curlio.com: American Idol does Part Two of the Beatles

Accounts
News
  Interactive
   Collective
    Contact

now with the highly requested RSS feed.

American Idol does Part Two of the Beatles

curlio

2008-03-18 21:55:31

The Top 11 on American Idol tonight did part two of the theme from last week. While it seemed predestined to be a boring redo of last week, the contestants for the most part tried to improve or change from last week.

This week's theme is not just the Lennon-McCartney songbook, but the Beatles. Ryan Seacrest asks Randy Jackson if the contestants learned lessons last week. Randy hopes they did as this is a vast songbook. Ryan asks Paula Abdul what she expects since last week some people took risks. Paula expects the same people to take risks. Ryan asked Simon how much is talent and how much is a popularity at this point. Simon Cowell says it's about 50-50 right now. He says that singing well will win him over.

After a clip of "How Awesome the Beatles were" we get our first performance by Amanda Overmyer. She says her most memorable moment so far was moving to the big stage and feeding off the energy of the crowd. She chooses "Back in the USSR" because it's upbeat. She says she'll put her southern rock kick to it. She seemed out of breath and pitchy, but doesn't she always? Randy had a couple of issues, calling it pitchy but it picked up by the middle. Paula said she was ahead of the beat and would love to hear a ballad from Amanda. Simon said it was predictable and a mess in parts. He says its the same thing week after week. She needs to do something new or she'll get boring (bow of "I'm not worthy" to Simon for jumping on the bandwagon so quickly!). Amanda says that ballads are boring. She says she only gets 90 seconds to show what people would see at her show. Simon says that she's jumping the gun because her tickets aren't on sale yet.

Kristy Lee Cook talked to Ryan about her photo book that she keeps with her to connect her to home. He shows pictures of her dog and her horse. Her memorable moments include being the last one standing too often in the results nights. She picked "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away." It was pitchy and horrible. Randy thought the arrangement was interesting but boring and safe. Paula said it's sometimes safer to stick to the melody. Simon said that she's not a good performer. He said she makes no impact except when she's terrible.

David Archuleta has had some memorable moments too. He loved singing "Imagine" but didn't really like forgetting his words last week. He tries to concentrate on the positive though. He picked "The Long and Winding Road." It was a great performance with Archie back in top form this week. Randy thought he brought the hottness back. He told Archie that this song is the kind he could have inserted some runs into. Paula said it was a wonderful performance of purity. She also liked that he rose above adversity. Simon said that while last week was a complete mess, this week was amazing. Archie made Simon's point in what he said to Kristy. Archie was a master class in how to sell a song and remember a performance.

After a plug for iPhone, Michael Johns is up next. He says his memorable moment was performing "Bohemian Rhapsody." He picked "A Day in the Life" for this week because it's one of his favorite Beatles songs. He thinks the Beatles were so free and the best band ever. He starts off pitchy and weird. His favorite moment has to be singing BR, because he's gone downhill from there. His performance picked up in the middle and at the end, but it's just so not living up to his potential. Randy said it wasn't one of his best and he isn't picking the right songs. Michael has that big old voice, but he hasn't found the right song to show that. Paula mentions that she thinks the earpiece might be throwing Michael off. Simon didn't think it made any difference because it was just a mess. Michael needs to start sorting himself out and just nail a song. Ryan talks to Michael and Paula about the earpiece thing. Michael says he isn't wearing one.

Brooke White talks to Ryan about her family. Ryan says she got to escape this week. Brooke went back home on Saturday and spent some time with her 5 week old niece. Her favorite moment was last week doing "Let it Be." She said it went so well and the moment was just bigger than her. She picked "Here Comes the Sun" for this week. Her performance is a stretch from what she usually does. It wasn't her usual folksy thing. She moved out of her comfort zone and did pretty good I thought. The judges thought otherwise. Randy said it was awkward and never gelled. Paula says you can't help but smile when listening to her and she has good low tones to her voice. Simon thought it was terrible, which earned a chorus of boos from the audience. Brooke tried to tell the audience it was okay that Simon didn't like it. She agreed with him. I hate that while Simon tells Amanda to move out of her comfort zone, they try to keep Brooke locked in hers and don't give her credit for trying to expand.

David Cook's memorable moment was also last week. He loved that rock concert feel and having the judges like it on top of it was was great. He picked "Day Tripper" this week. He said he found a version that Whitesnake had done before that he likes. His performance is great, playing guitar and even using a talk box for his guitar solo. Randy didn't know if it was the best, but another solid look. He says it's like another song at a David Cook concert. Paula says he's ready to sell records. She liked the talk box. Cookie points out that he learned how to use it yesterday. Simon didn't think it was as good as Cookie thought it was. He thought Cookie looked smug throughout. He thinks it was predictable and that he's lost the element of surprise. Ryan asked Cookie what he thought of Simon's advice, since Cookie thought Simon had been giving him good advice so far. Cookie gets extra points for a diplomatic, "as Simon said it's an opinion" and that he listens to everything the judges say and try to work on it.

Carly Smithson's most memorable moment was also last week getting the comparison to Kelly Clarkson. She picked "Blackbird" this week because she hasn't tried a soft ballad type of song yet. Pretty good performance, she's getting out of her comfort zone a bit. She started pitchy but really worked it out. Randy thought it was a very nice, very controlled performance. Paula says she has an amazing tone to her voice and the arrangement was beautiful. Simon thought the song was indulgent and didn't like the song. Carly explains that they've all been trying to break into the industry for a while and they get beaten down. Simon says now he feels they are all broken birds. Carly says they're not like that anymore.

Jason Castro's memorable moment was when he sang "Hallelujah" because even though he had a bad last note, no one seemed to care. He picked "Michelle" this week, because it's dynamic. It also has French it and he doesn't speak French. I thought it was an excellent performance, but then again I really love Jason too. He didn't play guitar, he moved around a bit. Randy thought it was a good choice but he wasn't sure if he got it. He didn't think Jason connected. Jason said it was just alright for him too. Paula says he has a charm about him, but he disconnects when he's away from his guitar. Simon is wondering if it was a good idea to do Beatles again. He says that because it is a TV show and not a radio show it was okay for Jason because his face sold that performance. Jason is charming and not obnoxious (and Simon knows obnoxious!) and that Jason has a doofiness that just works for him.

Syesha Mercado's family is here with her this week Ryan points out. Syesha's memorable moment was being in the Bottom 3 which inspired her to step up and choose "Yesterday" this week. She wants to touch everyone the way the song first touched her. I hated what she did with the song. You don't mess with perfection. Randy liked the changes and said it was a very good performance. Paula liked to see her change and be vulnerable, but she needs to work on connecting with her eyes. Simon said it was her best so far. He didn't think it was incredible, but she picked the best song and sold it well.

For his memorable moment, Chikezie picked the Hollywood round, when he was complimented by all three judges. He picked "I've Just Seen a Face." He starts out slow, but then plays the harmonica and picks up the speed. It was a decent performance overall. Randy thought it was some good and some bad. He didn't get the slow but the fast part was good. He thought it would be a good country song. Paula liked that Chikezie showed the depth and scope of his vocals. Simon thought it was okay in the beginning, but then the harmonica came in and it was attrocious. He thought it was gimmicky.

For Ramiele Malubay, the best thing was making new friends. Brooke takes care of her and Cookie is like an older brother. She picked "I Should Have Known Better" because she bored the judges last week. Her performance this week was back to her average karaoke, pitchy performance. Randy loved that she showed the confidence again, but the performance was just alright. Paula thought it was better than last week, but wants to hear that range in her voice that the ballads show. Simon thought it sounded terrible and amateurish. He thinks she picks mediocre songs that didn't show the best of her ability.

My Rankings:
Tied for number one are Jason and David Cook with a 10
Archie comes in close behind with a 9
Brooke earns an 8.5
Carly gets an 8
Chikezie earned a 6
Michael and Ramiele get a mediocre 5
Amanda gets a mere 4
Kristy scrapes the bottom at 2
Syesha gets a 1 for messing with a classic. She sang well, but the arrangement distracted me too much to earn her any other points.

American Idol picks their touring 10.

Diddy, Rosemond criticize L.A.Times' Tupac allegations

Article open, for guests to react

Who had the worst performance?
Members				Guests
	(33%)	Amanda Overmyer	(20%)
	(11%)	Kristy Lee Cook	(36%)
	(0%)	David Archuleta	(3%)
	(0%)	Michael Johns	(4%)
	(0%)	Brooke White	(2%)
	(11%)	David Cook	(8%)
	(0%)	Carly Smithson	(3%)
	(0%)	Jason Castro	(3%)
	(22%)	Syesha Mercado	(4%)
	(0%)	Chikezie Eze	(3%)
	(22%)	Ramiele Malubay	(14%)

momROCKS

2008-03-19 18:37:46


	Dusty said: However it will be even worse if they make next week a rolling stone or "The Monkeys" -week. "The Monkeys"...you made me lol....did they have enough material to do that? (I do hate to admit...I used to watch their show and I have their albums)