American Idol with FRIENDS

OK...so what's better than watching American Idol? Watching American Idol with great friends. I'm blogging live again, with my friends here at mi casa--Dennis and Carol George, and Mandy Murray (along with Jen, Noah, Morgen and me).

We're down to top 11, and still with the McCartney/Lennon thing--actually Beatles...I'm still trying to figure out the difference, I guess. (On a side note, I'm buying a VOX amp tomorrow for my new guitar...a few of you will get the connection there).

Amanda Overmyer--"Back in the USSR"--She's very good at what she does, for sure. It looked like she had more fun tonight than normal. What a stage set up....who could miss with that, honestly? Still, she's getting a little old to me. I, like Paula, would like to see her do a "vunerable ballad" at some point.
Kristy Lee Cook--"You've Got to Hide Your Love Away"--Incredibly better song choice than last week, for sure. She has some real pitch problems, and again, I say...there is no possible way she could win this. That being said, it was better this week than last. Still not good. Should have been very involved, with a lot of energy, but it really wasn't. Not good. Average voice. Average performer.

David Archuleta--"The Long and Winding Road"--He has in ear monitors this week (actually only one). Weird. Great singer. Great performer. He probably could have picked a better song, actually, but great job still. I didn't like the VERY old sounding arrangement much at all (it sounded like something on an elevator if you took away the vocal). It was great still. And he got exactly 3 claps from Simon. Wow.

I want an iPhone. And a Coke.

Michael Johns--"A Day in the Life"--Perfect song choice for him. A little flat on that note--yikes. OK...he's getting back into it. Well, it ended too soon. Maybe not the right song after all. It just didn't work in that small amount of time. Paula is probably right again--iem's (in ear monitors) make a dramatic difference when on the stage, in regards to connection with the crowd (I HATED my first time with them in front of a group of people). But he wasn't wearing them. Too bad--I thought Paula was maybe on to something. I still like this guy.

Brooke White--"Here Comes the Sun"--Noah's comment, "...that's the song from Bee Movie!" OK--the repetitive phrase throughout of the song, "it's all right"--that's about the best I can give her. She again proved tonight why she needs an instrument in her hands or something, to hide her. She looked so uncomfortable to me on the stage, trying to dance or something. It seemed so forced through the whole thing, to me. She needs a guitar. or a piano. or a harp. or a kazoo. Anything to keep her from trying to do something performance-worthy in any other way.

David Cook--"Daytripper"--Much better guitar tone this week--Oh...it's not him. It's a different guitar player. It think he was faking the first guitar bit. But he came in with a voice box for his guitar! Trippy! It felt like a bit of a gimmick, though, for a not really amazing performance. It was solid, but not the greatest to me.

Carly Smithson--"Blackbird"--Great song. Great performance. She is an amazing performer. Really. She seemed to drop a few words at one point, and I wish she could have another run at it, honestly. Really good, though. Simon missed this one.

Jason Castro--"Michelle"--Didn't like the arrangement that much. Or the performance...it seemed like he was kind of laughing at the French a few times, and it felt a little dorky at a few parts, with the arrangement. He could have pulled off a REALLY cool arrangement, I think, but didn't. Not that great. He still could draw a huge fan base, obviously. Simon's comment, "you're not obnoxious." Ah--what a complement.

Syesha Mercado--"Yesterday"--One of my favorite Beatle's songs. Hopefully she doesn't kill it much.... OK-It was pretty good, but for some reason, I wasn't feeling it, so much. The arrangement didn't fit her voice quite enough, I think. She has a GREAT instrument, for sure, but it didn't seem to lock in tonight. She left room for improvement, but good enough to stay on the show, probably.

Chikezie--"I've Just Seen a Face"--Back to average. At best. This one also sounded really gimmicky to me. It seems like he tried to repeat what last week was, and didn't work nearly as well. He also just insulted all the harmonica players in the universe, by trying to tell people that he can pick it up in a few days, and play it on national TV...I don't know. It wasn't that good.

Ramiele Malubay--"I Should Have Known Better"--Not at all. Felt like "Star Search" to me (not a complement). She does have a pretty good voice, but not a good choice of song. Not a good perfomance, really for me.

A let down of a night, really. They need to be a LOT better than this at this point. 2 weeks of Beatles was probably the wrong choice, honestly.

Kristy Lee Cook is leaving, I think, although there are a lot of singers who left an enormous amount of room for improvement for weeks to come.