The Top 4 -- A Festival Of Mediocrity

The thing that really stood out for me during AI the Rock and Roll show was how incredibly biased Randy Jackson is toward David Archuleta at this point. Little David could sing Happy Birthday while taking a crap on the AI stage and Randy would pronounce it 'Da Bomb. At least if D. Arch did sing Happy Birthday while taking a crap it would be interesting. It would keep my attention. It would keep me awake during the show.

Instead he chooses to sing the oldest, most tired chestnuts he could dig up and the judges loved it. The kid is 17 years old, the theme is Rock and Roll and he sings Elvis and Ben E. King. Can't he sing something a bit more comtemporary, a bit more uptempo? It's like he's determined to be a 45 year old lounge singer. Maybe they should just let him win, right now, since he is the only one who will do justice to whatever schlocky single the 19 media people will want him to record.

What can I even say about his two songs? They were OK. He has a good voice, we know that, although I think it's nasally and overrated. He leaves me completely unimpressed.

And yes I'm a little cranky about last night's show. I can't help it after watching the last favorite that I have remaining on the show crash and burn. During Jason Castro's video package leading in to his second song, he mentioned that he was going to, "Stick with the Bobs...You can't go wrong." Well, sorry Castro, but you can go wrong. Very, very wrong.

His version of "I Shot the Sheriff" was a mess, there was no real vocal to speak of, he did nothing new to the arrangement. It was awful. And the second song, "Mr. Tambourine Man," was even worse. He forgot the lyrics, and he just didn't sound good. I don't know why he thought these two stoner anthem would be good song selections for American Idol. Especially at this crucial point in the show. I can only conclude that whether he realizes it or not, he is sabatoging himself. He really doesn't want to make it into that top 3. And I am sure that his wish will be granted.

David Cook was pretty good, as usual. He gave Duran Duran's "Hungry Like the Wolf" a hard edge that it didn't have in the original version. But there was nothing new or unexpected about it. With David Cook we've come to expect the unexpected, and when he just sings a song in the traditional arrangement I for one am a bit let down. Same with his "Baba O'Riley" (the song that I always thought was called Teenage Wasteland, not really a big Who fan). I mean, I liked the way he sang it, as I like the way he sings almost everything. It just wasn't anything new. No worries for D. Cook, I'm sure he will be in the big finale, and rightfully so.

For me, the shining light of the night was Syesha. I have really resisted Syesha this season. I was surprised that she made it as far as she did, but I have to give the girl props. She has really brought the heat in the last few weeks, just getting better and better and better. Her "Proud Mary" was a little over the top with all of the Tina Turner dancing and whatnot, but as Randy would say, "She worked it out." But I thought she outsang everybody with her rendition of Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come." So I was really surprised and suspicious when Randy slammed her in his critique, saying that she was, "Trying for things that weren't there." Hello? What about that final note dawg? What does the guy want? I'm willing to bet if David Archuleta wasn't there Randy would have done a back flip over Syesha's performance.

Luckily, the other two judges are quite so obviously in Little David's back pocket and gave Syesha the accolades she deserved. Paula called it "beautiful" and Simon reassured her that "Randy got that utterly wrong."

And Syesha, in what for me was an incredibly touching moment, broke down and cried on the stage during Paula and Simon's critiques. It was so real and gave us a glimpse beyond Syesha's "actress" facade. I felt it made her all the more likeable to know that she is feeling the pressure like everyone else. And as Randy sputtered and tried to defend himself, Ryan (who as you may have noticed has redeemed himself a little in my eyes lately) cracked the best joke of the season, urging Randy to hurry up because "We're running out of time, Hell's Kitchen is gonna start."

All in all, I was incredibly disappointed by Rock and Roll night. I was just expecting so much more. And the beautiful Jason will probably be packing his bags later tonight. What more can I say. Phlerggg.

It's Rock and Roll Night

I know it's close to showtime, but if you don't want to know what the four remaining contestants are singing tonight, skip this post.

Tonights theme is Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or somthing to that effect. Thanks to TMZ, here is tonight's song list:

David Archuleta -- "Stand By Me" by Ben E. King and "Love Me Tender" by Elvis and Norah Jones.

David Cook -- "Baba O'Riley" by The Who and "Hungry Like The Wolf" by Duran Duran.

Jason Castro -- "Tambourine Man" by Bob Dylan and "I Shot The Sherrif" by Bob Marley as covered by Eric Clapton.

Syesha Mercado -- "Proud Mary" by CCR /Tina Turner and "A Change is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke.

So, it's pretty clear to me that, barring something crazy happening, David Cook will kick everyone's ass tonight. He picked great songs that are perfect for his style (Although I am wondering what he will do to update "Hungry Like the Wolf"). Jason Castro is not doing anything to help his pothead image by picking these two stoner classics. I am looking forward to hearing them though. I am wondering a little why David Archuleta would choose "Stand By Me." I really wish he would sing something more contemporary, not this tired old retread. "Love Me Tender" has some potential if he sings it at the piano like Jen P. predicted. Syesha will rock her songs I'm sure, but it doesn't matter because she won't win.

Anyway, looking forward to 8:00 p.m.

What Does Jason Look Like Under That Hair?

It's a younger Jason Castro sans dreads. Cute, no?

Whoa!

Can you guess who this is?

It's Anna Chlumsky, the girl who played Vada Sultenfuss in the "My Girl" movies. All grown up and seriously gorgeous. She's back in the Biz and making a movie with James Gandolfini.

Man I feel old.

Jason Castro Wants To Go Home?

In an EW interview Jason Castro hints that he wants to get voted off.

"I'll get around to practicing," he promised the EW reporter, after noting that his brother and a friend had visited over the weekend and that his Saturday meeting with Diamond had gone "really bad" because he didn't yet know his songs. "What happens happens. I'll sing and if people like it, they like it. And if they don't, they don't. I'm kind of ready to go home.

"It's been overwhelming," Castro continued. "I got 150 balloons yesterday delivered to the studio because people heard I was sick last week. That's cool, but that's just weird."

Please don't do this to me Castro. Stop yawning, start practicing, and try to make it to the top 3. I get what you're saying, I totally do. I think you are a shy guy for whom this whole experience has been a bit overwhelming, but you gotta try. For me. Please.

I'll stop crying now...

Goodbye Brooke

At the half-way point of last night's results show I really thought that they were going to keep it at a crisp 1/2 hour instead of the hour long schlockfest they've done all season. Ryan had kept up a brisk pace, quickly sending all the guys over to safety on the sofa (I had a moment of worry when Jason was waiting to hear his fate) leaving the two gals on the chopping block. He even took a few minutes to quickly "clear up" the PaulaGate situation, in the process confusing everybody that much more.

(What were the rumors? Was Paula supposed to be fired? What if instead of the contestants Ryan brought Paula onto the stage and told her she would be the one leaving us last night? That would have been fantastic.)

Anyway, by 9:28 Brooke and Syesha were standing on the stage with Ryan apparently about to learn who was heading home. I was whispering to myself, "Say it, Ryan, say it," but of course he didn't say it. We had to sit through Natasha Bedingfield singing some crap song and attempt to make out illegally with David Archuleta, Neil Diamond doing his arthritic thang, and a really, really lame call-in bit. Does anyone believe that Tara Miller, Simon's first kiss at 9 years old just happened to call in to the show all on her own? I didn't think so. I have to give it to Ryan, though, he pointed out to all the kids at home that 9 years old is too young to be kissing, getting the best laugh of the evening.



Finally we came to the moment of truth, and Brooke was sent home to Nannyville. It wasn't a surprise, especially not to Brooke herself, but I was still a bit sad. I have loved Brooke since the auditions. She doesn't have an amazing voice by any means, but sometimes it's not about that. When she get's it right ("Love is a Battlefield," "You're So Vain," "Let It Be") you get a feeling of authenticity from her. And even when she gets it wrong ("You Must Love Me," "I'm A Believer") she's just so sweet and self-effacing that you can't help but like her. I'll miss her interrupting the judges and I'll miss her adorable husband sitting in the audience cheering her on. So good luck Brooke, and here is my tribute to you:

Jen P. Chimes In On PaulaGate

Jen P. shares her thoughts on the Paula flap:

I was there, you were there....there was no scripted sequence of events when Paula became an even bigger idiot on television on Tuesday. She had NO previous notes from the dress rehearsal, but I do think that she was reading someone's live performance notes and thinking of Jason's rehearsal performance. I think she was just way flustered by having to wing it...she's always at a loss for words anyway. If she'd have only stuck to commenting on their wardrobe, eh?..... I could tell that she was a bit anxious when the subject was broached during the results show last night. Her posture and expression immediately changed; like the crowd was going to burst into chants of "Paula's Cukoo" or start throwing rotten tomatoes at her. This kind of thing makes Idol more fun and much better water cooler talk, and to think we were present for PaulaGate is very, very cool! It may become one of those "point in time" references where every single person in America knows exactly where they were when it happened and we can say that we were just feet away from the moron herself!

On another Idol note, Brooke's been ousted this week. My first thought: what's Syesha to do with no more roommates? I was actually very surprised that Brooke got voted out. I would have thought her to have a much bigger fan base than Syesha...which now really worries me. Who the hell is voting for Syesha? Are there that many Broadway and cruise ship people?

I could have knocked Natasha B out last night when she just had to go over and hug David Archusickofmeyet. She could have done all that after the show, had her private moment or whatever...so why the heck make a fool of her 26 year old self by side hugging little David like a new pet? So weird. Hate her now. I still predict a David vs David finale. I hope they let Cook change up the predictable/sappy/top 40/fan written finale song to his liking. Otherwise, there may be an unfair advantage like last year's song that was absolutely not suited for Blake. They should let the contestants write their own damn songs for the finale....now that would be some entertainment!