TV Review: American Idol - Top Eleven
Published March 19, 2008
Carly Smithson - "Blackbird"
It was so great to hear Carly do something a little different than she's done in the past. She's also a consistent performer, which is another plus for Carly. So, while I appreciated her performance, and I liked it quite a bit, it didn't measure up to last week, in my opinion. Randy said, "Another great performance for Carly Smithson." My guess is Carly will stick around for awhile.
Jason Castro - "Michelle"
Isn't he just adorable? It's the eyes… it's the smile. And Simon agrees! Check out what he said: "Your face sold that. What you have is that you're very charming." I am forever a fan of Jason's, but I don't think this was his best week by far. I liked the song, though, and he did okay with it. But what I keep coming back to is — isn't he adorable?
Syesha Mercado - "Yesterday"
Oh! Last week I stated that I thought I could love Syesha's singing. This week brought it home. I've been wanting someone to take on "Yesterday," and Syesha did a really nice job with it. I'd say it was her best performance so far, and one of the best of the night overall. Sweet comeback from last week! The judges all liked it too, so a home run for Syesha.
Chikezie Eze - "I've Just Seen A Face"
So, I haven't been able to decide exactly what I think of Chikezie's performance overall. I loved parts of it, and other parts - not so much. What I DO like, though, is that he's mixing it up and bringing something different to the stage. Mixed reviews from the judges. Paula was the only one who liked all of it. "When you sing a ballad, it's so pure and on pitch, I love it. You did it again."
Ramiele Malubay - "I Should Have Known Better"
Randy's statement — "You did your thing. It was alright" — is right on target. I thought Ramiele was better than last week, but it wasn't the best song choice for her. I'd like to see her try something different, but she might be running out of chances. While Ramiele is not my pick for leaving this week, she is in my bottom three.
Overall, I thought it was a good show - thought not as good as last week. There were too many mediocre performances and too few really great ones. I'm sticking to my guess for last week - I think Kristy Lee Cook's time on American Idol is up. We'll find out for sure Wednesday night, so check back then for the results. Until then, here's my ranking for the week:
1. David Archuleta
2. David Cook
3. Carly Smithson
4. Syesha Mercado
5. Jason Castro
6. Amanda Overmyer
7. Michael Johns
8. Brooke White
9. Chikezie Eze
10. Ramiele Malubay
11. Kristy Lee Cook
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. :-)