Do Do Doop
When I read that Cookie would be singing "Always Be My Baby" tonight, I was skeered. The do do doops were stressing me out, because I didn't know what the hell he would do with them. I'll get back to that later, though. Tonight's Mariah-themed episode kicked off with a performance by that other David.
David Archuleta, "When You Believe" -- *ginormous eyeroll* Why must you make it so hard for me to like you, bbDavid? Why? You could've gone with the equally inspirational, UPTEMPO "Make It Happen" or better yet, the sweet, age-appropriate "I'll Be There" but no. You of course must prove yourself to be the biggest AI diva ever by taking on Mariah and Whitney at the same time. While wearing leather pants (wtf!). I guess I need to watch this performance again, because I just didn't enjoy it as much as the judges seemed to. I thought it was weak. Uneven. Pitchy, even. Simon seemed to only like it because it brought back memories of that one time it went to #1 in the UK over Christmas (I hopped on YouTube and looked it up, I guess he's talking about Leon Jackson, the 2007 X Factor winner?) I wish he would've made that little "predictable" remark into more of a dig than an in-joke with Archie. Grade: D
Carly Smithson, "Without You" -- I expected better. :\ Once again, she left me cold, and I think the song ended up being too big for her. I honestly think my favorite Carly performance of the season has been those couple of lines she sang during the "Don't Stop The Music" performance from Idol Gives Back. I like the way she delivered "I just came here to party" as if she meant SRS BZNZ! I give that an A+...as for tonight? Grade: C-
Syesha Mercado, "Vanishing" -- She's asking for the boot with that song title, is she not? I would be fine with that result. I don't know this song, so she lost me pretty quickly. She sure was shiny tonight, though. Her hair was full of little sparkles. Maybe that was her way of paying tribute to Glitter. Grade: I don't even care enough to give her one.
Brooke White, "Hero" -- I didn't realize it was just her and the piano until like halfway through, and then I thought, "Damn, that's ballsy!" I could actually see her shaking at one point, aw. It was pretty good...she doesn't have Mariah's powerhouse pipes so she did what she could with it. As dumb as Simon's "ordering a hamburger and only getting the bun" comment was, I get what he was saying. But her sincerity definitely came through, and that goes a long way when performing a song like this. I'm glad Mariah emphasized that in her mentoring session with Brooke. I don't get that kind of sincerity from bbDavid. Grade: B-
Kristy Lee Cook, "Forever" -- KLC joins Syesha tonight in honoring Glitter with her eye makeup. Also like Syesha, she picked a Mariah song I'm not familiar with, but for some reason Kristy actually held my interest. Weird. Anyway, Kristy's lower range sucks, but when she goes higher she's actually listenable. This was okay, and the song did fit her country vibe. I don't know how much longer KLC will be with us, but she's probably made it far enough to get signed by Lyric Street, which is where all the country Idols go when they lose. Grade: C+
David Cook, "Always Be My Baby" -- This whole segment was great tv. I love how David's arrangement (I'm assuming it is totally his, cuz I can't find anything like it on iTunes...) generated deep thoughts from Mariah about taking pride in her songwriting. I was still nervous for Cookie watching the clip of the mentoring session though, because it sounded weirdly like "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" for a moment, bwah. But the end result was amazing. David sang it beautifully, duh. The doo doo doops I'd been nervous about were cleverly replaced with strings. The whole thing sounded so...majestic. If I was in high school, I'd be begging the prom committee to make this our prom theme. I didn't get chills like after Blake's "You Give Love A Bad Name" but still, this was definitely one of those ~moment~ performances. Also, I can't go without mentioning David's face while the judges were giving him his well-deserved props...SO.CUTE. And then he had to go and CRY too. eeiaejwoapjeajea;fjfa;wejfa;!!! How wonderful that his brother Adam was able to make the journey to CA and witness that in person. Grade: A+
Jason Castro, "I Don't Wanna Cry" -- Jason actually did a great job! Mariah seemed to really help him, so good on her. The chorus sounded especially beautiful. Grade: B+
Who got my vote: No one. But I'll definitely be voting for DCook with my $$$ on iTunes tomorrow!
Who should go: Syesha, PLEASE!
Who will go: Syesha or Kristy. The MJ backlash will claim one of them this week, for sure.