American Idol - Week Five - 4/08/08

It was going to happen this season sooner or later, so appropriately enough, it fell on the “Idol Gives Back” week. This week, the contestants were asked to choose a song that inspires them. Inspirational songs were the theme of the evening, and though some excelled (David A., Jason), some completely surprised me (Kristy?!) some really disappointed me, considering their past performances. (David C., Brooke!) I found myself agreeing with the judges a lot this week, not on everything they said, but most of the things. They brought up good points and were pretty on target with their assessments.

This is all I’ll say about Idol Gives Back; say what you will about the show, about the contestants, the controversy, the genuine “reality” of the show, the awful group numbers, etc. But when you get right down to it, the type of exposure and connections this show has puts it into a great position to actually, truly “give back”. How many other reality competitions take the time to do this? The fact remains that the money they raise goes to dozens of great causes, and it’s great to see the popularity of a show being used to help people and children in need.

As most of you probably know, the Idol Gives Back show was taped on Sunday night at the Kodak theater, but will be broadcast tonight. Is it worth a watch? I would say yes, but only with the lucky ones of us who own a DVR and can fast forward the endless plugs, promotions and commercials you are sure to get bombarded with. Why do I say it’s worth a watch? For me, it’s mostly to see where this money is actually gonna go. I want to see who it is that is going to be receiving the money. Are there performances I would sit through and watch? I would say a few. (Daughtry comes to mind) Give it a watch. (besides, Top Chef doesn’t start until 10:00pm, so might as well no?)

Wow, I really babbled too much this week.
Let’s get to what you came here for; the performances:

1.MICHAEL JOHNS – sung "Dream On” by Aerosmith – The first performer of the evening had me agreeing with the judges to a degree. I think Michael sung this very well, though I agree that it wasn’t the best song choice for him. I just don’t see Johns as an Aerosmith guy, or rock guy of that genre. I see him more like a Michael Hutchence (the late former lead singer of INXS) genre, then a rock guy. It doesn’t mean his performance wasn’t good, because it was definitely sung well. It just didn’t fit or suit him in my opinion. I don’t know about him this week. I could easily pick him for one of my bottom three picks, but he could easily be replaced with the next contestant. I choose Michael as one of my bottom three picks, but he will share this position with….

2.SYESHA MERCADO – sung "I Believe” by Fantasia – Yep. I think she’s the one who will share Michael’s bottom three spot. I don’t mean she’s my second choice, I just mean, you can switch out Michael or Syesha in that first bottom three stool. I didn’t think Syesha sung this song badly, however, what is this girl’s constant songs that are too big for her? Randy pointed out that last week it was Whitney, this week it was Fantasia. The judges always say this, and I say it too; unless you’re gonna sing the heck out of a song made famous by a diva, then you will always look bad. She chose to change it up and make it her own a little, but I still don’t see the real Syesha here. We’re down to eight, and I still don’t know what kind of singer she is. This is due to the fact that she constantly picks songs by bigger divas. Perhaps it’s a bit of arrogance on her part? I don’t know, but her lack of giving a “wow” performance, coupled with somewhat “ehh” reviews from the judges, along with the problem of audience connection, could easily make her another bottom three pick. Michael or Syesha, one of them will sit in that first stool.

3.JASON CASTRO – sung "Somewhere Over The Rainbow” as performed by Israel "Iz" Ka'ano'i Kamakawiwo'ole – I have always LOVED, loved this version of the song. I first heard it at the end of the movie 50 First Dates, (one of my fav movies, though I like almost anything Drew (Barrymore) is in…but I digress) though the song itself was released many years earlier. To borrow a phrase from Simon, Jason performed it brilliantly. Not only did it sound perfect, he added his own little “Jasoniatic” runs to make the song his own a little. (that’s right, I just made up that word. Bite me, Webster’s dictionary!) I’m glad to see Jason come back from mediocre performances from the past 2 weeks, and I may be tempted to download the studio version of Jason’s performance, because I liked it that much. (so far I only downloaded one other performance, which was Brooke White’s studio version of “Let It Be”) By far, Jason is safe this week.

4.KRISTY LEE COOK – sung “Anyway” by Martina McBride – I want to say upfront that I’m about to write Kristy’s review through gritted teeth. I really wanted to hate the performance, mostly because Kristy should not have lasted this long. But darn it, I need to remain somewhat objective, and give props where it’s due. Saying that, Kristy, I give you props. Smart smart choice this week. Not only did you pick the perfect song to fit the genre of music you do well in, but you actually sung it well. It wasn’t as fantastic and great as Paula made it out to be (does anyone even listen to her comments anymore?). I’m glad Simon gave the audience a reality check and said, it wasn’t that great, but the song choice was spot on. Ugh, I can’t believe I’m going to say this yet again, but I think Kristy is safe this week. (Note, I was gritting my teeth so much when I wrote that sentence, I chipped a tooth. Thanks, Kristy.)

5.DAVID COOK – sung "Innocent” by Our Lady Peace – I want to start off saying that if you’ve been reading these reviews from the beginning, you know I have become a fan of David. I like the chances he takes that seem to pay off week after week. This was by far, the weakest performance I ever saw from him, including Hollywood week. I thought this was no where near his past performances, which I think made it stand out more as an oddball performance. I can think of at least 5 other inspirational off the top of my head that would have suited him more then his song choice. While I doubt David is gonna go home, I think this performance will put him in the bottom three, so saying that he will be sharing the second stool with someone else this week in my choices for my bottom three picks. (just like Syesha/Michael before).

6.CARLY SMITHSON – sung "The Show Must Go On” by Queen – I really am on the fence about Carly. I don’t think she is a bad performer per se, but she has very odd song choices sometimes. This song just did not suit her at all. I don’t think she sang it well, and at some spots, she was very pitchy. (God, I can’t believe I just said that…those judges are influencing me more then I thought) I am worried for Carly, mostly because she has yet to give us a “wow” performance, just as Ramiele failed to do week after week. In my opinion, I think Carly has a much better voice then Ramiele, but she fails due to her song choices. Part me if afraid of saying that Carly is one of my bottom three picks. (not sharing the stool with anyone…she is definitely one of my picks). So why am I afraid of choosing her for the bottom three? Have you seen her husband in the audience? That guy scares me. Cool tattoos, but the way he looks at the stage is creepy. Is it just me?

7.DAVID ARCHULETA – sung "Angels” by Robbie Williams – My friend Dawn’s “pork chop” is definitely back on top! What a fantastic performance, sung with both maturity and skill. I liked that fact that he stuck by the piano, and didn’t do anything dramatic like getting up once the band started in. It was classy in a way, showing that David can emote whatever emotion that a song needs. He finally added a couple of “David-isms”, as randy pointed out, and that’s what I think put his performance over as one of the best of the night. As Simon said, David is going to sail right through to next week.

8.BROOKE WHITE - sung "You’ve Got A Friend” by Carole King – I love Brooke. I love her sound, and I like the type of music she chooses….usually. This had to be one of her worst performances, and a very poor song choice. To start off, I hate this song. I never liked it, whether Carole King or James Taylor is singing it. I find it boring, dragged out and monotonous. Brooke’s version was no exception. I hate doing this to one of my favorite performers, but I need to be objective. This was not good, and I think this performance has me picking her sharing the last pick I make for the bottom three with David Cook. Switch out either of them in that second stool.

My Bottom Three Picks: For the first stool, switch out either Michael Johns or Syesha Mercado, for the second stool, switch out either David Cook or Brooke White, and finally on the last stool by herself, Carly Smithson.

My Pick to be Eliminated Tonight: The only one who really needs to worry is Carly Smithson. Her lack of “wow” performances has put her in critical danger. So she’s my pick to be eliminated tonight, though I won’t be surprised if Syesha is eliminated either.

So what do you guys think? Agree? Disagree? Let’s chat it up!