I was pretty sure going in that last night was going to be a tough night on American Idol.The remaining 7 contestants sang songs by Mariah Carey. Mariah has on of the biggest and most spectacular voices in the music industry today. So, I really thought the idols would have a tough time singing her music. I think because of her voice and how popular she is, that makes it difficult to do covers of her music.
As alway, David Archuleta did a great job singing. He didn’t really do anything special with the song but, it sounded great. Likewise, I thought Carly Smithson did a great job of singing I Can’t Live (If Living Is Without You) but, she basically just sang the Mariah version and paled in comparison. Syesha did better than I expected. As I have said before, I don’t think her voice is as big as she thinks it is but, she did a creditable job on Vanishing last night. Brooke White is more suited to singing ballads than big hits (at least I like those better for her). She just did a quiet version of Hero on the piano. It certainly wasn’t a killer/best of performance though. Kristy Lee Cook, took Mariah Carey’s Forever and added a country sound to it. I don’t think it will be widely popular with a pop audience but, with a country fans, I think she will do quite well. David Cook was just absolutely incredible last night. He did a totally unique and original version of Always Be My Baby which was probably the best performance so far this season. Whether he wins this season or not (and I think he might) he is going to have a huge career. Jason Castro did a cool version of I Don’t Want To Cry.
With the exception of David Cook none of the other performances really stood out for me (maybe I would add Jason’s). When I was thinking about the show last night, that was the one performance which stood out in my mind. Of the other six performances some were better than others but, Cook’s was the one true stand out. As the competition begin to narrow, just singing a good cover of a song isn’t going to be good enough. All of the seven remaining singers have great voices. The competition, is now more about using your voice to stand out as an individual with a unique sound than it is who has the best voice. Based on that, I think that the bottom three tonight are going to be Carly Smithson, Brooke White, and Kristy Lee Cook. I put Kristy Lee Cook in the bottom three not because her song didn’t have a unique sound but because, I’m not sure that sound is going to resonate with enough of the audience to garner her the votes she needs. At the end of the night, I think it will be Brooke going home this week.
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Posted on: Wednesday, April 16, 2008
April 17th, 2008 at 3:28 am
loved your article. the way you praised david cook, as he well deserved, and your prediction that brooke would go home, but of course we weren’t that lucky. perhaps next week.