This is top 4 week of American Idol, and theme appears to be Rock n' Roll.
First contestant to take the stage is David Cook. Very strange performance. This should be his niche, but he sounds barely just ok. Very poor! Perhaps it was the song choice. But it never really did get started. Randy thought it was an ok choice, solid performance, but it was just ok, not amazing. He clearly wasn't impressed. Paula said it left her with a big appetite. She also said some other stuff that I didn't really understand. Simon thought it was good, a little bit copy cat, as David didn't change it up like he's known to, but should be good enough to get through to the next round.
Syesha sang Tina Turner's Proud Mary- I'm not sure I liked it, but it came across better than Cook's piece. Certainly some outstanding parts. Randy was exuberant, saying syesha is in the zone! "Nice job". Paula commented that she looks like a star. Simon said it was just a bad shrieky version or bad impersonation of Tina Turner. Surely an off the wall comment, since Syesha wasn't trying to impersonate Tina.
Jason chose to do Bob Marley's I Shot The Sheriff. This peaked my interest, as it is not customary to hear a Bob Marley song on American Idol. I was eager to see what the lad would do with the selection. Turns out he massacred it. Total crap! What a dishonour to Bob Marley! Randy lamented that it was a really karaoke Bob with nothing special about it. Paula said she never seen him perform more to the audience than this so commended him for that. She wasn't crazy about the performance though. Simon started his feedback with, "Jason stand back" and then told him that it was utterly attrocious, and like a first round audition massacre. Well those were some truly brutal comments. Poor kid.
David Archuleta doing Standy By Me. I must say it was very good. Best so far of the night. Randy was happy that he could see that there's at least one contestant left who when he hits the stage is trying to win the whole thing. All in all, Randy was extremely impressed with Archuleta's vocals, loved it and thought it was hot! aula likes that he takes advice and goes with it, as he apparently continued to try keeping his eyes open, based on feedback from Andrew Lloyd Webber recently. Simon is funny. He said Archuleta could have whistled the song and it would have sounded better than last one. However he thought it sounded like he was struggling a little in the end, to which the audience roared with boos. He did say though that in the grand scheme of things, this was the best performance of the night so far.
Cook did a Bob O'Reilly song for his second round. Ok, this one was pretty good. Much better.
Randy remarked that this was more like the David Cook he's grown to love. Paula just wanted more. Simon welcomed back David Cook.
Syesha gave a very good vocal for her other song. Randy said the first he loved, but this not as much. He didn't like the arrangement with the music or vocals. For him, it felt disconnected. Paula, and I give her ratings for this, gave Syesha a standing ovation, even with Randy's ridiculous comments. Paula liked how she orchestrated the vocals and added that it was magnificent. At this point Syesha broke out into tears, no doubt overwhelmed by such a splendid feedback. Simon said, he had to be fair and agreed with Paula. He thought Randy got that completely utterly wrong.
Jason did a Bob Dylan song to try to redeem himself. Not too long into the song, I was like what the hell? forgetting words?? Man, he forgot a whole slew of words. I feel real sorry for this chap. The producers are cruel to have kept him in this long. Randy said jason's not in the zone.paula said it is what it is. Though his performance didn't blow her away, he blows her away. Simon essentially told Jason, to pack his suitcase.
Archuleta did Elvis' Love Me Tender to close the show. I would say a good vocal, but I didn't like what he did with the song. Randy liked how he was tender and caressed each word. He said he got it going on. Paula said it was one of her favourite performances from him. She went on to say it was fantastic and very beautiful. Simon remarked that he didn't beat the competition tonight, he crushed it!
Well, for sure Jason was the worst, and if there is any integrity left in the show, he will surely be going home next. What is interesting here, is that this week we have someone who is by far, clearly the worst, that even the judges would not hesitate to agree on. This means the producers know that we all expect Jason to leave next. Will they compromise themselves once more just to keep the show unpredictable??? That's the big question!
