American Idol 2008 – Top 11 Performance (3/18/08) Recaps

Week five of American Idol live performances find the Top 11 contestants trying to up their games to try to stand out among the crowd and make the prestigious Top 10. Unfortunately, more of the eleven sounded like they were just trying to skate by than they were trying to win the whole thing. It wasn’t an impressive display of talent.

After last week’s relatively poor performances of Beatles…er…Lennon and McCartney songs I was looking forward to the contestants getting a chance to change it up this week and show us something new. Instead the producers decided that another week of Lennon and McCartney…er…Beatles songs would be just the thing to get our fingers voting. I haven’t checked, but how many of last nights’ song were NOT written by either John Lennon or Paul McCartney? I’m betting not many. I didn’t see the point in doing another week of Beatles song. Oh yeah, it was the massive ratings from last week. Got it.

Well, we all watched so the producers listened and gave us more of what we apparently like. I can’t say that I personally cared for it much. Instead of having 11 strong performers fighting for first place I saw a couple of strong performances, a couple of weak performances and a whole lot of battling for middle of the pack status. Needless to say, this week was a tough week to rank.

The American Idol 2008 Top 12

1. David Archuleta – David recovered just fine from his dismal performance last week. Once again he was spot on perfect with pretty much everything. It didn’t take much to shine this week, but David A manage to make most of the others look really bad. My only complaint, if you can call it that, is that I still have no idea what kind of music this kid would make. I mean, has his voice even changed yet?
   
   

   David Archuleta – The Long and Winding Road

   [youtube 3NWBafuQ9qA]
   

 

2. David Cook – Once again David C finishes a strong second. I actually thought he did much better last week. In fact, I was actually agreeing with a lot of what the judges were saying to him immediately after her performed. I thought the voicebox thing was a bit much. After listening to the other contestants perform, however, it was obvious that David was one of the few who actually did his thing and did it well. He’s a seasoned performer who’s going to do well whether he wins this show or not.
   
   

   David Cook – Day Tripper

   [youtube JgtG3046VM8]
   

 

3. Syesha Mercado – I wasn’t crazy about the idea of anyone singing this song because it’s been done so many times I really thought they’d just be taking the easy way out and choosing something they could rip off from someone else. I was pleasantly surprised to hear Syesha’s version, however. She managed to change the arrangement and delivery enough to make it seem fresh and she did it while sounding and looking beautiful. A vastly improved performance from last week.
   
   

   Syesha Mercado – Yesterday

   [youtube i8gmZcIsyDE]
   

 

4. Carly Smithson – I didn’t care for the song choice, or her explanation of it, much at all (not to mention that hideous blouse). There’s just no denying her vocal talent, though. She sang the song almost perfectly. I’m still looking for reasons to like her, but I’ve got to give credit where credit is due.
   
   

   Carly Smithson – Blackbird

   [youtube coZLdX0VxMk]
   

 

5. Jason Castro – He’s definitely charming, even when he’s singing a half French song that belongs in a musical. I like him and I like his voice. I’m not sure I liked his song choice. I don’t agree with Simon’s statement that we’d turn it off if we heard it on the radio because, frankly, I’d turn off almost EVERYTHING I hear on American Idol if I heard it on the radio (theme weeks kinda suck in my opinion). Still, Jason managed to sing the song almost flawlessly and I didn’t think he looked as uncomfortable without his guitar as Paula suggested.
   
   

   Jason Castro – Michelle

   [youtube ueym6ZAby6g]
   

 

6. Brooke White – Brooke took a huge gamble with this song because it really took her out of her comfort zone and away from the kind of music she’s been doing. Unfortunately, the gamble didn’t really pay off. She’s still cute and appealing, but the whole thing with the perky song and the yellow dress with the yellow lights was all a bit saccharine for my taste. She can do much better than this and has pretty much every time before now.
   
   

   Brooke White – Here Comes the Sun

   [youtube 7WXpZzHr6HE]
   

 

7. Michael Johns – I still (somehow) like Michael despite his persistence in making bad song choices. Simon was absolutely right when he said the song was too complicated to break down into a one minute and forty second song. It just didn’t work well. The arrangement was poor and Michael missed several notes. It was another weak showing. I wouldn’t be surprised if Michael was an upset choice for the bottom three this week.
   
   

   Michael Johns – A Day In The Life

   [youtube TVPskbVDQZY]
   

 

8. Chikezie – The harmonica segue didn’t work. That’s really what messed this song up. I’m not sure he really needed to do the first part slow and then go into the second half the way he did. I actually thought the second half of the song was pretty good – kind of catchy. The harmonica did come off as gimmicky, though, and that’ll probably hurt him with a lot of voters. I still think he’s exciting to watch because you never know what he’s going to bring to the stage.
   
   

   Chikezie – I’ve Just Seen a Face

   [youtube g9E5oyN7eHI]
   

 

9. Ramiele Malubay – Ramiele is cute and she has a lot of talent – I’m not sure performing on stage is one of them. She looked really uncomfortable dancing around on the stage. Her song choice probably wasn’t the strongest she could have made but it was a happy song and I thought it wasn’t terribly bad. I actually liked the harmonicas on it. Still, though, she’s a better singer than the song allowed her to show.
   
   

   Ramiele Malubay – I Should Have Known Better

   [youtube HzheHU84k0k]
   

 

10. Kristy Lee Cook – I’ve been pulling for Kristy since the beginning, but I’m afraid that it’s getting harder and harder to defend her. I want to like her song choices and I want to like what she’s singing but she just isn’t impressing me. I actually thought the country sound in her voice suited this song in parts but Kristy seemed to have problems hitting the lower notes. Since I could barely find a low resolution copy of the performance on YouTube, I’m guessing she’s not got a huge fan following right now.
    
    

    Kristy Lee Cook – You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away

    [youtube DWOSMnCoVi0]
    

 

11. Amanda Overmyer – Is anyone who reads this column surprised by me placing Amanda dead last once again after last night’s performance? Terrible. At least the judges finally said something besides how much they love her. I guess they’re finally getting tired of her one trick pony show as well. I can only hope that her going first in the performances, doing another awful rendition of a Beatles song, and uttering a curse word on air will somehow be enough to finally free us of the mess that is Amanda. I can hope.
    
    

    Amanda Overmyer – Back in the U.S.S.R.

    [youtube AvO3W_4Ad4Q]
    

Who’s Going Home?

Last week Syesha Mercado, David Hernandez, and Kristy Lee Cook were in the bottom three. Since David H went home we know he won’t be in the bottom. Syesha busted out this week with a great performance so I think we can solidly say that she saved her self from the bottom of the pile this week.

Unfortunately, for Kristy Lee Cook, I don’t think she did nearly well enough to save herself from another trip to the bottom three. It doesn’t appear that she has a solid fan base that’ll vote for her no matter how well she does, hence the trip to the bottom three last week. She’ll be there again.

I actually think that Amanda has a solid shot at being in the bottom three this week (for the reasons I mentioned above). I’m hoping that people are finally waking up and seeing what I’ve been saying all along. Unless the whole “vote for the worst” thing is bigger than I think, she should be in the bottom three this week.

My final choice for the bottom three isn’t as easy. I mentioned that I think Michael Johns could actually end up in the bottom three in a big surprise. It wouldn’t be unheard of for a popular contestant to make the bottom three on American Idol. Ramiele didn’t do well, but I picked her to go last week and got burned by the Filipino support she has. Chikezie didn’t help himself out much this week, but I don’t know if he did well enough last week to win over some new fans that might keep him in the competition. It’s tough.

I’m all over the place on this one, but I think the contestants who will be in the bottom three this week are Kristy Lee Cook, Amanda Overmyer, and Chikezie.

As much as I hate to say it, I think Kristy Lee Cook will be the contestant voted out this week.

The American Idol Top 11

• David Archuleta, 17, Murray, UT
• Jason Castro, 20, Rockwall, TX
• David Cook, 25, Tulsa, OK
• Kristy Lee Cook, 24, Selma, OR
• Chikezie Eze, 22, Inglewood, CA
• Michael Johns, 29, Los Angeles, CA
• Ramiele Malubay, 20, Miramar, FL
• Syesha Mercado, 21, Miami, FL
• Amanda Overmyer, 23, Mulberry, IN
• Carly Smithson, San Diego, CA
• Brooke White, 24, Van Nuys, CA
• 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.