American Idol Top 7 – Mariah Carey

Oh, joy, an entire night of singing Mariah Carey songs. *eyeroll* And most of the singers aren’t really Mariah-style singers – which I think actually turned out well. It meant they had to come up with their own takes on the songs because they didn’t have a chance of singing her version.

David Archuleta – "When You Believe"
Good song choice for David, and he brought it home. Whatever I may think of Mariah (and to be honest, I don’t think about her at all, really), her suggestion to go into the falsetto on that one part was dead on. A bit too many vocal acrobatics at the end, but it is Mariah night. Someone had to do it.

Carly Smithson – "Without You"
I quite liked the low-pitched portion of this, but I always feel like she tries too hard on the high parts. Her low range is really strong and powerful but she’s not as good in the high range as she (or the judges, apparently) think she is. And I think Simon’s comment about her overthinking is exactly right, and I think it’s part of what I sense as a lack of authenticity. It’s like she’s always just performing and never really letting herself go to the music.

Syesha Merado – "Vanishing"
Technically solid as usual, but I just can’t bring myself to care very much. It’s really nothing about her, though, I don’t think. She’s just sort of on the bland side in terms of arrangement and originality.

Brooke White – "Hero"
I was really worried for Brooke having to sing Mariah Carey, which is completely outside her zone. And it wasn’t perfect; she did get a little nervous toward the end, I think, but got it under control. Overall, she remains one of my favorites, and I thought doing the acoustic take was a gutsy move which worked much better for her than any of her options would have.

Kristy Lee Cook – "Forever"
She’s getting stonger every week, which is nice to see. Really good job on the ending especially; I found my attention drifting before that. She doesn’t, I don’t think, have the chops to compete with the top three or four here, but it’s been good to see her improving.

David Cook – "Always Be My Baby"
Holy mackeral, that was incredible! Seriously, I think it’s time a rocker won the title. He’s original, he’s smart, he knows who he is and what he does best, and he capitalizes on it just about every single week. Best performance of the night by a country mile (which is appreciably longer than a city mile, dontcha know). I felt like I wasn’t watching a competition anymore, I was watching a concert.

Jason Castro – "I Don’t Wanna Cry"
Jason’s no longer one of my must-save favorites (that title now being reserved for Brooke and David C), but I do still like him, and I thought this performance was quite good. He kept it where he could handle it and handled it well. He seems to be getting more comfortable every week, too.

Best Tonight: David Cook, David Cook, and David Cook. And David Archuleta. The others were all good but not great for me.
Bottom Three: Syesha, Kristy, and…don’t know.

We can discuss the results in the comments after tonight’s show.

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12 Comments

  1. abby

    I totally agree with you about David Cook. We didn’t see the first three, and often miss at least on of the performances, so I can’t say a whole lot about the group overall, except that it seems David Cook is just way ahead of everyone else. I liked Brooke at first, but she is really starting to get on my nerves, I am willing to give her another chance though :). And I have no idea why so many people like David Archuleta. He totally cheeses me out. But that’s just me. Also, I can’t handle Jason Castro; he’s even cheesier than David Archuleta. And he totally botched the lyrics to “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” last week and no one said anything! But I whole heartedly, 100% agree with you on David Cook. I am still in awe of his version of Billie Jean! Whoa!

  2. abby

    I totally agree with you about David Cook. We didn’t see the first three, and often miss at least on of the performances, so I can’t say a whole lot about the group overall, except that it seems David Cook is just way ahead of everyone else. I liked Brooke at first, but she is really starting to get on my nerves, I am willing to give her another chance though :). And I have no idea why so many people like David Archuleta. He totally cheeses me out. But that’s just me. Also, I can’t handle Jason Castro; he’s even cheesier than David Archuleta. And he totally botched the lyrics to “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” last week and no one said anything! But I whole heartedly, 100% agree with you on David Cook. I am still in awe of his version of Billie Jean! Whoa!

  3. I get what you’re saying about the cheese factor; I do think Jason overdoes it too much of the time, which is why he’s fallen off my favorites list. On David Archuleta, though, I think part of it just his youth. The reason I like him is his tone quality – I love that dusky sound. Brooke hasn’t topped her “Let It Be,” but she’s got such a great coffeehouse vibe that sets her apart from everyone else that I can’t bear to let her go yet. Hopefully I won’t have to! But David Cook for the win, no contest. Except he’d have more freedom to make the record he wants to make if he doesn’t win, so maybe I hope he come in second.

  4. I get what you’re saying about the cheese factor; I do think Jason overdoes it too much of the time, which is why he’s fallen off my favorites list. On David Archuleta, though, I think part of it just his youth. The reason I like him is his tone quality – I love that dusky sound. Brooke hasn’t topped her “Let It Be,” but she’s got such a great coffeehouse vibe that sets her apart from everyone else that I can’t bear to let her go yet. Hopefully I won’t have to! But David Cook for the win, no contest. Except he’d have more freedom to make the record he wants to make if he doesn’t win, so maybe I hope he come in second.

  5. Debbie

    Thanks for getting back to the important stuff.

    btw…who is Mariah Carey?:) I think her last name would be good for a cool kid’s name.

  6. Thanks for getting back to the important stuff.

    btw…who is Mariah Carey?:) I think her last name would be good for a cool kid’s name.

  7. abby

    okay, i looked it up, and evidently israel what’s his name sings the lyrics that way (wonder why i’ve never noticed it before?) so the lyric switch up was intentional. still, i don’t like that dude. i know what you mean about brooke; we totally loved her until the last two or three weeks. so she may change my mind again. and yes, i think david archuleta is just a really young guy who has terrible taste in music. he could improve with age :) then again, all this comes from me, a huge mariah carey fan. i am not kidding. although i haven’t heard anything she’s done since, wow, 1997. but at one point, i had all her albums up until then!

  8. abby

    okay, i looked it up, and evidently israel what’s his name sings the lyrics that way (wonder why i’ve never noticed it before?) so the lyric switch up was intentional. still, i don’t like that dude. i know what you mean about brooke; we totally loved her until the last two or three weeks. so she may change my mind again. and yes, i think david archuleta is just a really young guy who has terrible taste in music. he could improve with age :) then again, all this comes from me, a huge mariah carey fan. i am not kidding. although i haven’t heard anything she’s done since, wow, 1997. but at one point, i had all her albums up until then!

  9. Debbie – :p

    Abby – I did notice the lyric change in Over the Rainbow, but I don’t remember how I registered it. I was mostly thinking “ukelele? Really?” Heh, I’ll forgive you for being a Mariah Carey fan if you forgive me for having all of Celine Dion’s albums until 1998.

  10. Debbie – :p

    Abby – I did notice the lyric change in Over the Rainbow, but I don’t remember how I registered it. I was mostly thinking “ukelele? Really?” Heh, I’ll forgive you for being a Mariah Carey fan if you forgive me for having all of Celine Dion’s albums until 1998.

  11. Holly

    Okay, so I knew about the lyrics switch being legit, and I still really like Jason. I just want to mother him… but I’ve never understood the Archuleta fanaticism. He’s forgettable for me. Love Brooke, but she better step up. And I’ve never been David C.’s biggest fan, but he does something great every week and I’m starting to have trouble ignoring him. ;0) Syesha can go home even though I can’t pin down why I’m not in love. And I’m bummed about Carly… if not really surprised.

  12. Holly

    Okay, so I knew about the lyrics switch being legit, and I still really like Jason. I just want to mother him… but I’ve never understood the Archuleta fanaticism. He’s forgettable for me. Love Brooke, but she better step up. And I’ve never been David C.’s biggest fan, but he does something great every week and I’m starting to have trouble ignoring him. ;0) Syesha can go home even though I can’t pin down why I’m not in love. And I’m bummed about Carly… if not really surprised.

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