I AM the Walrus!

So, do we really need a never-ending tour of the “new” American Idol stage?  I think not.  And, do we need to once again hear Ryan Seacrest going on about how this is the most talented group of singers that Idol has ever seen?  Once again, I think not.  But, I digress.

Somehow, American Idol managed to trick the powers that be into allowing the songs of the Beatles to be slaughtered live on television.  Not quite sure how they pulled that one off…but…sigh…anyway, on with the show.

Syesha Mercado

Congratulations to Syesha for picking one of the more boring Beatles songs to suck on.  At least she didn’t destroy a well-known tune…like “Let it Be” or “Hey Jude”.  Her vocals are okay…but her performance is just boring.  And the song…well, it’s really not a good song choice.  Not at all.  Bleh.  I want to like Syesha.  I REALLY, REALLY do.  She’s just so inconsistent though.  One week, she’s really good…the next week…not so much.

Randy likes the arrangement of the song and declares it alright, Paula enjoyed the song from the middle to the end and Simon thought it was a great song choice, but that Syesha looked very nervous.  Blah.  I’m ready for her to go home.

Chikezie

Chikezie does a really good rendition of “She’s a Woman”.  Although, honestly, I think I’m more impressed with the arrangement of the song than I actually am with his vocals.  The bluegrass intro really worked for me…and I think that’s when his vocals are strongest.  I think I would have really enjoyed a full-on bluegrass version of the song.  But, maybe that’s just me.

Randy was thoroughly entertained and LOVED the arrangement, Paula thinks he took a risk and it payed off while Simon is surprised to find himself agreeing with Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee.

Ramiele Malubay

Ramiele chooses to sing “In My Life”.  She manages to truly bring out the melancholy in the song…which is not really a good thing.  “In My Life”, as performed by The Beatles, has a slightly upbeat tune that masks the sadness of the song.  Ramiele’s version dispenses with any trace of upbeatness (yes, I know that’s not a word) and replaces it with…well, let’s just say that I had a strong desire to find the closest bridge and hurl myself from it.  Her vocals were good…the arrangement not so much.

Randy found it boring and did not find his earth moved, Paula beings by telling Ramiele that she looks lovely (which is never what you want to hear from Paula) and then tells her that she could have done better and Simon was bored to tears.

Jason Castro

Jason is back with his guitar in hand…which is exactly where I knew it would be as soon as I heard that he was singing “If I Fell”.  I really enjoy his version of this song.  Jason is actually capable of singing a slow song without making it boring…something that most of the other contestants seem incapable of doing.  I must admit, that I’m not entirely happy with some of his facial gestures…but I look past them to listen to the voice that is the Castronator.  (What??  I don’t know.  It’s late in the evening as I type this.  I really should be in bed.)

Randy liked it but didn’t love it, Paula feels Jason’s heart…and probably wants to rip it from his chest and hang it from her car mirror and Simon found it boring and not as good as last week.

Carly Smithson

Well, Carly has been cleaned up considerably since last week.  I almost didn’t recognize her.  Anyway, she’s singing “Come Together”.  Her take on the song is straight up rocker chick.  It almost works.  Honestly, I think that she does rocker chick MUCH better than Amanda ever could…mainly because she can sing loudly without screeching…which is something that Amanda absolutely can NOT do.  Anyway, it’s an okay version.  Nothing impressive about it…but I didn’t want to take a nap or anything during it.  So, I guess THAT’S good, right?

Randy calls Carly stellar, Paula calls her a star already and Simon thinks that she finally chose the right song.  Well, it’s about time, right?

Jason Cook

Someone REALLY needs to shave Jason’s head.  That comb-over…it’s just getting worse with each passing week.  So, David chooses to some sort of weird emo interpretation of my favorite Beatles song, “Eleanor Rigby”.   For the first time, I’m actually somewhat impressed with his vocals.  And his face manages to not bother me until the very end.  Overall, I think I like the weird emo version.  It’s not as bad as it could have been.  I still want David to go home though.  I just have a problem looking at him.

Randy uses the word “rock” a lot, Paula calls him a thoroughbred and Simon thought it was brilliant.  Ok.  So he was good.  Still, I can’t have a comb-over winning the show.  Shave his head and maybe we can talk.

Brooke White

Brooke seems to get more and more boring with each passing week.  With that said, I think she does a fantastic version of “Let It Be”.    Kinda boring…like her.  But vocally great.

Randy loves her heart-felt performance, Paula talks about her heart (watch out Brooke!) and Simon thought it was one of the best performances of the night.

David Hernandez

Interestingly enough, David mentions nothing about his stripper past in his pre-song interview.  No…just a pizza bistro.  Well, anyway, David does “I Saw Her Standing There”.  He does several very odd little runs across the stage…which I guess go along quite well with that odd eyebrow arch thing that he does.  His vocals do sound good…he can actually sing.  However, I think the song choice was a terrible one.  Absolutely bad.  And I can’t help but wonder…does that eyebrow arch work at the strip club…I mean, pizza bistro?

Randy felt lost during the entire song, Paula thinks that David overdid the song and Simon just says no.

Amanda Overmeyer

As usual, Amanda sounds like she has smoked 40 packs of cigarettes before going on stage.  I must say though, that he hair looks slightly better than it has in the past.  There seriously isn’t anything that Amanda can do at this point to make me like her.  Her song choice tonight…not good.  Seriously, she chooses an early Beatles song?  When they were all bubble gum pop sounding?  I really think a later Beatles song would have worked better for her.  Maybe.  But, honestly, I don’t even care.

Randy loves Amanda’s Southern rock take on the song, Paula throw out the “star” word once again and Simon doesn’t think that it was as good as last week and tells her that he couldn’t understand what she was saying.

Michael Johns

So, Michael performs “Across the Universe”, as performed by Rufus Wainwright.  Anyway, he does a great job of it.  For me, this is one of the more timeless Beatles songs and it works really well with Michael’s voice.

Randy thinks that something big should have happened in the song, Paula throws out some classic Paula-babble and Simon doesn’t think that Michale is living up to his potential.

Kristy Lee Cook

Gee, I completely forgot that she was still in this competition.  Hmmm.  Kristy looks entirely confused as to where she is tonight.  And thoroughly frightened to be there.  Apparently, the big stage is throwing her off.   She does a weird, rather flat sounding country version of “Eight Days a Week”.  Please, America.  Do us all a favor and don’t vote for Kristy Lee this week.

Randy develops a split personality over the song, with half of him liking it and the other half not, Paula didn’t like it at all and Simon thought it was horrendous.  Horrendous is right.  Dreadful performance.

David Archuleta

David gives his worst performance of the competition.  Poor kid forgets the words early on…and it clearly throws him off for the rest of the performance.  It doesn’t help any that the arrangement of “Work it Out” that he’s working with is…well, it’s just bad.  I hate to see such a good singer go down in flames…but that’s exactly what happened tonight.  Bad, bad performance.  And the poor kid knows it.

Randy doesn’t think that David worked it out, Paula agrees that it isn’t his best week and reminds him that remembering the lyrics is important and Simon calls it a mess.  I fear for my adopted son this week.  Please, America.  Keep David this week.  PLEASE!