This Week In Tonight In American Idol [22 April 2008]

7:55 PM: Here we are, " ' ready ' " to Live-ishBlog Top 6 Week. Tonight's theme is "Andrew Lloyd Webber", which sounds like an ingenious contrarian response to Idol's sinking ratings among young-ish viewers.

It's not.

8:00 PM: Oh, Jimminy! We've got an expanded "band" this week, which includes instrumentation necessary for ALW.

This is gonna suck. BIG TIME!

8:05 PM: Randy predicts it will be the "toughest nite of the season". He must have heard the rehearsals.

Ryan calls Simon out on his standard "that sounded Broadway" put-down. What should the Idols do? Simon: contemporary.

Each of the judges is squirmingly uncomfortable.

Call your local newspaper, cuz you're about to witness a TRAIN WRECK!

8:06 PM: First up tonite is Syesha.

Guess we know who's likely to go this week?

Maybe not -- ALW predicts Syesha may bring the house down.

Syesha is taking on "One Rock And Roll Too Many" from Starlight Express.

Syesha looks INCREDIBLE in that red dress. The Idol stylists look to be still on a roll.

This is a very-good-by-Syesha-standards performance. Only a modest amount of pitchiness. Great "stage presence" here.

Randy: this might surprise you, but i think not only is this your element, you could be a huge Broadway star...your best performance to-date right there...
Paula: not surprising at all...this is your happy place...you're real good at it...ALW was right -- you brought the house down...
Simon: very sexy...like Michelle Pfeiffer lying on the piano...i agree with Randy, this was one of your strongest performances so far...you showed masses of personality we haven't seen before...you're definitely more confident in this area...

I've been on the Syesha jalopy for a while, and I think that was good. How will it compare to the other 5? We'll see...

8:16 PM: Next up is Jason. Jason is unfamiliar with ALW's work.

Ruh-roh!

Jason is taking on "Memory" from Cats.

Jason doesn't know that it was sung by a "cat" on Broadway.

ALW is skeptical.

Jason has minimal instrumentation -- piano and strings.

This is definitely not Jason's style. This performance is very "breathy". His breathing is very distracting.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Weaker than Syesha, for sure.

Randy: musically, vocally, for me, it was a little bit of a train-wreck...too much melody for you...too big of a song for you...
Paula: people are used to hearing this song by a big female balladeer, and that's not who you are...but it was a very wise choice for you, because it allowed you to put your influence on the song, further identifies your unique being as an artist...

Paula then compares it to Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful To Me"...Randy is skeptical...

Simon: i'm sure it felt to you as for me the longest two minutes of your life...came over as a young guy being forced to sing a song at a wedding you didn't want to sing...you were miserable throughout, i was partly miserable throughout...it's not your style of music...it was a struggle...

Ryan asks Simon, I'm voting at home, how do I vote? Simon: "don't vote".

OUCH!

8:26 PM: Next up is Brooke. Brooke is taking on "You Must Love Me", from Evita.

ALW: "I don't think that girl had a clue about what she was singing about".

OUCH!

So ALW clues Brooke in, and she finally connects with the song.

Brooke messes up for THE SECOND FREAKIN' TIME THIS SEASON and asks to start again.

After that false start, Brooke's light voice doesn't hold up well against the instrumentation. Yep, she's definitely overwhelmed by the arrangement. Plus, a little pitchy.

Randy: for me, this wasn't great...the one thing i liked that you did was you listened to Andrew Lloyd Webber...the one thing you all need to take from tonite is that you need to believe what you're singing...

Probably the most uncomfortable moment I've ever experienced on Idol occurrs next...Paula Abdul is literally speechless, eyes closed, struggling to think of ANYTHING nice to say...

Paula [finally]: you must never start and stop...[a pin drops somewhere]...this is the biggest show and the biggest platform, and you're great enough as an artist to pick up the pieces...what i did love about this performance was you didn't overact...you just were you...anything that became part-and-parcel or broken vocally was an emotional strength of yours...

Brooke is already crying...

Simon: this is why i love live teevee, it was so dramatic!...it completely threw you, you were so tense trying to remember the song, your voice was straining...it actually became quite uncomfortable...this is a tricky one...i think you're gonna be very disappointed when you watch this back...

Ryan asks Brooke why she started over...Brooke confesses to forgetting the lyrics, "the first time i've done that on this show"...apparently, when she stopped-and-started back in Top 12 Week it was NOT because she forgot or was nervous or whatevs...Ryan asks Simon for advice for Brooke, and Simon gallantly tells her she did the right thing and was "brave" to do it...Paula advises Brooke to "sing anything", but Randy agrees that she should've just stopped and restarted...

This whole exchange has a very Wednesday-at-2-minutes-before-the-upcut feel, doesn't it???

8:38 PM: Next up is "plucky little" David A. Ryan invites a bunch of schoolgirls on stage to hug Plucky. It's very weird.

Plucky is taking on "Think Of Me" from Phantom Of The Opera. ALW says the song was written for a diva, and he can't imagine what it will sound like from "a boy".

SMS to ALW: Plucky is not "a boy". He IS "a diva".

ALW tells Plucky to keep his eyes open -- "i just can't watch someone who's got their eyes closed all of the time".

David's performance is, of course, excellent.

A little more "eyes-closed-y" than ALW would want, I suspect, but excellent nonetheless.

Uh, tough call...

PUHLEEEEEEEZE!!!

Randy: you're what this show is about -- if you can sing, you can sing anything...i knew this would be a big nite for you...you even put your own personality in there, a little "Stevie" riffs...dude, it was the bomb! this boy's the one to beat!!!
Paula: absolutely perfect...took a risk on a known theatrical song, and turned it into a pop ballad...perfect...
Simon: pleasant...one of your weakest performances over the last five shows...not a performance to remember...absolutely gonna get you through to next week...forgettable for me, sorry...

Plucky is absolutely safe this week, but props to Simon for sacking up and telling Plucky he's not anointed...

8:47 PM: Next up is Carly, who wants to take on "All I Ask Of You" from Phantom Of The Opera. But ALW clearly saw last week's performance show, and Carly's "daring" cleavage-baring, tattoo-covering outfit, because he says "that's not the song for a girl with a great big chest voice...she's a big, big singer, that girl". I think he also complemented her "shoes":


[image from "Top 7 Week" courtesy americanidol.com, obvs -- Eds.]

ALW persuades Carly to take on her "second choice", "Jesus Christ Superstar", from the show of the same name.

Carly reimagines the track as an Aretha/Earth-Wind-and-Fire-influenced Gospel/R&B number.

This is fantastic! The most electric vocal of the nite!

Carly brought it!!!

That's how Joss Stone would do that song. Take that however you will.

Randy: i don't know if this was your best performance, but it was very good...
Paula: i loved so much that it was so unexpected...i thought at first that it might be in too high of a range for you, but i loved what you did in the chorus...
Simon: other than the fact that it got a little shouty in the middle, it was actually one of my favorite performances of the nite...

Ricky gives Carly a t-shirt that reads "SIMON LOVES ME (this week)". Cute, but won't win her any votes from people that just don't connect with her.

8:55 PM: Looks like we'll be "up-cut-challenged" again tonite.

Our last Idol tonite is David C. David is taking on "The Music Of The Night", from Phantom Of The Opera. ALW calls it "the most sensual, the most sexy song I've ever written".

David predictably gives the song his Cornell-Daughtry-inspired Andrea Bocelli treatment.

And he predictably NAILS IT!

Randy: i've said it before [you've already said it tonite!!! -- Eds.], i'll say it again -- if you can really sing, you can sing anything...dude, that was an amazing vocal performance...unbelievable...another hot, molten-hot lava bomb tonite, RIGHT THERE!
Paula: this song just proved more and more that you are so well-rounded as a performer...you have a beautiful instrument...fantastic...
Simon: i think you made the most of the song...this is not the side of you i like...i much prefer the grittier, more raw...too rounded-off...but you made the most of the song -- you were good...

INSTA-REACTION COMING MOMENTARILY...

* * * * *

SORTA-INSTA-REACTION:

1) David C.
2) Carly
[smallish gap]
3) David A.
4) Syesha
[biggish gap]
5) Jason
["Ticket To Ride"-sized gap]
6) Brooke

I knew it would be a tough week for the Idols, as few of them had the range of skills to meet the challenges of the Andrew Lloyd Webber songbook.

I think David Cook's take on a "staple" was not only great, but was better than I expected. David Archuleta also was as-good-as-I-expected.

But the real revelations for me were Carly Smithson and Syesha Mercado. Both turned in riveting, memorable performances of potential-train-wreck songs. Carly showed me why she's clearly Top 4 material, and Syesha showed me I haven't been crazy to be on her jalopy-bandwagon-thingy. If nothing else from this exercise, Syesha has a clear potential future on Broadway.

Jason severely underwhelmed me, with his overly-breathy performance. Dude needs to learn how to sing without excessive instrumentation covering up his technical flaws.

And what to say about Brooke? How about, "goodbye".