American Idol: Top Ten

Tonight is "sing a song from your birth year" night. Bailey sent me an e-mail telling me she is "against how young everyone is." I have to agree. Here we go:

Ramiele Mulaby. "Alone." How could she sing this after Carrie did so memorably? And she's wearing high-waisted shorts and knee-high scrunchy boots? She didn't sound good, she didn't look good. I'm surprised none of the judges mentioned Carrie, but regardless, they didn't like it.

Jason Castro. "Fragile." I could barely hear him as he sang. The performance was kind of exactly what Randy said--nice, but nothing really exciting.

Syesha Mercado. "If I Were Your Woman." Her voice sounded good, if a little shrieky at times. She is a better performer than many on the show, but the emotion she shows during the song doesn't seem very genuine--it all seems a little too much like an act: sad face, determined face, finger wagging at imaginary person, happy face, and so on.

Chikeze. "If Only For One Night." Ah, Chikeze. Or, as Gobo calls him: "How Is He Still In This?" He sounded okay but I really didn't like the song and it wasn't anything special. Just boring. So far, not a great night on Idol.

Brooke White. "Every Breath You Take." I thought Brooke sounded good, but she didn't have the creepiness the song requires in her performance. It is, after all, a song about stalking someone. Much like the judges, I liked the beginning when she sang with just her piano more than I liked the end. Oh, and her hair looks really good straight.

Michael Johns. "We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions." In the Queen catalogue, this is one song, but if you're only going to sing tiny bits of each on AI it is kind of pointless to stick them together awkwardly, without the original bridge. And it was even more pointless for Michael to do that because "We Will Rock You" did nothing for his voice or performance at all. I did like "We Are the Champions," but his voice cracked at one point when he was singing the higher notes.

Carly Smithson. "Total Eclipse of the Heart." Let's see if she flubs the lines like Jessica Sierra. She didn't flub the lines. And she sounded good, but I just didn't think it was particularly great in any way.

David Archuleta. "You're the Voice." Ugh. Ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh. Why must he choose another "message song?" His mom probably told him it was a good idea. Ugh.

Kristy Lee Cook. "God Bless the U.S.A." God why? WHY?! When Gobo heard the song title he told me to fast forward. But I can't disappoint my bloggers like that. Instead, I'll share a story with you. My friend Scott, husband of Carol Seaver, received the single of this song for his law school graduation in 2002. Why? No clue. Could there be a more random law school graduation gift? I can't think of one. As for Kristy, her voice actually sounded pretty good for the first time, but it doesn't forgive that song choice, despite the judges' compliments. Perhaps it's a smart choice in that the viewers are all gung-ho America, but that doesn't make it okay.

David Cook. "Billie Jean." I'm counting on David Cook to sing something good because this has been a pretty disappointing night. And this was...interesting. David definitely has a penchant for changing up songs we all know and love. Sometimes I love what he does ("Hello"), sometimes I really don't ("I Think I Love You"). In this case, I liked the beginning, thought the "people always told me" part was just absolutely great, and didn't really love the chorus ("Billie Jean is not my lover") because it sounded a little awkward. But in all, I like it, and I like that he does something with well-known songs every time he sings. I wonder how much David changes the song and how much the Idol behind-the-scenes musicians suggest changes to him. I'm going to guess that David deserves a lot of the credit because no one else has altered songs as consistently as he does. Now if he would do something about his hair, we would be in business. ETA: In the comments someone points out that Ryan said David was singing the Chris Cornell version of Billie Jean. I usually fast forward through Ryan, so I wasn't aware of this.

Who will go home: Chikeze. Who I fervently wish would go home: David Archuleta. Best of the (pretty boring) night: David Cook.