Season 7 Redux – Top 16

By On 01/06/2009 · 70 Comments · In Uncategorized

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Another installment of American Idol Season 7 redux!   I had no major revisions after watching Top 16 week on the Fox Reality Channel tonight, but here are my thoughts anyway.

The boys totally brought it Top 16.   Well, except for Luke Menard’s totally cringeworthy performance of “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go.” I think that wins the WTF?!?!! moment of the season as far as song choice goes.   I wasn’t feeling David Archuleta’s performance of   “Another Day in Paradise,”–didn’t like the song choice nor the slowed up run-filled arrangement.   Simon predicts that David will make the final 2, and of course, he’s right.   Danny Noriega’s “Tainted Love” is all over the place vocally, but I can’t take my eyes off of him. “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” is, hands down, David Hernandez’s best performance of the Season.   His theatrical presentation is just perfect for this Meatloaf classic.   Michael Johns said he wanted to make a “rock/soul kind of record.” and “Don’t You Forget About Me” was a major improvement over the week before, but Michael still appears to be phoning it in. Simon said he should be performing more soulful fare, and I agree. I was already on the David Cook bandwagon,   I didn’t need convincing.   Still, his performance of   “Hello” absolutely thrilled me, and was his best performance to date.   Jason Castro, however, had the performance of the night.   “Hallelujah” gave me chills.   CHILLS.   And I was almost moved to tears.   Again.   WOW.   Chikezie wastes the pimp spot on another boring ballad.   Oh Chikezie.

The girls didn’t quite bring it, with one exception. Poor Asia’h Epperson is stuck going first.   Choosing to sing Whitney is usually a bad idea, and of course, Simon compares her unfavorably to Ms. Crack Ho, despite a solid performance.   Simon says she’s done enough to make the Top 12. Oops. Kady Malloy is consistently under-pitch throughout her performance of “Who Wants To Live Forever” and sings like she just downed a bottle of Nyquil.   Simon calls her “robotic” and says she’s in trouble. She is. Simon absolutely adores Amanda Overmyer’s competant “I Hate Myself For Loving You”, but pisses all over Carly Smithson’s performance of “Drive All Night”, which was also competant.   I thought they were both just a’ight.   Carly does tend to get a bit strident on the high notes.   But Amanda is often sloppy and off-pitch. Hm.   That smart cookie Kristy Lee Cook whips out a country arrangement–just like Simon asked her to–of Journey’s “Faithfully”.  Ãƒâ€š   Randy and Paula overpraise, while Simon tells her she’ll be lucky to make Top 10. Wrong.   Kristy Lee spent more time in the bottom 3 than maybe any other contestant.   She really had a knack for failing upward.   Little Ramiele Malubay tries to pull off a big number, “Against All Odds” but it’s another one of those tunes that’s been done to death on Idol.   She’s lucky she already had some momentum going at this point.   Brooke White’s “Love is A Battlefield” is the performance of the night.   She was smart to sing it acoustically, allowing her vocals to carry the day.   A very compelling performance.   Syehsa Mercado ends the night with a karaoke version of Whitney’s (ugh) “Saving All My Love For You.” There’s barely any time for the judges to critique.   Probably a good thing, because Simon looked like he wanted to say more…

Another tear-filled elimination had Ramiele Malubay inconsolable as Danny Noriega is eliminated.   Luke Menard had to go, but I might have traded Danny for David Hernandez.  Ãƒâ€š   Neither was destined to go deep–Danny would have been awesome entertainment.   I would have also traded Asia’h Epperson for Ramiele Malubay. Kady Malloy had talent, but she was in over her head–she needed to go.

Did anyone else find it interesting that David Cook was sent to the chairs of safety first, followed by David Archuleta? Weird!   Third was Jason Castro…   *cue the Twilight Zone theme*

 
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  • sma11ie

    ^^ Virginia, what are you referring to?

  • Virginia5

    My commentary only referred to a previous comment that came off to me as if I shouldn’t be making excuses for David’s performances b/c David himself did not, and does not seem the type of person to do so. And I don’t see a problem with explaining why he might have had a bad week if others don’t know about it.

  • weareallinnocent

    My opinion is there is nothing wrong with other people trying to set the story straight where innocent people are concerned. And I highly doubt that David or anybody else in similar shoes would really mind a whole lot as long as the things that were said were not mistruths.

    My opinion is there is nothing wrong with any of this. LOL Realize though that, whether intending to or not (and I suspect not), “trying to set the story straight” implies that there’s been some wrong that needs to be righted, some victim who needs defending, or something bad that need be excused or mitigated. And, all I’m saying is that it never ever occurred to me that DA needed that at all, ever.

    Lefty, totally got where you were coming from, and it is interesting to wonder about. I do that too, and I loved “Sliding Doors!” LOL

  • Virginia5

    I love behind the scenes information/stories too!! ;) It makes the show that much more fun and interesting, right?!

  • Virginia5

    Weareallinnocent,
    No worries, I am not really really trying to set the story STRAIGHT regarding this episode.. I’m just trying to add to the information that is out there already… okay?! Okay! :)

  • weareallinnocent

    LOL, yeah OK. :-)

  • http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=587900002&ref=name cruzceleste

    For the internsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦You know I am just teasin right? No reason to change up the photoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s, nope no sireee, please leave em be, heh.

    lol….

  • brie200

    FWIW, I wasn’t saying the Idols should say they were sick. I understand them not wanting to get by on sympathy. I respect those more that didn’t. But at the same time sometimes it was mentioned by the show as opposed to the Idol. Maybe it was because those Idols in question sucked that week, but by that card Jason was sick ALW week and he certainly got no sympathy from the judges. Mind you not saying he should have, but the judges seem to offer selective sympathy.

  • lefty

    I know what you mean, brie200 – but we’ll take it to mean that Jason sang well enough that he didn’t need the excuse. :happy_tb: Because I do think the judges generally mention it when someone tanks. The only times I remember the judges bringing it up were with KLC and Ramiele. Enough said.

  • mary111

    I think the judges, probably mainly Paula, will mention someone being sick when they sound bad on a song. I never knew that DA or DC were ever sick. I didnt think either sounded bad when they were supposedly sick so why mention it. There is a lot the normal viewer doesnt know. I really didnt know any of the behind the scenes things until after Idol was over and starting searching David Cook. I never knew about his ill brother or Lindsey Rose during the AI7 season. I do remember somewhere that DC said he didnt want those things mentioned on AI because he didnt want the sympathy vote. I think DA probably thinks the same way. (By the way, neither of them needed the sympathy vote, I just think they would rather win on their talent alone.) It wouldn’t have changed anything in the long run anyway.

  • FolkFan

    It’s interesting that both the Davids were sick during the semis and neither they nor the judges said anything. That may, in part, reflect the fact that they sang well those weeks and no one felt the need to make excuses. I also suspect that they personally would not want to rely on that.

    I also don’t think that DC being sick Top 9 would have come out if TMZ hadn’t gotten a hold of the story, which may have in part been the fact that journalists noticed that DC had not shown up in the audience for the taping of the No Air performance. Or maybe the producers wanted it out there. Who knows? In all events, it definitely seemed like DC wanted to downplay it, and it did not come out that he was sick until after the voting was done for that week.

  • KathyH

    I think it’s too bad that those kids have to perform when they are that sick. I wonder what would happen if they had one free pass to use if they are sick enough. They don’t perform and they don’t get booted, but they can only use it once. Sort of a Survivor type thing.

    But I do admire the whole lot for performing when they are not well.

  • http://www.myspace.com/swood1104 Sarah

    Watching these early shows reminds me of how much I really loved Brooke at the beginning. I always stayed a fan no matter how much she broke down, even though I voted exclusively for DC. But still, heading into the top 12, Brooke was definitely my 2nd fave. I love her style, and I can’t wait to buy her album. I’m still completely baffled that TPTB didn’t sign her – though if they’re gunning for a singer/songwriter to win this year, I can possibly understand it. Oh well. Their loss.

    DC plus “Hello” equals love, imo. Nuff said. :) I totally freaked about that song choice, but from the first guitar strum, I realized I had nothing to freak out about. I was completely over the moon for him by the end of that song. So, based on the strength of that performance plus the performance the following week of “Eleanor Rigby” and also this article I read around the time that the top 12 started, I made him my overall pick in the pool. :) Especially after reading this quote, which had me intrigued at the time:

    For Cookà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s friends and fellow musicians, they say the young crooner is just warming up.

    à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s a great guy with a tremendous voice,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  Martinson said. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“And one of the things heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s got on all these people in this competition is that heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s got several more gears to go into.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ 

    Boy, was that dude right.

  • http://myspace.com hgzaj

    Actually, MJ, while Syesha’s performance was a bit underwhelming in the song choice department, I think it’s unfair to call it a karaoke version. Not a whole lot of people could get up there and sing a song like that, with her vocal skills, and the notes she hit.

    And how about that the entire Top 5 were the first 5 called into the top 12. Not just David, David, Jason!

  • http://www.myspace.com/swood1104 Sarah

    FWIW, regarding the “was DC sick top 16 week” discussion: I distinctly remember reading a bulletin from the Luke Menard fans on myspace before the top 16 performances about DC’s brother not doing well. At that point, I don’t think the extent of his brother’s illness was known to very many people (though once his name was added to the spoiler list, some Worsters had screencapped some xanga entries he made a few years ago, talking about it), but I definitely remember getting that myspace bulletin. I posted it right here.

  • cookcricket

    Sorry for the OT but,

    Did anyone else find it interesting that David Cook was sent to the chairs of safety first, followed by David Archuleta? Weird! Third was Jason Castroà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦ *cue the Twilight Zone theme*

    I think Jason Castro would have made it to top three if he hadn’t completely blown it on top four with missed lyrics on, “Mr Tambourine Man” and there wasn’t the mistaken “Don’t Vote” vs “Vote, Vote” thingy going on.

    Sorry, I haven’t read other comments so don’t know if this was mentioned earlier.

  • Scifisam

    “My opinion is there is nothing wrong with other people trying to set the story straight where innocent people are concerned. And I highly doubt that David or anybody else in similar shoes would really mind a whole lot as long as the things that were said were not mistruths.”

    If you were referring to me, I understand what you mean. I wasn’t trying to tell you you were out of line or anything, so I apologize if I came off that way. I just took from your comment that you thought he should have said something, but I seem to have been wrong. I simply meant that I don’t believe it would have benefited him at all if he had said something.

    Part of my problem is just that I had been hearing about how sick he was a LOT on other boards, so I apologize for taking that out on you. Although this is the first time I had heard that he was sick during ADIP, so the fact that he did so well that week is that much more impressive.

  • Virginia5

    Scifisam,
    I don’t know if it was your previous comment I was referring to… however, absolutely no, I never meant to imply David Archuleta should have said something about being ill.. no no no!! :) I admire him a ton for saying hardly a thing during the commentary after his songs… even when he didn’t agree or had a rebuttal, he kept his mouth shut and he won major points in my book for that.

  • Grammie Kari

    I think Jason Castro would have made it to top three if he hadnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t completely blown it on top four with missed lyrics on, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Mr Tambourine Manà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  and there wasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t the mistaken à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t Voteà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  vs à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Vote, Voteà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  thingy going on.

    By this time, I was so hooked on Jason and did see him going into the Top 3. I knew the two David’s were talented enough to be in the Finale. I also voted for Brooke, and she remained my favorite to the end.

  • hardkandy

    I would have loved to see a Final 2 of Brooke and DC, if only Brooke had kept that level up rather than overthinking everything and falling apart emotionally on TV. I remember Brookeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Idolatry interview, where Slezak gave her much-deserved props for her Love is a Battlefield arrangement, and she kind of touched on why she wasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t able to pull out those arrangements every week. She was worried about doing the same unplugged type arrangement every week (overthinking?), and also, they didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t have enough time in the competition to pull off something completely different each week. I also remember how she mentioned that David Cook was able to do those arrangements quickly, but she needed more time. I thought it was cool that she gave him props, artist to artist, and made me respect both of them as artists. Man, Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m looking forward to Brookeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s new music. I hope she hooks up with some cool people to work on her album.

    I know, Brooke overthinks everything. To which she admits to. When i watched her Idolatry interview and she said if there was one thing she could’ve changed, she would’ve tried to enjoy herself more in the experience, hence, not thinking too much about it. If only. Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk.
    I think she is a real artist though, and her voice is so distinct… I could listen to her sing anything… and I am looking forward to her record as well.

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