Good day,
So, I know this is supposed to be a movie blog, but American Idol is closing in on its finale (next week!!), and I am committed to this show for the long haul.
Let's take this back to last week...
I'm in Minnesota at my parents house, vacationing with my entire family. Playing lots of Boggle and Ping-Pong and attempting to master Guitar Hero (dude, I can barely play those songs on Easy Mode... but it's cool strumming along to "Barracuda" and "When You Were Young" and pretending you are in Heart and The Killers, respectively)...
So, last Tuesday, instead of watching the Idol from my recliner here in Indiana, I watched it sitting next to my mom - a non-lover of Jason Castro. After he gave a not so awesome performance of "I Shot the Sheriff", I had to listen to my dad saying how much he sucks and how he can't believe I have been voting for him for the past 2 months. And then a little later we watch Castro forget pary of his lyric for "Mr. Tambourine Man" (which I'm actually listening to right this very second as I'm typing this... no, that was not planned, that's just the magic of iTunes "Shuffle Mode" while I'm on my Jason Castro/David Cook playlist... oh snap).
As I cringed on the sofa while our puppy, Moose, was trying to get our attention to play fetch, I realized this was the end of the road for my favorite Dreadhead... but I still did my civic duty and called for an hour and a half.
To no avail, Castro got ousted last Wednesday with a smile on his face and a sincere look of relief in his eye. After much hub-bub about people thinking he mouthed "Don't Vote" and wanted to get kicked off the show, he has said in every interview since then that he wanted to make it as far as he could and was saying "Vote, Vote". I believe it... the guy recognized his inexperience compared to the remaining 3 contestants and he left the show as happy as he was the first week he was on. Good for you sir, good for you. Plus, he's been on a bunch of talk shows this week, so it's fun to see him do interviews because they really aren't his forte. Though, it seems everyone just wants to talk about 2 things: "Vote, Vote" and his hair. Come on, interviewers, there are way more important things to ask him then that...
So, tonight, the Top 3 sang 3 songs apiece. In all honesty, I was not blown away by anyone, though David Cook was obviously the best performer this evening.
Lemme break it down for ya:
1. David A - I wonder how all this press about his Stage Dad is going to affect the votes. The kid sings well, there is no denying that, but he doesn't really have stage presence. He stands there - eyes mostly open these days, and only licking his lips on occassion - and belts his little heart out, shaking the microphone during every run he sings. I thought his Billy Joel song was he strongest of the night. He should *not* have sang Chris Brown's "With You" - because no one can compare to Chris Brown. Though David A. and Chris Brown are close in age, they are not close when it comes to charisma... plus he botched some of the words. And though little David A. sang Dan Fogelberg's "Longer" quite well, Simon was right, that was not a good song choice for this little 17 year old. The lyrics are well beyond his years. He'll still make it through to next week, though.
2. Syesha - I still hate her. And I know "hate" is a strong word, especially because I don't personally know her, but that's the problem - we don't know who Syesha is because she's such a phony every time you see her on the TV. Did you notice then when the pre-packaged material where she received her Judge's Pick, she was all alone in a limo... whereas the Davids were with other people, interacting like normal folks. Syesha is an actress, and a damn good one because I (along with the whole of America, I suppose) have no idea what kind of person she is or what kind of music she would put on a record. All 3 of her songs showed a different person, and there was nothing that linked them together except that Syesha was singing them. With "If I Ain't Got You", it seemed as if she was trying to sing it exactly like Alicia Keys, who is awesome because she is Alicia Keys... when Syesha sang it, it just sounded like karaoke. And then that whole "Fever" fiasco. Simon was right - it was a lame cabaret act. She worked that chair like a pro, but the song is too old fashioned for her, and she made it seem like a showtune instead of a contemporary hit (which is what she should have done). And then that last song... I don't even know the title (I didn't see "Happy Feet", so I'm in the dark about this one), but she didn't look like she was into the song at all... like she felt it was beneath her or something. So what if the song the Producer's picked isn't your kind of song... MAKE IT YOUR OWN! She needs to go home tomorrow night, for reals.
3. David Cook - Oh, David Cook. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I've been a fan since we saw your audition (Anyone who can sing "Livin' on a Prayer" as well as Bon Jovi has my vote... plus he had on a vest at the audition). He is the most consistent Idol contestant this year, and he's got a really great voice (his "Hungry Like the Wolf" is playing now... thank you iTunes :) ), and he plays the guitar well, and he's a true performer, commanding the stage and the microphone as opposed to just standing up there and singing his song selection. So, I thought the Roberta Flack number was great - yes Randy, we know he's the rocker guy, but he's capable of singing other styles/genres of music too... (see Andrew Lloyd Webber week for further proof). And I thought his version of Switchfoot's "I Dare You to Move" was good. I thought the song was too short, though, as soon as he started rocking out, he was done, and I literally sat up in my chair and said aloud to myself (my sister is out of town, so I was solo-Idoling tonight), "What?! That's it?!) And then "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing"... I don't really like this song (so sue me), but I thought he did well. Plus, Diane Warren was sitting right there... that's got to be intimidating.
So, Syesha needs to go home and the two Davids need to duke it out in the final next week. And David Cook needs to win... just because I think he could handle all the press and craziness that comes with being the American Idol. If David A. wins, he'd probably hyperventilate and keel over. But so long as a David wins and not Syesha, than that'll do.
When Idol is over, I suppose I'll have to get back to watching movies :) I did see Iron Man and Speed Racer (liked 'em both) and am very much looking forward to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and the Sex and the City movie... Idol withdrawl will be hard, but it'll be nice to get back to what I love most - film.
Have a fantastic day and I'll catch ya later :)
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