American Idol: Top Twelve

I didn't realize it was Beatles night. This could be great, but it has the potential to be awful.
How exciting! I'm going to guess that David Archuleta is going to sing either "Yesterday" or "Hey, Jude." Simon did tell him to not be so gloomy, though, and I'm sure the robot follows instructions. So maybe not. Is it mean for me to call a 17 year old kid "the robot?" Probably.

Here we go:

Syesha Mercado. "Got to Get You Into My Life." I have liked Syesha since they started competing, but I thought this was really, really bad. I have a feeling that they will not ream her, but I think she was absolutely horrible. It sounded completely cruise ship and she sounded really flat throughout the song. I'm surprised that Simon was as nice as he was--I wonder if he is going to come back tomorrow and say he heard it back and was wrong. Yuck. But I do still like her.

Chikeze. "She's a Woman." I don't think Chikeze is the best singer, but I think he genuinely has fun on stage and it is really infectious. No one has ever been so blatantly happy to be on the show, except maybe Ricky Smith ("Hercules, Hercules, Hercules!").

Ramile Mulaby. "In My Life." I didn't look at her throughout much of this performance, and her voice is really quite pretty. But she doesn't have a ton of control and her physical presence on stage is is horrible. Her last note was really bad. And, as the judges said, it was boring.

Jason Castro. "If I Fell." This was a misstep--really cheesy and teen idolesque. And the arrangement was an absolute travesty to the song.

Carly Smithson. "Come Together." It sounded shrill in the beginning, although I did think it improved near the end. I feel like she has a certain phoniness about her, but maybe I'm wrong? And is it me, or did she look like an older Miley Cyrus? I really wasn't as enamored with her as the judges and audience, though.

David Cook. "Eleanor Rigby." I really hadn't liked him, but last week was really good. He always seems to want to do something a little snarky with songs, but it's all kind of obvious, which I really don't like. But I did really love last week! And this week was kind of all of those things mixed in. He has a good voice, but somehow it doesn't seem authentic. Gobo thinks a lot of the perceived phoniness has to do with the hair, and he might be right.

Brooke White. "Let It Be." Allowing them to play instruments really changes the show, especially for someone like Brooke. It really allows us to see an additional part of her performance--a part that makes the performance much better. I liked her again this week--like David, for the second week in a row. (After everyone else sang, I decided this was my favorite of the night.)

David Hernandez. "I Saw Her Standing There." Horrid. It was really hammy and he didn't even sound good.

Amanda Overmyer. "You Can't Do That." Ugh. I almost fast forwarded through it at one point. It wasn't good and it was really repetitive. It was supposed to be high energy, but it was still boring.

Michael Johns. "Across the Universe." I hated the last few notes. I thought he sounded good, but I think that's more because it's a good song. I have always thought that it was the most lyrically pretty Beatles song.

Kristy Lee Cook. "Eight Days a Week." The song was a bit frantic in pace, but I didn't think she sounded as bad as the judges thought.

David Archuleta. "We Can Work It Out." Could they pimp a contestant more than they do this kid? He sang last in week two, first in week three, and now last again in the fourth week.
But I guess that doesn't always help when the song is live and you forget your lines twice. And the dancing was all sorts of stiff and bad. The judges were finally critical, although I was surprised Randy didn't make a direct reference to his flubbed lines. Are the producers threatening the judges not to say anything bad about this guy?

Best of the night: Brooke, followed by David Cook and Chikeze.

Worst of the night: This is hard because there were really so many. Could we have a three-way tie between Jason Castro (sorry Bailey, but that arrangement was just awful and he was so cheesy), David Hernandez (horrible) and David Archuleta (flubbed lines on a super-familiar song, bad dancing, awkward performance)? And I know the judges like her, but if I never saw Amanda perform again, I wouldn't be sad.

Who will go home: Syesha (with Ramiele in the bottom two). I feel like Syesha is just really forgettable (which is odd, because I think she's super cute), and she really did sing poorly. Maybe not as bad as some of the others, but almost. And considering the others are fan favorites, that's enough to send her home.