American Idol: Carey-ing a Tune

While I wouldn't exactly have called it karaoke hell, I was nevertheless thankful to David Cook for snapping me awake during Mariah Carey week after approximately 45 minutes of well-sung, but repetitive ballads.

Once again, the "Idols" zagged where I thought they were going to zig. I sort of expected them to struggle with the songs of Mariah Carey, who turned out to be an overly sweet, yet not phony-sounding mentor. I especially thought the guys would have a hard time, though Simon DID bring up an interesting point when he said the guys would actually have an easier time since they can't be compared to the week's mentor as directly as the women.

Then again, that was one of the few times I actually agreed with Simon last night.

Take the first three performances of the evening — it's becoming increasingly frustrating for Syesha Mercado fans (all 22 of us) and, to a lesser extent, Carly Smithson fans to watch these two get up there week after week and get lukewarm-at-best comments from the judges.

Although Syesha (pictured, left, because, damnit, SOMEBODY has to show her some love) made the controversial decision to sing a Mariah Carey song after covering Whitney and Fantasia the last two weeks, she absolutely knocked it out of the park. Not only that, but she picked "Vanishing", a cool, jazzy number that's not played out like most of the rest of Carey's catalog. So what do the judges (especially Simon) say, after killing her for picking uber-familiar songs? They criticize her for picking a song that people don't know. They might as well put Syesha's name on one of those bottom three stools for Wednesday night.

Though Carly didn't sing quite as well as Syesha last night, she probably looked better than she ever had, and still delivered a strong rendition of a tough song, "Without You." Was it the most unbelievable performance ever? No. Could Simon and Randy have maybe pointed out how strong her verses were, and how even stronger she became one she got to the songs meat of the tune? Of course! Ugh. Probably not a great sign that her pre-performance chat with Ryan was spent talking about how everyone misses Michael Johns.

Almost as maddening as their almost open disdain for Carly and Syesha is their embarrassing fawning over David Archuleta. Don't get me wrong? The guy turned in a very nice and relatively restrained take on "When You Believe" (a song selection a blind man could've seen coming a mile away), but he was no better than Carly, and certainly not nearly as good as Syesha. So why is Simon still talking about his performance after Syesha's number? Why not just give him a free pass to the finals if that's what the judges and producers want? The best thing that came out this segment was the revelation that I, apparently, do a pretty solid David Archuleta impression, complete with squinty eyes and duck waddle walk.

Another disconcerting trend (that had nothing to do with the judges this time) is how Kristy Lee Cook seems to actually be getting better, and Brooke White is getting worse.

I mean, Kristy Lee didn't blow the doors off of "Forever" (my girl Erica's favorite Mariah song), but she was noticeably less stiff and did a better job on the big notes. Once again, she smartly countrified the tune (earning unjustified, but genuine-sounding raves from Mariah), but it's probably not a good sign that I spent most of her post-performance critique trying to figure out if that was Teri Hatcher sitting behind Randy Jackson (it was!)

Brooke White was incredibly nervous during her piano-driven take on "Hero." She never really said she was nervous, but it was painfully obvious as her piano playing sped up as she missed notes in that song she just couldn't possibly hit. Still, since it was probably the worst performance of the evening, I think her fans (and she has more then 22) will call in and rescue her. She's looking a little desperate right now, so she's got to calm herself down and find that laid back groove that endeared her to us in the first place.

Kinda what Jason Castro has done ever since his act had become stale a few weeks ago. He didn't drastically reinvent himself at all, but instead shored up his vocals and stage performance and has delivered two crowd-pleasing performances in a row. Still, I wasn't really a huge fan of his "I don't want to cry." It certainly wasn't bad, but I just tended to agree more with Randy in that it seemed like it belonged more in a chill luau than the "Idol" stage. Is Jason EVER going to take advantage of the fact that he's in the biggest (figuratively) stage in the country every week?

It was smart to close the show with Jason and David Cook, who thankfully were the two contestants who reinvented Carey's songbook (almost out of necessity). Of course, Cook's reworking of "Always Be My Baby" (MY favorite Mariah song) was drastic compared to Jason.

While I actually think he was far from the top of his game vocally, his radical and creative reworking was such a welcome breath of fresh air that it probably made his performance seem better than it really was. Still, I think most people would take a fun, exciting performance over a pristine vocal. However, what made the night a total home run for Cook (other than successfully navigating a Mariah tune) was his genuine and emotional response afterward. (His sick brother was reportedly in the audience.) It's always great to see when people care, and his post performance response was miles ahead of the cheesy, calculated writing of "Give Back" on his hand.

So what'd you think of this episode? Did the "Idols" surprise you or let you down on Mariah night? Are Simon and the judges right about David A., Syesha and Carly or am I just crazy? Finally, who do you think is going home?