to your dream Syesha.” Syesha cries. Simone says “I have to be fair… I’m going to agree with Paula…. I think Randy got that completely and utterly wrong, I thought you sang that really, really well.” Syesha is still crying and explains that before she sang it she did a lot of research and really came to identify with the song. I think that sums up my problem with Syesha; her songs all feel more like “research” and technique than soul and emotion.
Jason Castro will sing Mr. Tambourine Man, written by Bob Dylan and made famous by the Byrds. He finally just comes out and says that folk rock is his thing, which is no surprise to anyone who’s been watching. I’ll be mercifully short on Jason and just say it’s not very good. Randy asks Jason how he thought he did; Jason says “I lost some lines in there.” Randy says “Jason’s not in the zone tonight.” Paula says “it is what it is… obviously it didn’t blow us away, but you blow me away.” Simon simply says “Jason, I’d pack my suitcase.”
David Archuleta will close the show with Love Me Tender, which he says he had to look up because he didn’t know it that well, but thinks it will be exciting to sing a romantic song; I’m trying hard not to snicker. David wisely takes the song in a different direction than did Elvis; while the big E was all hushed resonance, David A. goes for soaring highs and a falsetto ending. I’m not really a David Archuleta fan, but this song worked. Good job proving me wrong, David… you may have just put yourself in the finals. Randy says “Dude, you’ve got it going on.” Paula says “one of my favorite performances from you,” while Simon thought “You didn’t beat the competition tonight, you crushed the competition.”
Summary/Conclusion
The night went just about like I thought, with the exception of David Archuleta’s last song. His Love Me Tender and David Cook’s Baba O’Riley were the two highlights of the night.
If I had to rank the contestants in the overall competition according to how they should finish, I’d say David Cook is out front by a long way, followed by Syesha, David Archuleta, and Jason Castro. That doesn’t mean that’s how I’m predicting it will break, however. For that:
Best of the Night: David Cook and David Archuleta.
Worst of the Night / Bottom Two: Jason Castro, by a large margin and Syesha by just a little.
Voted Off Prediction: My guess is Jason Castro. It’s time. Past time.
We’ll know tomorrow night. See you then!
Topics: American Idol, TV |
May 6th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
I think david cook is going to win it all. I don’t care about the shaky performances, he has more talent than anyone on the show!
May 7th, 2008 at 4:31 am
I’m watching from Ireland, and David Cook is by far the hottest talent on the show this year. His voice is just incredible, and his song and arrangement choices are so clever. I have an awful feeling David Archuleta will win because he’s only a kid and kids and moms everywhere will love him and vote for him, but if there’s any real justice on Idol, especially after Carly going 2 weeks ago, David Cook will win!!!
May 7th, 2008 at 10:08 am
mY OH MY, wHAT’S WRONG WITH EVERYONE,
i THINK THE ONE CONTESTANT WHO HASN’T BEEN GIVEN THE FULL CREDIT SHE DESERVES IS SEYSHA, MAN THE GIRL CAN SING!!! AND GUESS WHAT, AM A FUN OF THE DAVIDS.
I THINK, AMERICA SHOULD REMEMBER THAT THIS IS A “SINGING COMPETITION ” AND NOT A “POPULARITY CONTEST ABOUT LOOKS” PLEASE VOTE BASED ON ONE’S VOICE NOT ON LOOKS. I THINK JASON CASTRO SHOULD LEAVE TONIGHT.
MY IDEAL TOP 3
DAVID ARCHULETA( THE GUY CAN SING), DAVID COOK (THIS GUY CAN ROCK) AND SEYSHA MERCADO (THIS GIRL IS A STAR)
ACTUALLY THE FINAL WOULD BE VERY VERY EXCITING IF IT HAD, A GIRL AND A BOY AS THE TOP TWO IDOLS,
NOW THAT WOULD BE WORTH WATCHING!!!!
May 7th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Pop, if you thought that David Cook’s first song was good, you better reconsider critiqing music. You just gave yourself no credibility for that. Even David knew it was bad, for crissakes. Get off the ‘David Cooks a genius’ bandwagon and open your ears.
May 7th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Hi Danni… I’m afraid you misread my review of David Cook’s first song: “My summation: okay, but nothing special… disappointing for someone of David’s talent.”
Regardless, while “genius” overstates it a bit, I do think David Cook is the only one of the remaining contestants who has a chance to have a meaningful career. More so than raw talent, which he also has, David’s got an innate sense of how a pop song should come across.
My sincere thanks for taking the time to comment.
May 8th, 2008 at 4:06 am
Maybe u don’t appreciate Archuleta as high Cook. But can u think it again? I think Archuleta not only have an attractive appearance but also a wonderful, incredible voice. Although i am a fan of Rock, but i can’t deny that Archuleta really rushed the show. He is deserved to be the American idol, though i love Cook also. Come on! Guys! why u just criticize his superbaby face?
May 8th, 2008 at 7:57 am
Wonderful, incredible voice? Please….his voice is woefully average at best he’s just getting votes because hes got the cute babyface.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Come on ppl. We like who we like b/c we prefer their style and music genre. To say that Cook wasn’t off is just plain idiotish. To say that Archuleta doesn’t have talent is also just plan idiotish.
Whomever performs best and gets the majority vote will win Idol. To state our perference as fact plays poorly and shows our ignorance. Good luck to all contestants and any performance they give in the coming weeks that is superior, I applaud.