American Idol 2008 - Top 9 Performance (4/01/08) Recaps
We’re now in week seven of American Idol 2008 live performances and we’re down to the Top 9 contestants. It’s actually a good time for the show since we’ve seen most of the pretenders get voted off, the show has been cut down to only an hour long, and we have the first of our musical mentors. This week Dolly Parton dropped by to lend her considerable talents to the show.
Now, I’m not exactly a Dolly Parton fan, but you have to give credit where it’s due. Did anyone know that the woman has written over 3000 songs! That’s insane. I knew she had wrote most of her own stuff and had written for a great many others, but I never imagined she had written that many. It certainly gave the contestants plenty of material to choose from. Since song choice has been such a problem for so many of them, I was looking for them to make some better choices this week.
Let’s be honest, though. At this point, much of how we perceive the contestants is due to whether or not we like them or their style of music as much as how well we think they actually performed on any given week. When I rank the performances I try to be as honest as I can, but when there are two or three performances that I feel are fairly equal, I will almost always give the higher ranking to the contestant who I personally enjoy more. That’s just how it works. So you might not agree with my rankings, but this is how I saw the performances last night.
The American Idol 2008 Top 12
- David Cook - Little Sparrow - David Cook retains his spot at the top of my list by doing exactly what Simon said. He made a song about a sparrow interesting. I was really curious to see if David would be able to work his magic with a Dolly Parton song, and I ended up incredibly impressed by his first original arrangement. David used the song as an opportunity to showcase his vocal range instead of just rocking out and it gave us a chance to enjoy his overall sound which was just fantastic. David is definitely in the running for the win.
David Cook - Little Sparrow
- Michael Johns - It’s All Wrong, But It’s All Right - Hot off of last week’s strong performance Michael came back with, arguably, his best vocal performance of the season. He still hasn’t reached the impressive heights David Cook has which will inevitably spell defeat for him if he doesn’t do something about it, but if he keeps performing like this he’ll undoubtedly perform himself into a lucrative contract offer (if he hasn’t already).
Michael Johns - It’s All Wrong, But It’s All Right
- Syesha Mercado - I Will Always Love You - Once again I was completely against Syesha’s song choice when I heard what song she had picked, but, once again, she won me over with impressive vocal skills. I thought Simon, for once, was far too harsh on her. I didn’t think that Syesha’s version paled in comparison to Whitney’s. In fact, I was impressed by how Syesha was able to change the song and how she was able to hit all the notes. I’m still not convinced Syesha can come anywhere close to winning this thing, but she’s got some mad vocal skills.
Syesha Mercado - I Will Always Love You
- David Archuleta - Smoky Mountain Memories - Speaking of mad vocal skills… Yeah, David A has skills. I think where David keeps losing me is in his incredibly boring and predictable song choices. Every song he sings reminds me of something I would have heard from a contemporary Christian artist of the early ’90s. I just think he needs to take some more chances and change things up a bit. By now we know how well he can sing and we know that he can hit every note textbook perfect. We (I) want to see him wow me by doing something that I didn’t know he could do. Maybe that’s too much to ask, but it’s exactly what I ask of all the others.
David Archuleta - Smoky Mountain Memories
- Brooke White - Jolene - If you haven’t noticed, my top five didn’t change at all from last week. Brooke has underwhelmed me the last two weeks, but I still really like her voice and style. I thought she picked a good song for her voice and style and I enjoyed it. I’m not sure she’s stepping out enough to keep herself in the race as a a viable candidate for the title of the next American Idol, but she’s still middle of the pack which means she’s probably safe for now.
Brooke White - Jolene
- Jason Castro - Travelin’ Thru - I still love his voice and I like his style, but I don’t think this was the performance he needed to really lift him up. He did a pretty overtly Christian song which will probably actually help him win votes from the Christian audience that might not be aware of his church background. I thought his performance was stronger than last week. He has a lot of skill, but I don’t know if the songs he is choosing is really showcasing his talents.
Jason Castro - Travelin’ Thru
- Carly Smithson - Here You Come Again - Am I the only one that’s thankful Simon finally told her to have a talk with whoever has been dressing her? Her outfits have been hideous. I’m still not a fan. What can I say? She sounds great until she hits the high notes and then it sounds awful to me. Apparently I’m the only one that thinks this as no one else mentions it. I think Carly is losing her passion and her hope and she isn’t bringing her best game to the table. She’s not going to last much longer if she keeps this up.
Carly Smithson - Here You Come Again
- Kristy Lee Cook - Coat of Many Colors - Country is definitely Kristy’s bread and butter and really about the only thing she excels at. She did a really good job on this song and I’m a little disappointed that I had to place her so low on the list. I just felt that, performance wise, she didn’t really stack up to many of the other contestants. Her vocals sounded good, but she looked a bit stiff, wooden even. Kristy has had a hard time expressing emotion during her performances throughout the competition and it really hurt her this week.
Kristy Lee Cook - Coat of Many Colors
- Ramiele Malubay - Do I Ever Cross Your Mind - Ramiele did a much better job this week than she did last week. Unfortunately, it’s becoming painfully obvious week by week that she is completely overwhelmed in the talent department by most of the other contestants. She seems like a sweet and likable girl, but do people really think this performance was anywhere near as good as the performances in my top 5 or 6 this week? That blows my mind.
Ramiele Malubay - Do I Ever Cross Your Mind
The Top 9 Performances For April 1, 2008
- David Cook - Little Sparrow
- Michael Johns - It’s All Wrong, But It’s All Right
- Syesha Mercado - I Will Always Love You
- David Archuleta - Smoky Mountain Memories
- Brooke White - Jolene
- Jason Castro - Travelin’ Thru
- Carly Smithson - Here You Come Again
- Kristy Lee Cook - Coat of Many Colors
- Ramiele Malubay - Do I Ever Cross Your Mind
Who’s Going Home?
It’s really getting hard at this point to make any predictions that have a hope of being accurate. It’s hard to predict what people are thinking when the talent level is so close for many of the contestants. Add in to that the fact that Ramiele seems to have an unnatural amount of support and it gets even harder. However, I must choose a bottom three so I’m going to say that Kristy Lee Cook and Carly Smithson will be two of the bottom three contestants.
I think that Kristy’s song choice saved her last week, but even an arguably superior performance this week won’t be enough to keep her out of the bottom three. I think that Carly has had a hard time winning over audiences and her performance this week, though strong, wasn’t strong enough to win over new fans or convince old fans to pick up the phone and call.
My third pick is between Ramiele and Jason Castro. My gut says that this is the week that Ramiele finally makes the bottom three. However, I also know that Jason was in the bottom three last week and his performance this week was not as strong as I would have liked or as strong as I feel was needed.
After some consideration, I have come to the conclusion that Jason’s close call last week caused his fans to do some extra dialing last night to make sure he stays in this week and he will not be in the bottom three. That means that Ramiele Malubay is my third pick for the bottom three.
Out of the bottom three consisting of Kristy Lee Cook, Carly Smithson, and Ramiele Malubay I think that Ramiele is the one that should go home first. She’s been consistently subpar when compared to the other contestants and hasn’t shown much, if any, growth at all. Carly is a great talent who needs to pick the right songs to win over audiences while Kristy, though plagued with poor song choices, has shown (perhaps more than anyone) a willingness to listen to advice and to try new things and fight to stay in the competition.
Unfortunately, despite her hard work, this is the week we will have to say goodbye to Kristy Lee Cook. Her country style just wasn’t able to win over enough fans to get her a solid fan base and she just isn’t a great live performer. Kristy is my pick to go this week.
The American Idol Top 9
- David Archuleta, 17, Murray, UT
- Jason Castro, 20, Rockwall, TX
- David Cook, 25, Tulsa, OK
- Kristy Lee Cook, 24, Selma, OR
- Michael Johns, 29, Los Angeles, CA
- Ramiele Malubay, 20, Miramar, FL
- Syesha Mercado, 21, Miami, FL
- Carly Smithson, San Diego, CA
- Brooke White, 24, Van Nuys, CA
Chikezie Eze, 22, Inglewood, CA(Top 10)Amanda Overmyer, 23, Mulberry, IN(Top 11)David Hernandez, 24, Glendale, AZ(Top 12)
For a quick recap of each contestant from a slightly different perspective and to see who Jeff’s picks are, swing by Static ThinkBox and see what Jeff has to say about last night’s episode. As always, please remember that we make our picks independently and without knowing who the other is picking as the best and worst.
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Scotty Dub's last blog post..Layoffs coming in the financial industry
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Also, did you know the Cookmeister was rushed to the hsopital for extremely high blood pressure after the show?
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Not sure I agree that Michael Johns was the best performance of the night. He was pretty good, though.
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TR's last blog post..Asia'h Epperson Performs at Springfield
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TR's last blog post..Asia'h Epperson Performs at Springfield
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Carly's vocal performance was incredible. She does need some help, but if I can get past "Bean" and his horrid hair, you can get over Carly's lacking wardrobe choices.
Was very impressed with how well "Bean" & Michael handled being saddled with Dolly songs. They made lemonade, for sure.
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@Rob O. - I think I liked Syesha's performance because she did change the song and tailor it to fit her voice. I think we should keep in mind that this girl was pretty young when Whitney's version came out. I thought she did a really good job making it her own.
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Hope things works out for him.
The Trousered Ape's last blog post..American Idol (2008) - Week 5 - Top 3
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nicky's last blog post..Shopping picks.
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And I am so excited that David C cut his hair. Rock on!
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You can't walk out, dress like a clown, but sing awesome and expect people to respect you.
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I think Carly sings certain things very well. When she tries to hit some specific notes, however, I think her voice goes into some kind of tone that disagrees with me or something. I just don't care for it.
And I don't care for the way she looks. I've said all along that she should cover up her tattoos and speak as little as possible if she wants to win. I'm not trying to be mean. I'm just stating what I think would help her get votes.
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