This week (just yesterday actually) the Top 6 contestants had to perform songs composed by the king of broadway himself: Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. Apparently the producers of the show have run out of ideas, because they're now resorting to theme weeks that are bound to cause trouble. First Mariah Carey week (where contestants face comparisons to the original), and now Lloyd Webber week (when Simon calls a performance "broadway-ish", it means that one isn't really relevant to music). Luckily, the night turned out to be better than the corny trainwreck I predicted it would be, though it wasn't great. This show just isn't the same since Michael left. And poor Kristy Lee Cook (who I was never a fan of) got kicked off after her best performance (it wasn't great but still). Anyways, here's the report card:
1. Syesha Mercado - "One Rock N' Roll Too Many". Aside from the fact that she kept pronouncing "many" as "men-AY", I actually liked Syesha (for once). She was perhaps the smartest contestant this week, because she chose a Lloyd Webber song that A) not many people are familiar with, and B) allowed her to be really lively and expressive. I was certainly a nice reprieve after three weeks of watching her sing on her ass the whole time. Towards the end she did remind me why I still don't like her; one of the final big notes sounded flat and thin (but apparently being loud makes that okay in Randy's mind). I also give her bonus points for getting rid of that explosive afro hairdo. Grade: B+
2. Jason Castro - "Memory" from Cats. Immediately following the smartest song choice of the night was the dumbest choice of the night. I gave Jason the benefit of the doubt at first, but after 30 seconds the flaws became obvious. His vocals lacked the raw emotion that the song is built upon, and it came across as laid back (hmmmm...kind of like ALL HIS PERFORMANCES INCLUDING THE GOOD ONES) instead of being passionate. He chose a song that people are SO familiar with (it finds its way onto many a Top 100 songs list) and tried to "Castro-fy" it. Unfortunately, Castrofication was the last song that "Memory" needed, and Simon nailed it when he said, "that was the longest two minutes of my life". It wasn't terrible, mainly because he sounded alright, but the gravitas and understanding of the words was MIA. Grade: C
3. Brooke White - "You Must Love Me" from Evita (movie version only). This seemed like a perfect fit for Brooke, and honestly I think it could have been. Then the unthinkable happened: she stopped 10 seconds in, and started over. For the SECOND time in the competition, Brooke had an early memory malfunction and it made for an awkward few seconds as she regrouped and started over. That said, I give Brooke some credit. First, even though some of her vocals were off, she did manage to capture the emotion of the song, and it saved the performance from being a train wreck. Had she not fumbled at the start, this could have been one of her better performances. I just hope America doesn't let her mistake send her packing this week. On another random thought, this song won Lloyd Webber an Oscar. Hmmm...maybe the producers should consider a "Best Original Song Winner" theme...... Grade: B-
4. David Archuletta - "Think of Me" from Phantom of the Opera. Another gender swapping performance, although this time it worked. I'll admit, for the first 15 seconds I was writhing in my seat as I listened to the song get a complete makeover, but once that passed I really liked what Archuletta did with the song. He finally ended his streak of boring performances! Grade: A-
5. Carly Smithson - "Jesus Christ Superstar" - from Jesus Christ Superstar. Carly left me puzzled this week. I liked what she did with the verses, but when she reached the chorus everything fell apart. The panting, the pauses, the back-and-forth-lyric-juggling with the backup singers...none of it worked; it broke the flow and melody of the song. I have to take more points off for Carly's renewed attempts at the Vocal Olympics. Wherever she could squeeze in an arbitrary "Oh!" or "yeeeeeah!", by God she did. Blurg. Grade: B
6. David Cook - "Music of the Night" from Phantom of the Opera. This was actually the song I'd hoped Michael would sing, but I was happy enough to have his grunge-rock counterpart do it in his unfortunate absence. It wasn't great, but I really liked it.....until the very very last note. I understand that the contestants need to "put their own stamp" on a song, but they also need to know where in the song to do it. Sorry David, but changing the final note from a slow, fading "niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight" into a rock n' roll power note ("NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!") was just wrong. Grade: B+
Prediction for tonight:
- Bottom Three: Jason, Brooke, Carly
- Going Home: Jason or Brooke
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