American Idol -- Top 4
This week, it's Songs from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Again the Idols are singing two songs each, and I'm grouping them together.
And the show treats last week's Paula gaffe in the judging as a joke. Poor Jason.
David Cook sings "Hungry Like The Wolf"
I liked it. Whenever I hear songs done like this, I think "this wouldn't sound out of place on the soundtrack to a Mike Myers film." It's like that version of "Saturday Night" that was in So I Married An Axe Murderer: familiar melodically, yet updated. Vocally he didn't stretch much, but it was David Cook doing his David Cook thing, and if you like David Cook you'll probably like this, but you might not love it.
David Cook sings "Baba O'Riley"
I would have put this into the "do not touch" category, but wow! I really really really love the slightly slowed down softer verse at the beginning, and then the change up to the standard rock out portion of the song. This completely KICKED ASS. I want more. MORE. Jeeeez, I need the studio version of this like RIGHT NOW.
Syesha Mercado sings "Proud Mary"
Started out okay vocally, then got a bit screechy. It was too theatrical for me... in that it felt like I was watching a sort of semi-bad theatrical production with Syesha playing Tina Turner. She just didn't put an original stamp on the song or the performance aspect of the song at all, so it felt very fake and studied and over-rehearsed. It was enjoyable, but it just didn't feel real. (Kind of strangely, I was flashing back to Danny Noriega's performance of this song during the audition rounds, and thinking that he actually sounded waaaay better than Syesha. Back when Danny actually showed that he had a voice.)
Syesha Mercado sings "A Change Is Gonna Come"
Boring, and way too screechy. Syesha goes back to "loud" mode and forgets that loud does not necessarily equal good. Also, that strap above the boobs on her dress was distracting. (Oh fuck, now she's crying, and she's going to get the sympathy votes because she's oh-so-emotional and the song means oh-so-much to her, and fuck fuck fuck.)
Jason Castro sings "I Shot The Sheriff"
I really like that Jason came out strong and showed off his vocals. He didn't hold back at all, and he had a lot of energy on stage and really seemed to connect with the audience (if not with the lyrics so much). Like DC, this is Jason being Jason, and if you like Jason you probably liked this. (The judges comments... kill me. They sooooo want Jason off this show. The negativity is ridiculously out of proportion to the performance.)
Jason Castro sings "Mr. Tambourine Man"
Oh Jason. Jason. Jason forgets the lyrics. *facepalm* The thing that immediately went through my head was that Brooke was forgiven doing this THREE FREAKIN' TIMES but I bet the judges massacre him for it. It's too bad that he had such a fuck up because I really liked the tone of his voice during this song, and I liked that he again really sang out and gave it his all. He looked soooo nervous that I'm not really even surprised that he forgot his lyrics. And honestly, Jason is the last true amateur in this competition. And I love him and think he's awesome. So there.
David Archuleta sings "Stand By Me"
Hmmm. He's doing the little runs (apparently those extra vibratey things at the end of each line are indeed "runs"), which always pulls me out of the tune. I don't know. Its just a style thing, I guess. I don't like it. (What I do like: Archuleta saying "I liked Jason's song!" when the judges again took the opportunity to put down Jason during David's critique.)
David Archuleta sings "Love Me Tender"
It absolutely shocks me that David did not know Love Me Tender. I absolutely hate what he did here. It's called a melody, David. USE IT. And the annoying thing about David is not actually David. It's the judging. Because they consistently refuse to acknowledge any of his flaws (the going off the melody, the runs, the occasional flatness and nasally singing), I find myself super-criticizing his performances. Which isn't fair to David, but if the judges are going to keep telling me he's God, I'm going to have to keep noticing that he's really really not.
My Predictions:
Gah. This all hinges on the size of Jason's fanbase. I was kind of relying on Syesha to go this week, but she cried so I think she's got the sympathy votes. I fear it might be Jason's turn to go. *sob*
And the show treats last week's Paula gaffe in the judging as a joke. Poor Jason.
David Cook sings "Hungry Like The Wolf"
I liked it. Whenever I hear songs done like this, I think "this wouldn't sound out of place on the soundtrack to a Mike Myers film." It's like that version of "Saturday Night" that was in So I Married An Axe Murderer: familiar melodically, yet updated. Vocally he didn't stretch much, but it was David Cook doing his David Cook thing, and if you like David Cook you'll probably like this, but you might not love it.
David Cook sings "Baba O'Riley"
I would have put this into the "do not touch" category, but wow! I really really really love the slightly slowed down softer verse at the beginning, and then the change up to the standard rock out portion of the song. This completely KICKED ASS. I want more. MORE. Jeeeez, I need the studio version of this like RIGHT NOW.
Syesha Mercado sings "Proud Mary"
Started out okay vocally, then got a bit screechy. It was too theatrical for me... in that it felt like I was watching a sort of semi-bad theatrical production with Syesha playing Tina Turner. She just didn't put an original stamp on the song or the performance aspect of the song at all, so it felt very fake and studied and over-rehearsed. It was enjoyable, but it just didn't feel real. (Kind of strangely, I was flashing back to Danny Noriega's performance of this song during the audition rounds, and thinking that he actually sounded waaaay better than Syesha. Back when Danny actually showed that he had a voice.)
Syesha Mercado sings "A Change Is Gonna Come"
Boring, and way too screechy. Syesha goes back to "loud" mode and forgets that loud does not necessarily equal good. Also, that strap above the boobs on her dress was distracting. (Oh fuck, now she's crying, and she's going to get the sympathy votes because she's oh-so-emotional and the song means oh-so-much to her, and fuck fuck fuck.)
Jason Castro sings "I Shot The Sheriff"
I really like that Jason came out strong and showed off his vocals. He didn't hold back at all, and he had a lot of energy on stage and really seemed to connect with the audience (if not with the lyrics so much). Like DC, this is Jason being Jason, and if you like Jason you probably liked this. (The judges comments... kill me. They sooooo want Jason off this show. The negativity is ridiculously out of proportion to the performance.)
Jason Castro sings "Mr. Tambourine Man"
Oh Jason. Jason. Jason forgets the lyrics. *facepalm* The thing that immediately went through my head was that Brooke was forgiven doing this THREE FREAKIN' TIMES but I bet the judges massacre him for it. It's too bad that he had such a fuck up because I really liked the tone of his voice during this song, and I liked that he again really sang out and gave it his all. He looked soooo nervous that I'm not really even surprised that he forgot his lyrics. And honestly, Jason is the last true amateur in this competition. And I love him and think he's awesome. So there.
David Archuleta sings "Stand By Me"
Hmmm. He's doing the little runs (apparently those extra vibratey things at the end of each line are indeed "runs"), which always pulls me out of the tune. I don't know. Its just a style thing, I guess. I don't like it. (What I do like: Archuleta saying "I liked Jason's song!" when the judges again took the opportunity to put down Jason during David's critique.)
David Archuleta sings "Love Me Tender"
It absolutely shocks me that David did not know Love Me Tender. I absolutely hate what he did here. It's called a melody, David. USE IT. And the annoying thing about David is not actually David. It's the judging. Because they consistently refuse to acknowledge any of his flaws (the going off the melody, the runs, the occasional flatness and nasally singing), I find myself super-criticizing his performances. Which isn't fair to David, but if the judges are going to keep telling me he's God, I'm going to have to keep noticing that he's really really not.
My Predictions:
Gah. This all hinges on the size of Jason's fanbase. I was kind of relying on Syesha to go this week, but she cried so I think she's got the sympathy votes. I fear it might be Jason's turn to go. *sob*