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« American Idol
Episode Recap: The Top 11 Perform
Big news, everyone! Nina is at the hospital this very moment giving birth to Baby Boy Hammerling-Smith! It seems fitting that she'd have her baby on an American Idol night. I'm Erin Fox, and I'll be filling in for the fabulous Nina until she returns from maternity leave.... I know how much you all love her, and I'll try my best to do her proud.
The night starts with Ryan asking the judges about what they expect this week from the contestants. Paula actually has a cohesive opinion, without stumbling or using colors to describe how she feels. Way to go, girl! She's very sparkly tonight, too. Then Ryan points out that a fan has a sign that says, "Simon Is Sexy." Like he needs any more encouragement to be full of himself!
Ryan transitions into a taped piece that explains to America how important the Beatles are to our musical history. I really hope this is supposed to be geared toward 8-year-olds, because it's almost insultingly simple. It's the freakin' Beatles! You'd have to live under a rock not to know who they are and what they mean to music fans all over the world.
Now on to the performances:
Amanda Overmyer, "Back in the USSR": This is the perfect song for her to sing, but don't you feel like all her performances sound the same now? All rockin', all the time? Maybe it's just me. At least she's more engaged than earlier in the season. The judges call her on her pitch problems but also think it was the perfect song choice. Paula slobbers all over her: "I'd love to hear you do a ballad.... I love you." Simon agrees with me! Ha! He even ventures to say she could become boring if she's not careful.
Kristy Lee Cook, "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away": Well, she looks pretty, but this is kind of a strange arrangement of the song. Half country, half... rock? I'm not sure. She is so stiff when she sings; it's not really good until the last note. Randy thinks it's a weird arrangement, and wanted more emotion. Paula compliments her outfit... the kiss of death. Simon tells her she needs hypnosis to become a better performer. I secretly want to high-five him for that comment.
David Archuleta, "The Long and Winding Road": David's got some funky hair tonight, but boy, does he sound a million times better than last week. The crowd goes nuts, as well they should. Randy says he's "brought the hotness back." Paula thinks his purity is exciting... ew. But she loves it. Simon thinks he was amazing... going so far as to call it a master class! Our Power Ranking is shifting as we speak!
Ugh, now they're doing an awful, shameless iPhone/Americanidol.com plug, ending with a product placement shout-out to their Coke cups, "Cheers!" Barf.
Michael Johns, "A Day in the Life": It starts off rough, and the high notes aren't there. It's kind of a mess, poor guy. Randy says he's not picking the right songs, but knows he still has potential. Paula tries to help him out with saying the ear monitors were to blame. Simon says it was a mess and he needs to figure out who he is. Michael then admits he's not wearing an ear monitor... wow, should have copped to that about two minutes ago. Awkward! He then plays the sympathy vote by saying that the song was dedicated to a friend who passed away too soon. I can literally feel Simon rolling his eyes.
Brooke White, "Here Comes the Sun": I have to admit that when I first saw Brooke several weeks back, I thought she had a bit of "crazy in her eyes." But, she's totally won me over, and I hope she sticks around for a long time. Her performance is just OK, but her dress is very sunny. Her dancing is a little awkward, but she's still so likable. Randy thinks she wasn't connected to the song, Paula can't help but smile when she sings, and Simon thinks she was terrible and that it's all about song choice. Brooke won't stop talking. Oh no, please stop talking before Simon throws something at you.
David Cook, "Day Tripper": It's the Whitesnake version, and it's very rockin'. He sounds really good, and I think the judges will dig it. Randy thinks it wasn't his best but it's solid, Paula thinks he'll sell lots of records, and Mr. Negative thought it was predictable and that David looked smug. Takes smug to know smug, Simon!
Carly Smithson, "Blackbird": This is one of my favorites... so beautiful. I know the slower version by Evan Rachel Wood from Across the Universe. Carly's version is very fast and low, which she can totally pull off, but it's not my fave Carly performance. Randy disagrees and thinks she's fab, calling it "cooliosis." (???) Paula gives her an "F" for "fabulous." Simon thinks it was a bad song choice.
Jason Castro, "Michelle": He sounds a little nasally and awkward. Randy and Paula think it wasn't his best... kind of sing-songy and disconnected. Simon thinks his face sold it, and that his goofiness makes it work. Go figure.
Syesha Mercado, "Yesterday": She looks great in the low-cut dress. She actually does the song some justice. I'm surprised. She might have made herself safe for the week. The judges will either love it or hate it. Randy digs it and likes her risk-taking, Paula loves her vulnerability but wants her to connect with her eyes, and Simon thinks it was her best performance so far. He says she "picked the right song. Actually, you picked the song Brooke should have sung" (ouch). Oh yeah, she's safe.
Chikezie, "I've Just Seen a Face:"
Oh boy... the song is funky and he's trying to have fun with it, but the harmonica is a big mistake... almost as big as Alanis Morissette "playing" it with her songs. Randy thinks it was good and bad, Paula loves his spirit and Simon thinks it was a mess... and hated the harmonica.
Ramiele Malubay, "I Shoulda Known Better": It's really unfortunate; I really like her voice and she's adorable. But she picks the worst songs! Randy says it was "Aight," Paula said it was better than last week, and Simon likes her personality but thinks she picked a bad song.
My prediction: I think Kristy's number is up, and perhaps Ramiele could be in trouble.
New Paula Watch: She was sober and coherent again!
Cheers & Jeers: Amanda Overmyer: Does Amanda need to make it stop?
What do you think? Do you think the second week of Beatles songs was as disastrous as Simon said it was?
Are you excited to see Kellie Pickler perform tomorrow?
For American Idol clips, visit our Online Video Guide.
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Mar 18, 2008 11:36 PM
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Hey what about Chikezie (sp?) You forgot to include him...but let me just throw in that I thought he was awful tonight and I've never really liked him and last week to me was just a fluke anyway.
For everyone else it was just meh tonight. Last week was definitely better and I agree w/ Simon that maybe doing Beatles 2 weeks in a row wasn't a good idea. I know alot of diehard beatle fans were nervous that they were going to crucify some great songs last week but were kinda surprised that they didn't overall...well tonight it happened.
The only ones I liked was David A., Carly, David C., Syesha, and Jason Castro a little bit. Amanda was so so and the rest were not doing it for me.
Yes, David C seems a little cocky but he knows that he's awesome and so I don't have a problem w/ smugness if you can back it up.
Kristy Lee was awfully boring-how stupid to pick a song just based on the title! UGH she's gotta go. Ramiele picked a really good song but she should have played w/ the arrangement to spice it up a bit. Maybe an acoustic guitar would have suited this one better. It was really cheesy.
Michael Johns is such a waste of talent to me because his voice is amazing but his performances are so blah. And to be compared to David Archuleta who is like just a little bit more than half his age has got to hurt like a b*tch, especially when david a admitted to not really knowing the beatles well (and screwed up last week) and Michael Johns is admittedly a huge beatles fan.
As for the good ones I thought David Archuleta did fantastic tonight, slower songs really are his forte. His voice is amazing and he really sings w/ feeling. And I thought Syesha looked and sounded spectacular tonight. She definitely needs to keep that look going.
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Mar 18, 2008 11:53 PM
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OH...congrats Nina!!!!! 
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Mar 18, 2008 11:53 PM
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Oh my goodness! Good luck and congrats to Nina! Please do update us when you can, replacement blogger!
Tonight was entertaining to me, but not a "best of" night in any way.
Here are my thoughts, sort of in order of greatness:
I surprised myself tonight by really enjoying Carly for the first time. I thought she did a great job. Best of the night.
David Cook is always a treat for me. I hope he stays around for a long time.
I was holding my breath when David A performed, and it was good. Not amazing. But I still want to squish him.
Chikezie shook it up. I'm liking him more as the contest goes on.
Syesha did a standout job. Very nice.
Jason bummed me out. I loved his voice, and thought it was a good song choice, but he was totally disconnected; almost making fun of his own performance. For the first time, I wasn't happy when watching him.
I adore Brooke, but this was too "Mary Poppins", even for me. Not good. (I voted for her anyway, though, because I would hate to see her leave.)
Ramiele: kareoke. Blah.
Michael: See above. Plus, he's still coasting on Bohemian Rhapsody. How long can this go on?
Kristy Lee: She seems like such a sweetie, and does have a good voice. Wha? Oh, I just woke up...
Amanda: The thought of listening to an entire CD of Amanda screeching gives me a headache. She's good in 90-second bits, but no way is she an American Idol. She obviously just wants to
have 40 people in a smoky bar give her applause. Let's let her go this week, and she can screech to her heart's content in Little Rock or Tulsa next Tuesday.
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Mar 19, 2008 12:07 AM
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I thought Amanda's was the worst performance of the night.
Kristy was the most forgettable.
I'm glad David A's back on track.
Michael Johns had the worst arrangement of song.
Even with a lackluster performance, I still want to marry Brooke White. She has both the look of a folksy singer, or an oscar winning actress...I'm just saying.
David Cook is by far the most entertaining performance of the night, as well as a week ago.
Carly has the best voice of the girls; just wished she did something more with that song.
I would have liked Jason Castro's song better if he sung the french part better.
Syesha did the song justice, but I agree with Simon, I wished Brooke would have sung it.
I actually had a phone call during his performance so can't comment.
For the strangest reason, I really really liked Ramielle's performance. It was a fun song and I thought she really sung it well. Oh, well, I voted for her twice, so hopefully, she stays next week.
To sum up: I wouldn't mind seeing Amanda or Kristy go home...and I'll throw Chikezie on the chopping block even though I didn't really pay attention to him.
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Mar 19, 2008 12:08 AM
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Tonight just wasn't the highlight for most of the group.
I say the top five of the night were.
1. David A.
2. Carly
3. David Cook
4. Syesha
5 Chikezie
I was surprised that there was not a lot of popular Beatles' songs. Yesturday and Here Comes the Sun were the only two that were major songs.
In my opinion Kristy needs to go she doesn't have what it takes and she doesn't really improve at all each week.
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Mar 19, 2008 12:21 AM
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I don't get why people didn't like Michael Johns tonight. I thought he was one of the top performers, with the Davids and Carly.
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Mar 19, 2008 12:36 AM
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I don't think a second Beatles night was a good idea. They should have quit while they were ahead. Most of them were so so, although I was happy to see Syesha finally do well and David A. back to his usual greatness. I thought Kristy and Amanda were pretty dreadful. Did no one else notice a certain curse word come out of Amanda's mouth? Not that I take offense to it, but I just thought it was pretty shocking considering that this is American Idol. Just wondering if anyone else noticed.
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Mar 19, 2008 12:41 AM
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Amanda was ok. She is what she is and you either like her or not. She actually reminded me of Elvis in the way that she moved about the stage while singing, just his stage mannerisms is what I mean. I thought she came across as sexy tonight, which surprised me some.
KLC was not as bad as they made her out to be, but she'll be in the bottom 3. I don't know why she keeps making herself look older than she is. Too much makeup, and I'm not digging the hair color or style.
David A was probably the best of the night. I'm still not crazy over him, and his face reminds me of Ernie as in Bert & Ernie.
Michael actually sounded better than the judges made him out to be, but he continues to pick the wrong song. Why pick the toughest song to sing and try to make a 1.5 minute version of it?
Brooke finally picked the wrong song. She and Carly should have swapped. Actually, Carly should have sang Ramiele's song, Ramiele should have sang Brooke's, and Brooke should have sang Carly's. She was ok, but she clearly performs better with an instrument. I thought here hokey dancing was cute.
David C was ok, but I agree with Simon on this one. Funny thing about the vocoder. I was talking about AI last week, and I said it would be funny if he did an Aerosmith song and used a vocoder or something. Go figure.
I agree with Simon. Carly sang the wrong song again. As I mentioned above, she should have sang the song Ramiele sang.
Jason continues to be the male Brooke. They both should do well in the "indie" field. They actually should tour together. They both can't help but smile while singing which sometimes causes a disconnect with the song. They both have a cute vibe going for them, and they both perform better with an instrument. He wasn't bad, but not great.
Syesha acted that song. That was the best she's looked (and not just due to the cleavage.) She sang well, but she also had disconnect. She looked to be acting the performance instead of feeling it.
Chikezie went to the well once too often. He tried the same gimmick from last week and got burned. Not very good.
Ramiele did ok, but should have sang Carly's or Brooke's song.
Lots of possibilities for the bottom 3. I'm going to guess KLC, Amanda, and Chikezie. KLC and Amanda going early will make them the bottom 2. KLC will go home and miss the tour. Too bad as she had a lot of potential in her first audition, my brother actually picked her then to win it all. He's long since wised up.
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Mar 19, 2008 1:17 AM
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Can I say something crazy? When I saw Carly tonight in her loose top looking all glowy, I thought...my gosh, she's pregnant! My husband and I both thought it. It's been a few weeks now they've put her in blousy things. Just to be clear, I don't think she's overweight or anything, it was more of a woman's instinct sort of thing. Kind of funny given what Nina's doing right now - push, Nina!
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Mar 19, 2008 1:17 AM
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A quick rundown of the "broken birds" in the same order as Nina:
Amanda Overmyer
A weaker version of what we've already seen. Multiple times. Please go.
Kristy Lee Cook
Her best performance yet. She should stay another week in reward for her improvement.
David Archuleta
Back on track. Still my favorite.
Michael Johns
He doesn't get it. If he'd just go for the Michael Hutchence thing, he'd be OK.
Brooke White
I kinda liked it. A nice contrast to her usual somber deal-e-o.
David Cook
Seen it. He obviously isn't going to stray from this route. Which is OK, but no surprises.
Carly Smithson
Adequate.
Jason Castro
C'était une expérience éprouvante. As sung by Jason, these were words that did not go together well.
Syesha Mercado
Awesome new look. Too bad she's only good for about one excellent note in each song.
Ramiele Malubay
Did I stumble into Karaoke night? She has one of the strongest voices but an amateur stage presence.
Chikezie
The one that Nina forgot was the ONLY ONE having a blast! He was the most fun to watch again this week.
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Mar 19, 2008 1:29 AM
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Congratulations to Nina. And welcome Erin to the AI blog.
Where is who I liked: David A., Syesha, David C. and Carly. I think Black Bird will be stuck in my head for the longest time. Just like the song with Kirsty Lee Cook's did...but that was in a bad way. I was wondering who was going to do "Yesterday". I was worried about Syesha, because this is one of my favorite songs, but she pulled it off.
Jason, Micheal, Brooke, Ramielle and Amanda were all "meh" to me. I was bored with Jason and Ramielle's performances.
And as for who I didn't like were Chickeze, and Kristy Lee Cooke I didn't like. I thought Chickeze's made a bad move with a)making it country again. Last week was fine, but doing it this week....bad idea. and b) the harmonica. If you never played it before, don't start playing.
I think the bottom 3 will be Ramielle, Chickeze, and Kristy Lee. However anybody could go home.
Was it just me or did it look like Amanda had on a blk wig?
Anyway, yeah I agree that a second week of Beatles was a bad idea. And I could care less that Kellie is performing tomorrow night.
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Mar 19, 2008 1:30 AM
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1. Congrats to Nina.
2. The Beatles deserve double royalties for the injustice done to their catalogue two weeks in a row.
3. If Kristy doesn't go home, there is a secert bloc of covert Vote For The Worsters out there who are just pretending to vote Amanda (who was great, by the way...)
4. Michael Johns was so off key and butchered the "high" notes so terribly, I am embarrassed for him - and I don't like him at all.
5. Can we reduce the playing field to a top 7 NOW?!?!?!?
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Mar 19, 2008 2:34 AM
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Carly Smithson is terrific but her husband is one of the scariest men I have ever seen. A nice Jewish boy he is not. How many tatoos does one need to become hideous? Does he want to be a member of the NBA (pro basketball)?
Yeah for david A. It was a much better performance. Jason Castro....why do people think he is so good? He is not and should be near the exit sign. Cook cooked again. He knows good song choice. I think a blond girl will leave tonight.
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Mar 19, 2008 2:42 AM
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And one more positive note...Ayesha looked fabulous in that dress and her hair very much improved. She has a very lovely voice and has great range.
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Mar 19, 2008 2:44 AM
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