American Idol - Week Four - 4/01/08

I’ll start off this week’s review by saying I’m not a huge fan of country music.

I don’t hate it, though. On my iPod you’ll find a few songs by the Dixie Chicks, Kenny Rogers, Shania Twain, etc. And I’ll be the first to admit, the only Dolly Parton songs I knew were the staples that we all know. (“9 to 5” , “Islands in the Stream”)

But I found myself entertained for the most part. Because of my unfamiliarity of all the songs, I decided to do something different for this week’s review. Last night, after Idol was over, I decided to download the original versions of all of the songs performed on Idol last night. (off of Limewire of course!) In order for me to properly give a good and fair critique, I needed to hear what the originals sounded like, so after hearing them once last night, and again this morning, I feel confidant I can give you all a fair assesement of last night’s performances.
Saying that, I didn’t think it was as awful as I expected it to be. Country nights in Idol’s past seasons came up diasterous for some contestants, but this year, I didn’t think they were as bad as past seasons. Maybe it was Dolly?

I find it silly that Simon said he loves country music, when it’s been proven in past seasons that he hardly ever gives positive feedback to contestants on country night. (Last night as no exception) I found myself disagreeing with Simon more then once last night, but I attribute that to the theme of the night. Simon just isn’t a country boy.

I think you guys heard enough of my prattling, so let’s get to the performances:


1.BROOKE WHITE - sung "Jolene” – I didn’t think Brooke did that badly on this tune. However, after listening to the original, I don’t think she did anything new with the song. I love Brooke, but it sounded the same to me, so I think this is probably one of her weaker performances. (though I think the “Here Comes the Sun” performance was a little worse then this). Would she be in danger? Possibly, but I’d like to think the positive reviews from the other two judges will get her by this week. I’m gonna call her safe.

2.DAVID COOK – sung "Little Sparrow” – David continues to impress me. He’s smart, and he takes chances. Last night, David put his own arrangement to a song that Paula said she had never heard by a guy. After I heard the original, I would have said there is no way a male singer could pull this off. I would have been wrong. In my opinion, the original pales in comparison to the new version David did last night. He turned this Parton tune into a certifiable rock ballad. I disagree with Simon when he said it wasn’t as good as last week. I think it was better then last week, because this time it was an original arrangement, as opposed to him borrowing from someone else. I may not like his type of music, but I got to give this guy his props. Truly inspiring and smart, and most definitely safe this week. (keep this up, and he’s gonna sail to the finale easy)

3.RAMIELE MALUBAY – sung "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind?” – Ramiele is in trouble. I don’t think this was a bad performance per se, but this just did not rank high as compared to everyone else’s performances last night. She sung it well, and I don’t think she faltered too much. The problem is, this would be one of her final chances to “wow” us, and she didn’t. She didn’t do anything different to the song, so she falls in the same category as Brooke. I had such high hopes for her when she started on Idol, but she has done nothing but struggle from the beginning. It’s sad, because you can hear how strong her voice is, it’s just that it didn’t go anywhere. Add her lackluster performance to a couple of harsh comments by the judges, and you can see why Ramiele is my first choice for my bottom three picks this week.

4.JASON CASTRO – sung "Traveling Thru” – Ok, this is where I diverged from the judges a little. I actually liked his version of this song. This was one of the only songs that sounded vaquely familiar, and when I downloaded the original, I was reminded that it was featured in the movie Transamerica (a truly awesome movie, but I digress). Jason did actually do something a little different with it, and I think his voice was perfectly suited to the song. It sounded great, and I can see that Jason took Simon’s advance seriously last week, because I saw focus from him this week. Was it enough? I don’t think the viewing audience had the same appreciation for Jason’s version as I did, so I think that’s what will make him my second choice for my bottom three picks.

5.CARLY SMITHSON – sung "Here You Come Again” – I found this to be one of Carly’s weaker performances, though I have to admit, that power note towards the end was amazing. I found I was bored, and though she sang the song well, I wasn’t blown away. Carly has a great voice, but except for that power note, I don’t think this song showcased how good she is. Maybe blame it on the song choice, but I don’t think this was good enough at this stage. And as for Simon’s comment on the way Carly was dressed, I have to say I partly agree. PARTLY. Whoever is dressing her is just not giving her very good advice. Her outfit last night looked almost….frumpy. That tattoo is distracting, and I think the problem is you expect a tattoo on a real rock singer, singing a rock song. Coming out and singing a ballad, with that tattoo showing…it didn’t mix well. Wardrobe choices aside, her performance was mediocre, so I think she will be my final choice for my bottom three picks.

6.DAVID ARCHULETA – sung "Smoky Mountain Memories” – Okay, finally, the David I remember. Let’s forget about the absolutely weird, strange, and downright bad song choice of last week. This week, not only did David pick the right song, he sung it masterfully. His voice totally fit the song, so well in fact that after listening to the original, I thought it could have easily been a current single. You could feel the emotion in his voice, and he put his all into the song. Finally, as my friend Dawn calls him, her “little porkchop” got it right. Totally safe and on to a new week.

7.KRISTY LEE COOK – sung " Coat of Many Colors" – Kristy is a smart girl. Not as vocally talented as the rest of the contestants, but smart in her choices of song lately. Last week she picked the perfect song, and this week, though not as good as last week’s song, was still a spot on choice. But let’s face it, did we really expect Kristy to do bad this week? This was her niche, the country night that has become a staple of every Idol season so far. She’s just lucky country night fell now, before she was eliminated. Love her, hate her, but you know for a fact she’s safe this week. She didn’t sing that badly, and you can chalk that up to singing in the genre that she does best in. Hate to admit it, and I say it through gritted teeth: safe this week.

8.SYESHA MERCADO – sung "I Will Always Love You” – This was VERY chancy. I mean, I’ll be the first to admit, I didn’t even know that this wasn’t a Whitney original. So I heard the Parton version to give myself perspective and understand Syesha’s version of the song. And you know what? I liked it. I think Syesha’s power note was great, and though I see the problem being compared to Whitney, I didn’t think she sung it that badly. I look at it this way; the Whitney version was far better then the Dolly version; the Syesha version was not as good as the Whitney version, but still better then the Dolly version. I think I can finally say that Syesha is safe, regardless of Simon’s comments.

9.MICHAEL JOHNS – sung "It's All Wrong, But It's All Right” – One of Michael’s best performances? I didn’t think this was quite the level that the judges suggested. Was it because Idol went into overtime, so they rushed their judegments? I mean, I don’t think I heard the performance they heard. I didn’t think it was horrible, not by a long shot. But I didn’t think it deserved as much praise as they gave it. To borrow from Randy, it was “aight for me”. I heard the original, and though I liked his take on this song, I didn’t think it stood out that much. He’s safe though, because there is only one contestant who truly disappointed last night. (see below)

My Bottom Three Picks: Ramiele Malubay, Jason Castro and Carly Smithson.

My Pick to be Eliminated Tonight: The only one of my bottom three picks that truly deserves to go home now is Ramiele. She has been given plenty of chances to wow us, and she just has not done it. A mediocre performance, topped with bad comments and weeks of “no-wow” performances has made this Ramiele’s last performance.

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