Last night’s American Idol was something of a comedown after the Danny Noriega sass- and Jeff Buckley homage-filled episode on Tuesday; the eight remaining ladies in the competition turned in mostly OK work, with Kristy Lee Cook’s lozenged-up tongue and Paula Abdul’s antics providing the most spice during the evening. My rankings of the top 8 and picks for who’s going home after the jump.
(Note: No. 1 on last night’s ladies’ side = No. 4-ish on Tuesday night’s guys’ side.)
1. Carly Smithson. I know, I know. Carly again? But now that Alex Lushington is out there’s not much else for me to hang on to. I do wish that the Celine Dion covers of songs weren’t the go-to ones for the Idol performers–I would have much rather heard Carly reinterpret Cyndi Lauper’s “I Drove All Night,” which would at the very least have been much better matched with the tattoo-and-black-tank persona she’s cultivating–but she still had the best vocal of the night.
2. Brooke White. Her Unplugged version of Pat Benatar’s “Love Is A Battlefield” was nothing to write home about, but it was one of the better performances of an overall lackluster evening. Also in the post-performance judging she had a complete deer-in-the-headlights look while Paula spoke, probably because the sheltered Brooke has never seen anyone that whacked-out before.
3. Amanda Overmyer. Took on Joan Jett’s “I Hate Myself For Loving You,” which complemented her super-raspy voice well. But she was shaky at the beginning and kind of nervous throughout–while going live seemed to invigorate the top eight guys, the girls seemed to have the exact opposite reaction, clamming up en masse–and it took a toll on her performance, which wound up being at the “semi-competent bar band” level.
(Smallish gap here.)
4. Asia’h Epperson/Syesha Mercado. Two Whitney covers bookended the show, with Asia’h singing “I Wanna Dance With Somebody Who Loves Me” and Syesha tackling “Saving All My Love For You.” Both versions were fine, although not lacking a “huh” element; Asia’h’s super-husky voice prevented me from really connecting with her performance, while Syesha seemed somewhat removed from the proceedings, almost like she was punching a clock in the 90 seconds that she was allotted. And obviously there’s the whole “don’t touch Whitney, she’s in the pantheon of divas, blah blah blah” position taken by some of the judges. I’m starting to come around to that, even though Whitney hasn’t been in the spotlight for years and years.
(Big gap here.)
6. Ramiele Malubay. How do you perform “Against All Odds” without doing the freakout at the end? I ask you.
7. Kristy Lee Cook. It’s probably bad that when I saw Jason Castro mouthing along with her take on “Faithfully” from the side of the stage, I thought to myself, “Man, I wish he was up there singing this.” And then I thought, “Well, at least her tongue makes her stick out.” But hey, she’s OK with not winning!
(The now-patented Freddie Mercury-range-sized gap.)
8. Kady Malloy. Why, why, why would you sing Queen’s “Who Wants To Live Forever”? It’s a somewhat dreary song and not one of Queen’s best, and its only saving grace is the voice–and vocal charisma–of Freddie Mercury. Whose range–and charisma–Kady does not have at all, and who should probably join the judges’ list of “singers whose voices you will never be able to replicate” that is currently populated by Whitney, Celine, and Mariah. I seriously got worried that Vote For The Worst was going to switch its alliance from Amanda to Kady after this performance.
WHO’S GOING HOME: Something tells me that Simon’s 100% true proclamation that Kristy Lee and Kady are both lacking in personality will get people mobilizing for them. So I’m going to hedge my bets: The pair of ladies going home will consist of either Kristy Lee or Kady AND either Syesha or Asia’h, with the highest probable pair being Kady and Asia’h.
PAULA ABDUL OUT-OF-IT SCALE: 9.5/10. Really if one person would have “won” last night on personality, it was Paula, who was even more off the charts than she was on Tuesday night. The proclamation that there aren’t enough adjectives in the world to fully describe Carly Smithson. The multiple references to dogs and her proclamation that she loved mutts. The leaning against Simon that looked like she had gone into an end-of-the-bar-night haze. I’m only giving her a 9.5 as insurance against greater craziness next week.
[Photo: rickey.org]
@derby and sicksteanein: You are not alone.
Something is simply missing. I can’t put my finger on it; probably because whatever it is isn’t there.
@derby: @sicksteanein: @92BuickLeSabre: carly’s dominance is more a testament to the weakness of the ladies’ field this year than anything else, really.
@92BuickLeSabre: It’s the same reason her major label career never took off I imagine. She’s like a cold robot. Two weeks ago it looked like she was constantly reminding herself to smile. She’d get this scowl on her face and her circuitry would kick in to produce one of the fakest smiles I’ve seen. It was creepy.
I’m thinking Amanda already knows she’s off the show (what’s that? It’s all fixed, you say?) and was subdued for that reason. Brooke was smart with her song choice and that will work for her. Carly is a no brainer. But to anyone who does not believe the show is fixed, and fixed big time, just look at Kady. Sure, she sounded great at auditions and the early Hollywood rounds, but she just sounds like crap now. And that fake-y beauty pageant look of surprise (while she was actually smirking at the same time!) when she and the other blonde were waiting to see who would be kicked last week was just horrible. The only personality that girl has is that of a mean attention whore.
Hmmm…. my post disappeared… or did it?
@sicksteanein: I think you’re right. She’s like Streisand or Dion, without the charm.
And that’s saying something.
Ok quick question - from wikipedia’ing this season of Am. Id. it looks like the vast majority of the participants have pagent experience. Carly, Robbie (RIP), Kristy, Kady, and Michael were all at one point signed to a label. Davey Archuletta one StarSearch a few years ago, Luke is in some national acapella group, etc. I think the main issue this season is that no one has seemed geniuinely EXCITED to be up there performing this year… well with the exception of Asia (sp?) who seems truely excited to be performing every week. Hopefully next week when the cateogories get a little more tightened up, we’ll see some genuine emotion out of this crop and find someone to cheer for.
Also, I don’t think Davey’s got it wrapped up just yet… Paris Bennett, Melinda Doolittle, Howard Dean and Daughtry were ALL early front runners and lost. He also doesn’t think “Imagine” is a sad song, so… strike two.
Songs I Wish Happened On American Idol During 80’s Week:
Danny Noreaga - Dancin’ With Myself
“Cutesy” Davey Archuletta - We Don’t Have To Take Our Clothes Off
Daughtry 2.0 - Dancin’ In The Dark
Michael Johns - In A Big Country/Everlasting Love
Carly Smithson - Joey (I’m Not Angry Anymore)
Kady Malloy - I Know What Boys Like (sung in her britney voice)
I’d also like to suggest that the contestants who have no shot at sticking around for another week — they know who they are — have to start going all out and singing songs that have no business being on American Idol. For example, Luke should have done “The Final Countdown” like he was part of a Gob Bluth magic show.
I loved, loved, loved Brooke White’s stripped-down, folksy version of “Love is a Battlefield.” But I still think she’s better suited for a coffee house than the American Idol stage.
What was up with Amanda? Being uncomfortable onstage is one thing, but looking at the floor the entire length of the performance AND while the judges are showering you with praise? Either she’s on the run and doesn’t want anyone to see her face, or she was really strung out…
they need to kick off the skunk hair nurse. she sucks so hard!!!
@Thierry: Amanda always looks so bored when she’s performing. And because of that, I just can’t connect with her.
@mashpeeoc:
The Final Countdown with spirit fingers. I like it. I wish one of the destined-to-go performers would really take things up a notch and go out in a blaze of glory. Give something so over the top that it would be talked about for years.
But alas, the contestants seem to lack both the humor or creativity necessary to do something like that. I can still dream though….
@whoneedslight: I believe that they a very restricted list of songs that they’re able to perform. It’s not just an open “perform an 80s song”.
It’s kind of the same reason why you never see some misguided hesher trying to do a Tool song or something during the auditions… also how they’re able to put togeher those “awesome” montages of trainwrecks singing “You are my sunshine.”
@Halfwit:
Oh, song choice would not matter if the trainwreck was large enough.
I think Carly Smithson has a tattoo of Amy Winehouse on her right arm. Just sayin’.
is it me? i just don’t get carly smithson. it’s me, right? she has a nice voice, but i’m just not feeling it.
@letterb: I also thought that looked remarkably like Amy Winehouse.
As an unabashed 80s apologist here, I was kind of bummed to see most of these songs “modernized” in their arrangements.
Just once, I’d like to have had one contestant enter the first session with the band saying: “What the hell is that real drum kit doing here? I want to see some hexagonal pads!”
If you see Simon’s arm on the top of Paula’s chair at the beginning of the show (and the middle and the end for that matter), it is a dead giveaway that the out-of-it-scale is going to be up there.
@derby: I’m with you 100%.