American Idol's theme for their top ten show was "The Year They Were Born." I have to admit the idea appealed to me. After all, we were sure to get a wide variety of songs seeing as this was the only criteria. I already had my guesses for the "types" of song each contestant would choose, but couldn't wait to see what they actually sang.
The first singer of the night was none other than…
Ramiele Malubay - "Alone"
Ramiele is one of the two I don't think should have made the top ten. That being said, I'm more than willing to give a girl a chance. Unfortunately, I don't think she did that great with the song she chose, which is one of my favorites. All the judges mentioned she'd been sick this week, so taking that into consideration, I feel kind of bad for her. Simon said, "The first part of the song was okay. You're going to get through this week based on that performance."
Jason Castro - "Fragile"
Happy Birthday, Jason! Mr. Adorable is back, with guitar in hand. So, while I enjoyed the song (also one of my favorites), I don't think Jason did anything spectacular with it. It was nice and it was reminiscent of some of his other performances, but I want more from him. Was it a top-ten performance? I think so, but he needs to raise the bar soon. Like next week. Paula said, "I don't think we heard anything different that made us go, "wow," but you're staying true to yourself." Nicely said.
Syesha Mercado - "If I Were Your Woman"
It was only two weeks ago that Syesha was in my bottom three, and I have to admit that I never expected her to make it this far. She's completely picked it up and had an amazing performance. Her vocals were strong and she brought just the right amount of emotion to the song. I knew Syesha could bring it, and this week - she did. Definitely proved she deserves her top-ten standing. Randy said, "I think it was unbelievable."
Chikezie Eze - "If Only For One Night"
Hmm, once again I'm at a crossroads with Chikezie. While I think it was a great song for him, I also missed some of what he's shown us in the past couple of weeks. You know - a little personality, a little fun. Or, as Randy said, "I didn't love this for you. It wasn't hip and cool." Paula disagreed. "I think you did a great job and you did an amazing job with the textures of your vocals." Simon liked the singing, not the performance.
Article comments
1 - Idol Fan
Kristy Lee Cook was horrible. Even her trying to pull out the stops and play a patriotic song for Middle American Voted was pathetic. I saw some of the videos [Edited] and both David Cook and Michael Johns were awesome
2 - Jewels
While David Cook's vocals were very good, his arrangement was a copy (once again) of Chris Cornell's version. Apparently as well as being a wordsmith, Cook does his homework picking songs you'd normally not think of as rock, finding a version of it being performed as rock and delivering that version. That said, he was one of my favorites last night.
Archuleta is seemingly falling out of favor with Simon. This song obviously picked out for him likely by his stage Dad. It was like Cowell described, sounding rather like something you'd find at Disney, little animated animals bouncing around. He did less lip licking, so I'm thinking someone is working with him to stop that habit, it's very distracting and unpleasant to watch.
Kristy Lee - who'd have thought the girl could get into the strategy aspect of this show? This week a brilliant choice and she should be safe.
I adore Castro, but he's got to do something amazing this next week or he'll be gone.
3 - Connie Phillips
I, too, was glad to see Michael Johns pull the Queen out this week. I've adored him from day one and was beginning to fear he was on the way out.
It's interesting at this point in the game to see how things are turning. Some who I thought would surely end up in the final four, could possibly be in the bottom three this week (Carly?).
Kristina's performance was probably her best yet, however it wasn't enough to win any points with me. I'd like to see her go this week, just because she should have left the last two. If we're to judge just on this week alone, however, she will most likely be safe.
Ramiele is another one I'm just not impressed with, and she is the one that would be my choice to leave.