TV Review: American Idol - Top Eleven
Published March 19, 2008
Tonight's American Idol began with a blast from the past in a memory-filled montage of The Beatles' impressive career. While not quite as excited about the contestants singing from the Lennon/McCartney songbook as I was last week, I was still curious to see who would sing what and how well they would do. After the montage, Ryan introduced the judges, and off we went. The first singer of the night was…
Amanda Overmyer - "Back in the U.S.S.R"
I love this song! What a great way to begin the night. I thought Amanda did a great job and that it was a terrific song choice. Unfortunately, Simon's statement, "It was what it was. Predictable," was right on the money. As much as I like Amanda, I've been waiting to see a different side of her. Maybe not a ballad like Paula suggested, but definitely something a little softer than we've yet seen.
Kristy Lee Cook - "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away"
Okay. What can I say? Positives — it wasn't nearly as bad as last week. It was mellow without the crazy twang she brought to "Eight Days A Week." That being said, there was nothing to Kristy's performance that stood out for me. It was a little blah. It was a little pitchy. So, for me, Kristy is at the bottom of the list this week — again. Simon's critique of Kristy: "The problem is you're not a good performer." Ouch.
David Archuleta - "The Long and Winding Road"
Ahh, David, you're back! It was obvious from the first few notes that David Archuleta had regained his footing. The song was sung beautifully. And all three judges agreed he was amazing. My only concern is that this song is a ballad, and he's already proven he can bring his "A" game for ballads. Where's the fun side of Mr. Archuleta? Don't get me wrong, he's a top favorite for me, but I want to see what else he can do.
Michael Johns - "A Day in the Life"
The judges weren't really all that impressed with Michael this week. Randy: "It wasn't one of your good ones, baby." Paula: "You need to raise the game." And Simon: "It was a mess." I liked it though! I thought it was much better than last week and Michael remains one of my favorites. I hope he pulls off a great week before he runs out of time.
Brooke White - "Here Comes the Sun"
Okay. Well. It wasn't a bad performance at all! But it was slow and even a little boring. Brooke usually is on top, but I think this week's performance puts her solidly in the lower half. I agree with Paula though, who said, "You can't help but smile when you watch you and listen to you sing." Brooke's demeanor and personality made me smile, even if her performance didn't. Better luck next week, Brooke!
David Cook - "Day Tripper"
It's official. After tonight's performance, I'm loving David Cook. He tried something a bit different with a voice box, which I thought was kind of cool. Mostly, though, I just like how he delivers something every single week I really like. Randy liked it. So did Paula. Simon said, "I don't think that was as good as you thought it was." Personally, I can't wait to see what David C. brings to the table next week.
Tracy Leigh Ritts is a successful freelance writer and aspiring novelist living in Northwest Ohio with her husband and four children. She is the author of the book How to Plan Your Own Wedding and Save Thousands...Without Going Crazy. Visit Tracy's website to learn more about her writing. 
- TV Review: American Idol - Top Eleven
- Published: March 19, 2008
- Type: Review
- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Music: Video, Video: Music, Video: Reality TV, Video: TV Recap, Video: Television
- Part of a feature: American Idol Season Seven
- Writer: Tracy Leigh Ritts
- Tracy Leigh Ritts's BC Writer page
- Tracy Leigh Ritts's personal site
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Comments on this articleComments
This was a difficult week for me to rank as a lot of them sort of blended together to me. Looking at it now, it's the 7/8/9 positions I had a hard time ranking. I'm fairly happy with the rest though :)
Nice recap, Tracy!
Personally, I think your top three is right on. I don't know, I just wasn't as impressed with Syesha as you and the judges, but I'm not being real fair. I'm taking the whole season into consideration and not just this week.
On the flip side of the coin I thought Michael Johns did better than the judges gave him credit for, but I really like him, so maybe I'm a bit biased.
I'm actually appalled that Carly took a sweet simple song like Blackbird and glory noted it. She completely missed the intention of the song, which was written for the civil rights movement. She did that song no justice and I'd rank her close to the bottom just for that, no matter how decent the singing was.
Other than that, your review and rankings are dead on.
You have a point, Alice...and one that Simon agreed with (at least by his indulgent statement). I still thought it was a very good performance overall, though.
Alice, are artists not entitled to rework and re-imagine songs to suit their own performance purposes? The intention of the song might have been that during the climate in which the song was written, but does that mean that all of the cover versions (of which there have been hundreds) need to have the same intentions and style?
Surely Phish, Carly Simon, Dave Matthews, Elliot Smith, Doves, and the countless others were entitled to their own renditions of the classic tune. Is Carly exempt from doing her rendition of it?
I personally thought she was one of the best of the night and I find it "appalling" that you don't seem to respect individual interpretations of classic tunes. It was sung well and with feeling and she explained her own interpretation of the song after she had sung it. Not allowing for that is just silly.
America once again looks foolish to the rest of the world in its choices of talent. Whether the people are voting for President of the US or the top 10 American Idols to go on tour, America makes the uneducated decision. Amanda Overmyer is one of the most creative and talented performers among the Idols and should never have gone home. On the other hand it's clear to me that politics and ethnicity played a major role in keeping Ramiele Malubay in the top 10 when she performed the worse of anyone for the past 2 weeks, (not to mention this pathetic little girl coy thing she does). I wonder if there will ever be a day I won't have to be embarrassed when traveling abroad to say where I'm from. American people - WISE UP PLEASE!
Hi Dan -- I'm still dismayed at the results. I would have bet money two weeks ago that Ramiele and Kristy Lee wouldn't have made the top ten, and I would have lost.
Hold on a second Dan. What are you talking about when you say, "it's clear to me that politics and ethnicity played a major role in keeping Ramiele Malubay in the top 10". What does ethnicity have anything to do with it? You think that she's in the Top 10 just because Filipinos are voting for her? I'm Filipina like Ramiele, and I sure ain't voting for her. How does this explain Kristy's unexplainable staying power? All white people from the South are voting for her?
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I disagree with some of your rankings, but you got the bottom two right, in my opinion, so I won't complain too much. :-)