My favorite studio recordings:
David Cook – Always Be My Baby
David Cook – Innocent
Carly Smithson – Here you come again
Michael Johns – Across the universe
Michael Johns – A day in the life

Thanks for the corrections. I think the feeble vessel that is my brain is now officially overflooded with Idol info.

hope David Hernandez has some kind of career that doesn’t involved delivering drinks in his birthday suit.

Still “No Light My Fire” but me…sigh……showing my age (half-dead broads for Cookie!)

Also: I have nothing against any of these kids personally, and my dislike of Carly ain’t based on anything but my eardrums. She has a great vocal instrument, and doesn’t seem to know how to use it without just turning it on and blasting. I like shading, nuance, variety in a singer, and didn’t hear enough of it from her.

My other favorite performances from the Top 10, also just off the top of my head:

Chickezie: I Believe To My Soul, She’s A Woman, If Only For One Night (I was a Chickezie fan. Heh.)

Ramiele: You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me

Michael: Go Your Own Way, Across The Universe, A Day In The Life (I didn’t know the lyrics, anyway, so I didn’t care about the flub), It’s All Wrong But It’s All Right, Dream On

KLC: Anyway

Carly: Come Together, Blackbird, Here You Come Again

Brooke: You’re So Vain, Love Is A Battlefield, You Must Love Me (after the lyric flub), I Am I Said

Jason: Daydream, Hallelujah, Travelin’ Thru, SOTR, I Don’t Wanna Cry, September Morn (Yep, I may be the only who liked it. Heh. :tongue1_tb:)

Syesha: Me And Mr(s). Jones, Vanishing (I’m not sure I liked liked it, but I remember it, so I must have. lol), One Rock and Roll Too Many

Archie: Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me, Imagine (the finale one; I have always liked Archie’s voice but I didn’t really pay much attention to him in the beginning because it seemed like a given then that he was going to win)

Cookie: Happy Together, Hello, Little Sparrow, Billie Jean, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, Dream Big (yep, yep, I liked it!), The World I Know

My list is so long already, anyway, so I’ll just let it all out and add some more:

- one of Asia’h's songs (I can’t remember the title right now)
- Alexandrea’s Spinning Wheel and If You Leave Me Now
- Josiah’s Grace Kelly

My favorite studio recordings:

- almost all of Jason’s (Jason is obviously my crack, heh), especially Travelin’ Thru
- Michael’s Across The Universe, A Day In The Life, IAWBIAR, Dream On
- Carly’s Here You Come Again (love, love, love this), Come Together
- Brooke’s Let It Be, I Am I Said
- Chickezie’s If Only For One Night
- Archie’s The Long And Winding Road
- Cookie’s ABMB, Little Sparrow, Innocent (I want a studio version of Dream Big!!! lol)

*whew*

à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Sniff. You didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t read my list. LOL. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ 

Or mine! LOL

Sorry ladies! Obviously my reading comprehension skills aren’t what they used to be. The situation has been rectified, and I have studied your lists thoroughly. And of course, I think you’re both brilliant.

1. David Cook – Hello … Cookie had me at “Hello”. Not necessarily my absolute favourite Cook performance but this was the one that made me sit up and take notice. Before this week, I just thought he had a nice voice for an emo rocker type.

2. David Archuleta – Smoky Mountain Memories … One of the few performances this season that actually gave me chills.

3. Syesha Mercado – Tobacco Road … An early performance but one of her best; she comes across more naturally and less calculated than in later performances.

4. Jason Castro – Daydream … Quintessential JC – a pitch perfect performance.

5. Brooke White – Love Is A Battlefield … Acoustic Pat Benatar – who would’ve thunk?

6. Carly Smithson – Crazy On You … Carly’s a perfect fit for the Heart songbook.

7. Kristy Lee Cook – Faithfully … One of the few KLC performances that I really liked.

8, Michael Johns – It’s All Wrong But It’s Alright … One of his few performances that didn’t come across like a copy (albeit high quality copies) of the original.

9. Ramiele Malubay – I Should Have Known Better … Fun, uptempo and sassy.

10. Chikezie – She’s A Woman … Probably the only performance of his that I liked but what a performance!

11. Amanda Overmyer – I Hate Myself For Loving You … She took control and owned this performance.

12. David Hernandez – Papa Was A Rolling Stone … He wasn’t long in the competition but this performance still stands out as one of the best of the entire season.

…and 3 more:

13. David Archuleta – Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me … He saved one of his best performances for top 2 week, reminding everyone why he deserved to be there.

14. David Cook – Always Be My Baby … Rockin’ out on Mariah Carey – ‘nuf said!

15. Carly Smithson – Come Together … Her vocals are spot on; it was a toss-up between this and Crazy On You for my favourite Carly performance.

Amanda = none

Brooke White = Let it Be, Love is a Battlefield*

Carly = Here You Come Again *

Chickezee = She’s a Woman *

David A = Stand By Me

David C = Hello, Billie Jean*

Jason = All* except MeeShell & WSTS

KLC = None

MJ = IAWBITAR*,

Ramiele = None

WOW MJ, you really hate Carly, huh?! Even people who donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t like her would admit to loving one of her songs on AI;

Actually, even if there was a Top 25 performances, I can’t think of any song of Carly’s I would put on the list.

When I heard David Hernandez sing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Papa Was a Rolling Stone,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  I thought he would be in the TOP 10 Tour. However, I didn’t think Amanda or Kristy would be there. I sincerely believe AI will use David in some kind of capacity.

My mind is brainwashed since I have a CD with many of Jason’s songs and I have been playing it 4-5 times a day. So, my list will include several of Jason’s memorable songs. I do like “Forever in Blue Jeans” and the studio version of MTM is really good.

2. Always Be My Baby — David Cook — The most creative song of the year. This one got me onto itunes looking to buy.

3. Music of the Night — David Cook — Beautiful curveball.

4. Imagine — David Archuleta (semifinals) — I loved it when I saw it. I got tired of the message songs and the additions of runs to songs that I preferred to be simple, but this was lovely.

5. Hello — David Cook — Made you sit up and take notice.

6. Let It Be — Brooke White — Beautiful and pure. I wish that she hadn’t had the crisis of confidence later in the season, because so many of her early performances were great.

7. The World I Know — David Cook — The vocals on this are so lovely. I never really liked this song before, but I love this version. Plus, it forced Simon to eat crow. It deserves bonus points just for that.

8. Over the Rainbow — Jason Castro — The only real highlight of Idol Gives Back, to me. I thought this was better sung than Hallelujah, so I put it higher.

9. First Time Ever I Saw Your Face — David Cook — Very hard song sung very well.

10. She’s a Woman – Chikezie — What a fantastic, entertaining, energetic performance. Michael and Carly have been singled out as ones who went too soon, but I had rather hoped that Chikezie would stay longer.

11. It’s All Wrong But It’s All Right — Michael Johns — Very nice, bluesy take on the song.

12. Little Sparrow — David Cook — One of the things that I liked about him was that he gave us a variety of songs. This was a key part of that.

13. Here You Come Again — Carly Smithson — I liked that she took it down a notch for this one.

14. Eleanor Rigby — David Cook — Few people have looked like they were enjoying performing before the Idol audience as much as he did during this song.

15 (tie). Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me — David Archuleta & I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For — David Cook. On the night, I honestly felt like it was a tie, and after a repeat viewing, still basically feel the same. Archie was a vocal powerhouse on this song and the runs actually made sense here, while Cookie’s was (I thought) better performed and his lower-key vocals made sense for this song. If I had to break the tie, I’d give it to Cookie because of degree of difficulty (iconic U2 song vs. song that has been successfully covered before), but they were both great.

If I went down to 25, I’d get a couple of Syesha’s, one of Ramiele’s, and one of David H’s, but nothing from Amanda or KLC.

Brooke White à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Let it Beà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ I thought she poured that well known overemotional side of her into this song and delivered an a amazing performance. I thought that everything worked for her on this and she was able to last as long as she did because of this one.

Brooke White à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Love is a Battlefieldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ I loved this rearrangement of the song and the fact that she took something that I never thought would work on her and made it work perfectly for herself.

Carly Smithson à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Crazy on Youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ To be able to take on a Heart song and be able to toss off those high notes like they were nothing made me think that a rocker girl had the chance to actually win this year.

Carly Smithson à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Here You Come Againà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ I thought this was the performance of the season. She took a well known up-tempo song slowed it down and built to that gorgeous final held out belt note. I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t think she got the credit she deserved for this one.

Carly Smithson à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Superstarà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ This finally felt like Carly stopped trying to please and just sang the heck out of this song. I have heard countless versions of this song and I think hers was one of the strongest out there. I thought that she looked was a Superstar that night and even better on results show.

Chikezie à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“I Belive To My Soulà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ I hadnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t care for Chikezie before this and thought that he picked a perfect song and delivered it as a standout performance.

David Archuleta à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Imagineà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ I remember before he became overly pimped (which was a second after he finished this song.) thinking that stupid thing that Randy says all the time about being only 17. I thought his breathy tone sounded beautiful on this and even though I wasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t a fan I knew this guaranteed him that he was going to go far on the show.

David Archuleta à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Stand By Meà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ I still remember thinking à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Oh Godà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s doing this song and then afterwards being blown away by everything that he did, from the sound of his voice and just the right emotion I thought this was one of his best and was so happy I didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t hear him do his shriek note.

David Cook à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Always Be My Babyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m surprised I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t have more David Cook on my list and there are a few that just made it but I thought that this was the song and performance that really made me think of him as an original artist. He took this song that you would have thought wouldnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t fit him and made it fit him perfectly.

David Hernandez à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Papa Was a Rolling Stoneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ I thought he did a great job building this number in an exciting way with both his voice and the arrangement and I thought he was never better then this.

Jason Castro à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Over the Rainbowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ As much as I hate Jason I thought he was incredibly smart choosing this arrangement of the song and really shined on this and I thought he sounded his best on this.
.
Jason Castro à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Travelin Thruà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ I have always loved this song and listened to the original countless times and I thought that he did this song justice with a great performance.

Kristy Lee Cook à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Faithfullyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ I know Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m going to be laughed at for this one but I really liked the country vibe that she gave to this song. I didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t think that it distracted from it like à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Eight Days a Weekà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  and still sounded like it could be a single.

Michael Johns à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s All Wrong but ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Alrightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ I never saw the appeal of Michael Johns until this performance where it felt like he knew what he was doing and looked confident and in control.

Syesha Mercado à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“One Rock n Roll Too Manyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ As a huge fan of Andrew Lloyd Webberà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s music I was surprised Syesha picked the one song that I wasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t familiar with I thought she turned in a sexy stylish performance.

There were a few others I wanted to include in here but tried to spread the wealth.

Amanda Overmyer – “You Can’t Do That”, “Baby Please Don’t Go”, “I Hate Myself for Lovin’ You”,

David Hernandez – “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone”

David Cook – “Little Sparrow”

David Archuleta – “Shop Around”, “Smokey Mountain Memories”, “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”

Jason Castro – “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” (for the pure sweetness of it)

Michael Johns – “It’s All Wrong, But It’s All Right”

Syesha Mercado – ” A Change is Gonna Come”

Jason- “Hallelujah.” The Top 16 performance. My favorite of the season- mesmerizing, raw and personal. Beautiful.

Cook- “Billie Jean.” Awesome, what a show stopper!

Cook- “Hello.” Hello David Cook, this is when I realized this guy had something special.

Brooke- “Let It Be.” Total connection between song, singer and piano. Lovely.

MJ- “IAWBIAR.” His one truly great performance. Sexiest performance ever on Idol.

The rest are in no particular order:

Archie- “Imagine”
Chikezie- “She’s a Woman”
Ramielle-”You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me”
Carly- “Here You Come Again”
Archie-”Angels”
Jason- “Over the Rainbow”
Brooke-”Love is a Battlefield”
Cook- “Eleanor Rigby”
Syesha -”One Rock and Roll Too Many”
Jason- “Daydream”

Thinking back on this season, I really enjoyed it almost entirely.

IMO, the best (not necessarily my favorites) performances of this season were (in no particular order):

David Cook- “Music of the Night.” I think that this song was gorgeous vocally, it was a surprising performance and it was an extremely smart, strategic move on his part. I love the studio version and listen to it regularly. Oh, and he shut up everyone who said he was just a rock performer who couldn’t really sing.

Jason Castro- “Over the Rainbow.” I had a hard time picking, because I honestly love every single one of Jason’s performances. However, this one I think connected with the audience and he showcased his vocals and talent (who learns a whole new instrument in one week so they can play it on national television?!). And as he noted, his vocals were really on that night.

Brooke White- “Let It Be.” Just gorgeous. She put her whole heart into it, and it was raw and real. To perform like that and have it come across on TV is an amazing feat.

Chikezie- “She’s A Woman.” I did NOT know he had that in him, and I loved every second of it. He somehow managed to sing a rock/country style song and did amazing. Not bad for an R&B type singer.

Michael Johns- “It’s All Wrong But It’s Alright.” I think it was really smart for him to sing a really simple, stripped down song. He sang it beautifully, showed emotion, and really connected with the (female, at least) audience.

Carly Smithson- “Here You Come Again.” She took a break from her typical yelling-my-head-off style of singing, and it was beautiful. I absolutely loved it.

David Cook- “Always Be My Baby.” I was so surprised that he took this kind of silly, poppy, girly, crush song and turned it into such a beautiful love song. His interpretation of this song is just beautiful, and I could not believe what new depth he brought to the lyrics with his arrangement.

And honorable mentions:

Jason Castro- “If I Fell”, “Daydream”, “I Just Want To Be Your Everything” and “Hallelujah.” (what can I say? I love Jason)

Syesha Mercado- “One Rock ‘n’ Roll Too Many.” It would have been on my “best” list if she hadn’t said “meh-NAY” instead of many…. it drove me crazy.

David Archuleta- “Shop Around.”

David Cook- “Billie Jean” and “Eleanor Rigby.”

Carly Smithson- “Come Together.”

Brooke White- “Love Is A Battlefield.”

Carly – “Here You Come Again”. I just loved the slowed down arrangement and the tone of her lower register in that number. Yeah she gets shrill and shouty in parts, but it’s still a stunner for me.

Carly – “I Drove All Night”. I love this song so maybe I am biased but she just kills it. So much power and intensity.

Cookie “Hello”. This was such an eye opening performance for me. It got me to look beyond the hideous hair and the vests and the big scarf dangling from the back pocket and recognize that here was someone who was not your average Idol.

Archie – “And So It Goes”. His voice is so meltingly beautiful in the a cappella portion. I think I jokingly remarked in chat that night that I could see him singing Danny Boy for a PBS pledge drive and you know, I probably end up in a puddle of goo and pledging way more than I intended.

Carly and Michael “The Letter”. This was my favorite number of the finale. Their voices sound so good together. I doubt their egos would let them consider recording as a duo but I think they would sell more together than apart.

Amanda – “Carry On My Wayward Son”. This has to rank as one of the all time Idol WTF performances. From the Cruella DeVille hair and the bizarre two toned pants that somehow matched the hair to the mega bad vocals—this was a glorious, glorious trainwreck.

1. Brooke White – Let It Be – One of those moments on Idol I’ll never forget. Where artistry is on full display and a contestant just yanks my heartstrings out. Brooke didn’t belt it, she didn’t melisma the hell out of it, she didn’t vocal gymnastic it to death, she didn’t destroy the melody. She simply sang it, and felt it, and made me cry in the process. I’ve watched all seven seasons of Idol, and this is my favorite performance of all time.

2. David Cook – Music of the Night- I know some of his other performances get more acclaim, but to me, this was the best performance of the season from Cook. Hell, the best performance of the season from anyone, except the one mentioned above. I was stunned by this. I didn’t know he had it in him. It almost made me cry. If ever there was a moment for idiot Randy to give a standing ovation, THIS was it. Brilliant.

3. Chikezie – She’s A Woman – One of the most brilliant performances I’ve ever seen on Idol. He didn’t impress me at any other time during his stint on the show, but this ranks up there with one of the all time best. EVER. Innovative, fun, and it came out of nowhere.

4. Brooke White – Love is a Battlefield – This performance was when I realized that I would definitely have to start voting for a contestant, and in turn, become invested in this season. And I didn’t want to be invested. Darn you Brooke White. Just the emotion in her voice during this song. Ugh. It just gets me. Darn you Brooke White.

5. Michael Johns – It’s All Wrong, But It’s All Right – He looked like a rock star up there. Sexy, confident, sexy. Finally living up to the hype that surrounded him during Hollywood week. Great, great performance.