Well, they always say the sequel is never as good as the first one (if that’s the case, how do you explain "Rush Hour 2"?) Last night, that sentiment was confirmed thanks to a mostly disappointing redux of Beatles tunes. Oh no, wait — according to Ryan, last week was "Lennon/McCartney week", while Tuesday night was "Beatles week." Whatever.
Everyone — the judges, the contestants and, most importantly, me — were just not feeling it this week. Simon, in particular, appeared to be on his period as he was acting even crankier than usual.
For starters, he slammed my two favorite performances of the evening, courtesy of David Cook and Carly Smithson.
Actually, in David C’s case, I can see where he’s coming from. While I loved his version of "Daytripper", and I thought it was cool that he went to the voice box, I agreed with Simon in that Cook appeared to be getting a little smug on stage and was on the verge of becoming predictable. Personally, I believe (or I’m choosing to believe) that Simon raining on David’s parade was a way making sure he doesn’t get too full of himself and lose the drive to be creative each week. I Simon (who was amusingly bewildered when Paula mentioned the Geico commercial with Peter Frampton and his voice box) was trying to help Cook.
On the other hand, I can’t for the life of me figure out his criticism for Carly’s take on "Blackbird." It wasn’t perfect, but I’d rank it as one of the top two vocal performances of the night. She brought a great amount of heft to a pretty little song, but Simon called the song "indulgent" (like Carly had anything to do with the creation of the song). At least she acquitted herself quite nicely when explaining what the song meant to her and the other artists. If Simon really wanted to criticize her for something, he could’ve asked her why she dressed like a grandma.
Obviously, those two will (or should) sail through to the top 10 next week, as will five contestants who, in my opinion, are going through various stages of an identity crisis.
Jason Castro and Brooke White both looked incredibly awkward performing without their crutches, I mean instruments for the first time in a while. Both also admitted that they didn’t really connect with their songs and their performances were subpar, which means they’re both smart enough to know they’re able to phone in at least one week.
Brooke took on "Here Comes the Sun" (which could actually describe the moment right before she takes the stage). She did the thing where she began her performance by sitting on the steps (why do contestants do this? It’s not new) before getting up and unleashing some dorky dance moves and a wayward woo. The judges mostly slammed her for her performance, but I enjoyed it (I liked that her dancing was dorky). She admitted that following up "Let it be" from last week would be tough, but I’m glad that she tried something new.
Same goes for Jason Castro, who put down his guitar and sang "Michelle". Unfortunately, he didn’t appear to know what to do with his hand as he waved it around during the French portions of the song as if remembering the lyrics in his head, and awkwardly pacing around the stage. His vocal was also a little wimpy and nasal, but, like Brooke, this guy is just likable, and I admire that he at least stepped outside his comfort zone.
I wish I could say the same about Amanda Overmyer. If you read this column, you know I’m kind of over her — different week, same performance. I’m convinced that if you put your TV on mute and pumped in the audio from ANY of her performances on this show (this week it was "Back in the USSR) it would perfectly match with the video on screen. It’s always the same thing. At least she acquitted herself nicely after the performance by explaining that her goal is to show American what one of her shows would look and sound like (i.e., the same thing every time).
After last week’s disaster (which he smartly and charmingly acknowledged) David Archuleta was back in his ballad-y wheelhouse with "The Long and Winding Road." Here’s the thing: Archuleta makes every song he sings sounds like a Disney song (which isn’t necessarily a slam since I love Disney songs) or something you’d hear on a lite FM station during Delilah’s radio show.
Here’s where things get confusing. Simon called the performance a "master class", while encouraging Amanda to take more chances. Meanwhile, the judges scolded Brooke and Jason for not taking chances and encouraged them to do what they do best. So which is it? Take chances or do what you do best over and over again? (ala Archuleta). Personally, I like to see someone take a chance (ala Jason and Brooke) than a completely sleepy predictable performance that is technically superior (Archuleta).
Another person who took a chance was Chikizie, who brought a country twist to "I’ve Just Seen a Face". It wasn’t nearly as good as last week (which bought him at least another two or three weeks on this show), but I thought the performance was at least lively and interesting. Of course, all Simon could focus on was the "atrocious" harmonica playing that wasn’t really that bad.
Speaking of buying themselves another week on the show, Syesha Mercado did just that with her lovely and strong rendition of "Yesterday." While it was one of the night’s better vocals, I agree with Simon that it wasn’t exactly incredible. She won’t get the boost that Chikizie got for his work last week, but she should at least get one more week to show what she can do. She also wins "Best Dressed" of the evening.
That leaves Ramiele Malubay, Michael Johns and Kristy Lee Cook as your bottom three.
Ramiele certainly doesn’t win "Best Dressed" of the evening, seeing as how her outfit (especially the hat) didn’t make any sense. I also don’t remember a single thing about her singing "I should’ve known better" other than thinking it was one of those songs that become strangely fitting for a contestant to sing right after they’re eliminated. Still, I think she’ll return solely because she hasn’t really been in the bottom three in any previous week — I think that’s about to change.
Michael Johns is going to run out of chances pretty soon. His "A Day in the Life" suffered from lack of cohesiveness (condensing a long song into a minute and a half), and he mostly looked lost out there. The vocal wasn’t strong enough either and the whole performance was kind of a disaster. Add in Paula trying to attribute his trouble to an in-ear monitor that Michael wasn’t wearing and you have, arguably the most embarrassing performance of the evening. Still, I think Michael will return because he’s still technically the "hot guy", and because people feel bad for other people when they’re embarrassed.
How else do you explain Kristy Lee Cook’s presence this week? (Over David Hernandez? ReallY?!?!) She wasn’t nearly as awful this week with "You’ve got to hide your love away" as she was with her psychotic performance last week. Instead she was her usual robotic, forgettable self, and I think she’ll get sent home.
So what’d you think of this episode? Was it a good idea bringing back the Beatles for a second week in a row? Do you like performers to take chances every once in a while or do the same thing they feel comfortable doing and are good at over and over again? Finally, who do you think is going home?
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