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« American Idol
Episode Recap: The Top 6 Perform Andrew Lloyd Webber Songs
OK, so I have to "out" myself here: I, Erin Fox, am a Broadway musical junkie. I know a lot of Broadway shows and used to (gulp) sing along to them in the car as a high school drama geek. This explains a lot, including my lack of dates in high school. But I digress — tonight's show is about the Top 6 and their quest to conquer Andrew Lloyd Webber songs. In his heyday, his musicals were amazing (Evita)... and then there was Aspects of Love — no comment. Also, I'll do my best to keep the CATS jokes to a minimum. On with the show!
Syesha Mercado, "One Rock and Roll too Many:" Syesha finally sounds like she's hit her niche. She looks fabulous with a capital F. The song is sexy and totally brings her (so far lackluster) personality to the forefront of this competition. She might have just bought herself another week. Randy said she could be a huge Broadway star, Paula said she wasn't surprised at how awesome Syesha was tonight, and Simon agreed with Randy and called her "sexy."
Jason Castro, "Memory:" Andrew Lloyd Webber said he never thought he'd see "Memory" sung by a dude in dreads. Ha! You can tell he's not sure if Jason really gets the song. Jason looks like he's nervous for the first time, as well he should be. This is the most famous ALW song. He sings the song with his trademark Indie vibe, but I don't think it's great, and he's way off with the orchestra! Randy thought it was a bit of a train wreck, Paula said that it was smart for him to put his mark on it, and Simon thought it was like a young guy being forced by his "mum and dad" to sing a song at a wedding. HA. That's actually kinda funny.
Brooke White, "You Must Love Me:" Ouch, ALW said that Brooke had no idea what she was singing about... clearly, this genre, like power ballads, is out of her comfort zone. She should have sung, "I Don't Know How to Love Him," because it suits her limited range yet has some cool emotional parts. Oh well. But, ALW coaches her and gets her to connect with the song. Oh man, she stops after the first line, and makes the orchestra start over. She's a wreck tonight, and I'm not sure why. I only like the very end of the song. Randy thought it was vocally tough, Paula told her to never start and stop like that but that she did a great job not over-acting and Simon said that she was too tense from starting over and it kinda ruined the rest of the song. However, he said she did the right thing and was very brave to start over. Paula still disagrees. Shut up, Paula.
David Archuleta, "Think of Me:" First, can we discuss that Ryan lets a bunch of girls on stage to hug Archie? Awkward! Secondly, Archie, this week should be your blow-out, kick ass performance. His voice is all about musical theater. Instead, he's trying to be David Cook and "change up" a girly ALW song and make it his own. I'm not a big fan because it just sounds boy band-y to me, though he sings it very well. And he does keep his eyes open (barely) as ALW coached him to do. Randy said the exact same thing that he did about Archie last week. Boo. Paula thought he was perfect, and Simon thought it was pleasant but forgettable. Holy crap, for once I agree with Simon!
Carly Smithson, "Jesus Christ, Superstar:" She totally rocks the hell out of this song and sounds and looks like she's having a great time (which she hasn't been doing the last few weeks). The crowd loves it and she nails the end of the song. Randy said it was good but not her best (ass!), Paula thought it was unexpected and loved the chorus and Simon (except for some shout-y parts in the middle) said it was one of his favorite performances of the night.
David Cook, "Music of the Night:" ALW tells David that he's singing the sexiest song he's ever written. Let's see if he can pull it off.... So far, I think he doesn't have the strength in this range to do the song justice. This is so not the song I would have picked if I were David. However, he does hit the big climax note, which is hard (That's what she said... sorry, I couldn't resist). Hmm, I'm not sure what I think of this performance as a whole. I think it was good, but no where near his best performance. Randy thought it was molten hot, and an amazing vocal performance. Huh? Really? Paula thought it was wonderful and Simon thought he did the best he could with the song but doesn't like this side of his voice. Jeez, Simon and I agree again? Creepy!
My Prediction: Bottom three will be Jason Castro, Syesha Mercado and Brooke White. Either Brooke or Jason will be history.
Paula watch: Like the hair, decently coherent.
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Apr 22, 2008 10:12 PM
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Hey! I'm first! How about that? And Erin, you forgot to mention the t-shirt Carly ran to get: "Simon Loves Me!(this week). I had to laugh.
For me, Syesha had the best performance. She really came through. Finally. But what will happen next week?
Jason: okay, that heaving, or gasping after each line was very distracting. I wish he would have held the mic away every time he drew a breath. He should've chosen a different song. He's soo in the bottom 3.
Brooke: It was...what Randy said. I want her gone.
David A.: Just what was Ryan thinking when he called those tweens up to the stage? Akward is RIGHT. David looked sooo uncomfortable. His performance did nothing for me, though I did notice how he tried to keep his eyes from closing.
Carly: she surprised me and I actually enjoyed her performance.
David C.: I actually...[gasp!] liked it.
ALW--THIS is what's called mentoring. Why can't other "mentors" do this? The last time celebrity guest to actually give constructive criticism was David Foster from Season 5.
I don't know about the bottom 3, but bottom 2? Jason and Brooke, for sure.
~Sangeeta
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Apr 22, 2008 10:33 PM
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I am a huge broadway fan too Erin so I was SO looking 4ward to tonight...
I LOVE ALW and I agree w/ you Geets...that is what a true mentor does. Help people find the right emotion, pick different songs that fit the voice better-he was amazing. Although, I thought Jlo was a pretty good mentor last year as well, but anyway on to tonight:
Syesha- I was totally into this, musical theater def is her vibe. It was sexy, sultry, and exciting. She made me pick up the phone for her tonight and vote.
Jason- absolutely dreadful, and I get the feeling that ALW tried his best w/ Jason but you can only do so much w/ what you're given. He shouldnt' have tackled the most well-known ALW song tonight. It really didn't work. It didn't work in his indie vibe either...he should be in the bottom after that. Speaking of the bottom...
Brooke-Yikes!!! This girl is turning into a bigger trainwreck every week! I don't know anymore w/ her, I think she's just in way over her head at this point. Even though it was her first time forgetting the lyrics, it was NOT her first start/stop. She's gotta get over that. Her nerves are so fried, I think for her sake she would be better off leaving soon. Maybe tomorrow.
David A- I agree that this was his week to be as big-voiced and ballad-y and message-y as he wanted to and he totally went a different direction, and while I thought the arrangement was kinda cool and current, I dont think that on ALW night it was the best fit. He did well, but it could have been better.
Carly- she was absolutely fierce and on fire tonight!!! I SO love that ALW had her switch her song, she needs to rock out and let her personality show thru in her song, which she totally did. That girl has a tremendous voice and when she sings w/ no abandon she sounds awesome!
David C- I was actually really into this. David C is my husband (remember?) so he can do no wrong for me. When he hit that power note in the middle, I got chills 
I agree w/ Geets, I have no idea who the 3rd member of the bottom 3 will be, but definitely Jason and Brooke will make up the final two, at least they should. Perhaps Syesha will find herself there too because she sang 1st and because she's been on the bubble before.
ALW is a genius and I so enjoyed this episode!!!
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Apr 22, 2008 10:46 PM
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Oh I loved Carly's t-shirt. While we're talking about her, I also liked her song.
Erin, I too am a Broadway musical junkie, although it's been a while since I've had the opportunity to go. Phantom of the Opera was the first production I saw without a parent or group of educators as chaperons in tow. I was 14 and it was divine. When the Davids stepped up to sing Phantom songs I was caught between a sense of dread (really? You want to take that on?) and a big smile (oh I love these songs and these voices may pull it off.)
David A - Yeah, well. Hmm. Well to quote Randy, "I wasn't mad at cha." It was good. It wasn't making me jump out of my seat and wipe the tears from my eyes or anything. But it wasn't awful.
David C - The man could sing the phone book and I'd enjoy it. Now, I wouldn't pay to download tonight's single as I would other performances he's done thus far. However, I've got to say, I have stashed away in a stack of old CDs the original cast recording of Phantom. I'm not saying DC was *that* good...but he wasn't that far away to be bad either. I liked it. Didn't love it. But I liked it.
Bad tonight? Ok, I am so done with Brooke and Jason. One can't get through a night without looking like a nervous breakdown will ensue any moment and the other can't seem to sing without making me want to throw an inhaler at the screen. Either can go home and I'll be a happy camper.
Syesha? I'm with guys. The girl needs to follow ALW back to his quarters and find herself a show to be in. This is where she belongs. Syesha as recording star? I'm not sold. Syesha making a good living on the great white way? Oh yeah.
Bottom three? Erin, I'm with you. Syesha deserves to stick after her performance tonight around but by with only six left, someone decent is going to end up sweating it out. The Davids and Carly ought to be the top 3.
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Apr 22, 2008 10:53 PM
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Seysha -- she's always been a great singer, know she's blossoming as a performer
Jason -- got to go. Completely out of his league.
Brooke -- same as above... sorry, worst!
David A -- nah! This little guy can thing but there is absolutely nothing exciting about him. Is always the same with the same "I'm scared out of my pants" look in his eyes. He need to shake things up!
David C -- it was better than I thought but not his best.
Carly -- did great. It was quite a performance and she has the most powerful vocals! (DialIdol has her in the last place -- VOTE!)
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Apr 22, 2008 11:02 PM
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It gets me that in the past the judges have complained about some singers sounding too Broadway, and now this year they force them to do Broadway. Not only was this boring, but painfully so. I don't really think any of them sang very well. Syesha showed that she can vamp it up like Broadway, but is that really what Idol is supposed to be about? And even she really did not do a good job singing. Try to listen to her without watching. Frankly, I think it was a sellout by Idol. Might be coming close to jumping the shark.
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Apr 22, 2008 11:10 PM
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I wanted to smack Syesha tonight; she said something like (paraphrasing) "I was so excited to find out it was ALW week, I can finally do something that shows off my personality!" NO NO NO, you could have done that EVERY week if you'd picked something other than a power ballad! And if she HAD, she'd have no doubt about safely sailing through tomorrow's elimination round. Other contestants have made themes work for them, rather than waiting around for something that was in up their alley. I feel like she's wasted the last few months languishing in mediocrity when she could have been giving us moments like this every week and securing her success.
(DialIdol has her in the last place -- VOTE!)
If I remember correctly, last week DialIdol also had KLC in 4th place with a green "definitely safe" sticker next to her name.
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Apr 22, 2008 11:12 PM
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first off, ALW is crazy and I love him! I like how he said that David A needed to keep his eyes open like 4 times. hysterical! and his whole bit with David C was super funny. David was like I'm 25! haha maybe the girl shouldn't be 17 lol
so when I first heard that ALW was going to be the mentor I told my sister that I hoped no one sang Memory and that at least one person sing something from Jesus Christ Superstar. Well... one out of two ain't bad
syesha: that was pretty awesome. I would totally watch her on Broadway. However, if she gets another week (which she probably will) what's she going to do next week? I mean, do we have to go back to the sappy pesonalityless ballads?
jason: sigh. why? oh, why? couldn't he have picked something less iconic? less...huge? I mean he needed to stay away from CATS the way syesha needs to stay away from whitney
brooke: she commented that this was the first time she had forgotten the lyrics but she also stopped and restarted the beginning of every breath you take. that probably wasn't because of missed lyrics but still. she can't do that during live performances, it's bad form
david a: he needed to blow it out of the park and i'm not sure he did (whoa, did i just channel simon there?). however, i will say that this was his most current performance since john mayer during his audition.
carly: I LOVE JSC and now I LOVE Carly. This was my fav performance of the night. She needs to do songs like this and Come Together every week.
David C: I definately like him as a rock singer better but the thing that blew my mind was that he could actually sing a melody. There was no growling or yelling, it was just a controled performance. If I heard this version on a CD or something I don't think it would sound out of place between all the other Phantom songs. I still can't believe that the guy from tonight is the same guy who sang billie jean or hello
my guess to go home? brooke
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Apr 22, 2008 11:29 PM
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dianora...i agree w/ you about syesha saying that she's finally got a chance to show her personality...um, you should have been picking songs that were tailored and geared to your personality as a singer the whole time!! That proved to me that she hasn't really been plugging in like she should have up to this point. It was great tonight, but it might be too little too late...
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Apr 22, 2008 11:36 PM
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First: Hey Di! Have you finally recovered from having to explain to a certain somebody why J.K. Rowling has every right to sue? Cuz you've been absent here. 
Dianora:"NO NO NO, you could have done that EVERY week if you'd picked something other than a power ballad! And if she HAD, she'd have no doubt about safely sailing through tomorrow's elimination round."
So true. What if she'd been eliminated before ALW week, huh? Wonder what she would say then? Okay, I think I just confused myself. Going to shut down and go to bed.
~Sangeeta
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Apr 22, 2008 11:37 PM
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I have absolutely no knowledge about musicals, and the only song I actually knew tonight was "You Must Love Me," if only because of what a big deal it was when Madonna played Evita in the movie, and she was all over television because of it.
Anyway, Syesha was excellent tonight (and I also wanted to scream at her when she made the comment about "finally" being able to show her personality). Carly was a lot of fun. David Cook was unbelievable (who knew he didn't have to rearrange a song completely to be badass?).
Jason never impresses me much. David Archuleta was his usual dull self. And Brooke. Oh, Brooke. I want to like you. I did like you. But you are in way over your head at this point - especially with how overly emotional you are. I kind of felt like her singing "You Must Love Me" was her way of begging America to love (aka vote) for her. Sorry, Brooke, but your time has come. Kudos, though, for shutting up and letting the judges do their job.
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Apr 22, 2008 11:53 PM
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Erin I totally agree that Brooke should have sung "I Don't Know How to Love Him." I was totally expecting her to. She used to pick the perfect songs for her style, but lately she's been all over the place and having a bit of a meltdown it seems. I still like her, but she needs to pull herself out of her downward spiral asap, or go home.
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Apr 23, 2008 12:05 AM
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I was pleasantly surprised... I thought that I was going to be bored to tears tonight. I LOVE musicals, but I'm more of a Rent, Wicked, Hairspray kinda girl myself. But I really did enjoy a lot of the performances tonight.
Syesha: This is probably the first time ever that I wasn't bored during her performance. I still think she'll find herself in the bottom three though since she's been there so many t imes before and because she was first.
Jason: Horrible choice of song. I knew that this would be a hard week for him. He cracked me up though when he said he didn't realize a cat was singing it, haha. He'll definitely be in the bottom.
Brooke: Ouch. She really has been one of my favorites, and I still voted for her because I would love for her to stay, but the stress of the show is obviously getting to her. I was relieved when Simon said that he would've done the same thing that she did though. I really do think it took courage to start over like that on live TV.
Archie: I enjoyed his performance for the first time in weeks, and this is when Simon doesn't like it. Figures. I liked that he was more current. He didn't sound the same to me like he does every week. And that's probably my favorite song from Phantom.
Carly: Loved it! She totally brought it this week. Definitely in the top 3 of the night.
David Cook: My favorite of course, and he can do no wrong in my eyes. This was really incredible. He totally proved his versatility. He doesn't have to turn everything into a rock song, and still deliver an amazing performance.
Bottom 3: No doubt about it... Brooke, Jason, and Syesha.
Going home: Sadly, probably Brooke. Even though I've wanted Syesha gone for weeks.
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Apr 23, 2008 12:35 AM
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I couldn't help but wish KLC was there tonight instead of Jason or Brooke. Very poor choices of songs and performances for each of them. Loved Syesha's number and David C's. Unfortunately for Syesha, next week prolly won't be her kind of song. This was probably her best week and it will be downhill from here.......but she might get a role on Broadway. I'm alone in this, I guess, but I'm tired of hearing Carly shouting songs. I love it when she sang Blackbird on Beatles' week.....you could hear the quality of her voice. Bottom three? Jason and Brooke and prolly Syesha.
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Apr 23, 2008 12:51 AM
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I forgot to rant about Syesha saying that she FINALLY gets to show her personality... some examples of songs she could've sung in the past that would have shown her personality:
Mariah week... Fantasy, Heartbreaker, Dreamlover...
Inspirational week... You Gotta Be by Des'ree
Dolly week... Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' Like That
Birth year week... was she born in '87 I guess? I'm not sure what songs were released that year but I'm sure there were some uptempo numbers that would've shown her personality.
And then she actually did an upbeat song the first Beatles week, and had a surprisingly decent performance of "Yesterday" the second time around.
So she's had her shot. She just didn't take it.
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Apr 23, 2008 12:58 AM
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