Title: Top 5
Description: April 29, 2008
Description: April 29, 2008
AceOfDiamonds - April 29, 2008 12:09 AM (GMT)
Our Top 5 takes on Neil Diamond this week, 2 songs each. Discuss it here.
Chasin'Ace - April 30, 2008 08:01 PM (GMT)
Not sure where to start on this. To say this episode was bizarre is to put it mildly. The Top 5 are to sing 2 songs from the Neil Diamond songbook. Ryan tells us that they have 10 songs to cram into an hour so the judging will be held until after they all have done their second songs. OK then - we start off with Jason Castro. (Guess Idol is looking to boot our resident dreadhead, giving him the awful #1 spot.)
Jason - "Forever In Bluejeans" - In his spot with Neil D, Idol of course chooses to air the section where he mixes up the lyrics on one song with the melody of the other. OOPS. I thought it was actually very funny and he is his usual cute self about it, but no doubt many people were not amused and just think he is a dimwit (he is actually a straight-A student and was in his HS's National Honor Society). Part of what Idol does when they want someone out is to show them in the worst possible light in their mentoring time (remember Ace/Queen?). On to the song, I thought it was very good. I love the tone of his voice and the laid-back presentation. Great song for him. I loved the lower register in the beginning. Good start for the night.
David C - "I'm Alive" - Stupid stool time with Ryan. What was that about? It was DC setting up the scene for Ryan to talk instead of the other way around. The performance was good. I wasn't excited, but I liked it. He actually sounded a lot like Neil D in this song. It's weird not hearing a critique afterwards.
Brooke - "I'm A Believer" - How many ways can I say "ugh"? It was a bit low for her. It was boring. Not a good choice of song. Sounded monotone; not at all interesting. UGH.
David A - "Sweet Caroline" - Neil D. called him a prodigy in the interview. I do wish young David had waited a couple of years before coming on the show. As good as he is, he is socially underdeveloped. He is a 17-yr-old who looks more like 13. I liked this performance. Nice to see him do an uptempo song. He changed it up a bit, not too much. Great job.
Syesha - "Hello" - Neil appeared to like Syesha more than anyone else. Idol loves her too because they are trying to save her by giving her the pimp spot. It was a nice vocal, slightly pitchy at the beginning, but I was just not captivated. IDK - Syesha just doesn't do anything for me. Maybe I will like her uptempo in the second half better. And what's with the bare feet again? 2 weeks in a row?
OK - key the music - this is where we enter the Twilight Zone.
Ryan decides that the judges should just give a quick summary of the first round and hustles the kids all out there. Randy does his thing, then Paula starts in. She looks and acts befuddled, then starts on Jason's critique by consulting her script, uh I mean her notes. She babbles about his first song, then goes into how he did on his second song, which of course all of us earth dwellers know he hasn't done yet, and concludes that he doesn't seem to be fighting to be in the Final 4. Everyone is pretty startled and Randy finally says that 'we are only doing one song right now Paula' and she is like 'OH, I thought he sang twice'. And this goes on until Simon puts a stop to it and gives a curt summary of his own - Jason - forgettable; David C - just above average; Brooke - a nightmare; David A - amateurish; Syesha - too old-fashioned. And the Final 5 are hustled off to prepare for round 2, all except for poor Jason Castro, who was just told that his song was gonna stink before he ever opens his mouth. And now he has to actually perform it for y'all. For me (and many others) this was perhaps the most off the wall thing Paula has done, and the most damaging, to her, to the show, and to the hapless Jason who now realizes they really do want him gone and he was never going have a chance. Reminds me of the manipulations in Queen week for Ace, where they made their feelings known to him that they wanted him to be toast. Remember? I never thought the show was rigged in voting, but have always known how they manipulate. This brought that to new highs (lows?).
ROUND 2
Jason - "September Morn" - I can only guess what was going through Jason's head during this performance, but his body language showed us he started out mostly defeated. The song was very pretty, very Jason, very nice to listen to after all of that. But that said, his demeanor changed subtlely by the middle of the song, when he appeared to be starting to give up and the song lost some sparkle, and by the end, he just gave up altogether; I thought the ending kind of trailed off and he didn't concisely finish it. Then of course all 3 judges heaped on him some more. Very blatantly done, Idol. We know you want him to leave this week. I hope he has enough fans with their dander up that he is saved and your plan is foiled. We will see.
David C - "All I Really Need Is You" - This was not vocally his best for sure. It was OK. Maybe it was the song that didn't capture me. Maybe I am still in Paula-shock. Anyway, I liked it but nowhere near "blazin'" like Randy felt.
Brooke - "I Am, I Said" - OK - now Idol is blatantly supporting Brooke. She gets additional stool time with Ryan because someone perceived that people might not want to vote for her since she reacted so strongly to Simon telling her that her first song was a "nightmare". Must clear that up so no one dislikes her. Geesh! Why not give stool time to Jason and ask him what he thought of Paula pre-judging his performance? Erg. On to the song - it was much better than the first one, but her last note was missed and very shaky - not a good way to end. Randy of course then gives her the green light to sing with flaws because it's "her". Whatever. The next manipulation is in. I'm getting cranky.
David A - "America" - Nice to see little David do 2 uptempo songs. I liked the first one better but this one was good too. The little pixie is just so damn cute.
Syesha - "Thank The Lord For The Night Time" - Very lively but she missed notes all over. She seems to stay in tune better on ballads and stray on uptempo. It was fun like last week's song, but she still just does nothing for me. Mix her up in a bag with a dozen other singers of her type and you could never pick her out. And AGAIN with the bare feet - is she short of cash in her clothing allowance? That's 3 times. Come to think of it, I'd like to see Jason come out in bare feet. That would look kind of right on him. In any case, Idol also wants her saved which is why she closed the show tonight.
All in all, I thought this was a very poor night for a Final 5 on Idol. After Round 1, Simon said they had better be great in Round 2 because it wasn't good enough. Then DON'T PICK NEIL DIAMOND FOR A THEME. Not exactly exciting songs.
It is also one of the worst nights in term of manipulation. Their message: Jason out, Brooke in, save Syesha. They have gone easy on Brooke in particular for most of the season and it has become ridiculous.
Who's going home?
Idol wants: Jason out.
I want: Brooke or Syesha out.
Let's see where the votes go.
Jason - "Forever In Bluejeans" - In his spot with Neil D, Idol of course chooses to air the section where he mixes up the lyrics on one song with the melody of the other. OOPS. I thought it was actually very funny and he is his usual cute self about it, but no doubt many people were not amused and just think he is a dimwit (he is actually a straight-A student and was in his HS's National Honor Society). Part of what Idol does when they want someone out is to show them in the worst possible light in their mentoring time (remember Ace/Queen?). On to the song, I thought it was very good. I love the tone of his voice and the laid-back presentation. Great song for him. I loved the lower register in the beginning. Good start for the night.
David C - "I'm Alive" - Stupid stool time with Ryan. What was that about? It was DC setting up the scene for Ryan to talk instead of the other way around. The performance was good. I wasn't excited, but I liked it. He actually sounded a lot like Neil D in this song. It's weird not hearing a critique afterwards.
Brooke - "I'm A Believer" - How many ways can I say "ugh"? It was a bit low for her. It was boring. Not a good choice of song. Sounded monotone; not at all interesting. UGH.
David A - "Sweet Caroline" - Neil D. called him a prodigy in the interview. I do wish young David had waited a couple of years before coming on the show. As good as he is, he is socially underdeveloped. He is a 17-yr-old who looks more like 13. I liked this performance. Nice to see him do an uptempo song. He changed it up a bit, not too much. Great job.
Syesha - "Hello" - Neil appeared to like Syesha more than anyone else. Idol loves her too because they are trying to save her by giving her the pimp spot. It was a nice vocal, slightly pitchy at the beginning, but I was just not captivated. IDK - Syesha just doesn't do anything for me. Maybe I will like her uptempo in the second half better. And what's with the bare feet again? 2 weeks in a row?
OK - key the music - this is where we enter the Twilight Zone.
Ryan decides that the judges should just give a quick summary of the first round and hustles the kids all out there. Randy does his thing, then Paula starts in. She looks and acts befuddled, then starts on Jason's critique by consulting her script, uh I mean her notes. She babbles about his first song, then goes into how he did on his second song, which of course all of us earth dwellers know he hasn't done yet, and concludes that he doesn't seem to be fighting to be in the Final 4. Everyone is pretty startled and Randy finally says that 'we are only doing one song right now Paula' and she is like 'OH, I thought he sang twice'. And this goes on until Simon puts a stop to it and gives a curt summary of his own - Jason - forgettable; David C - just above average; Brooke - a nightmare; David A - amateurish; Syesha - too old-fashioned. And the Final 5 are hustled off to prepare for round 2, all except for poor Jason Castro, who was just told that his song was gonna stink before he ever opens his mouth. And now he has to actually perform it for y'all. For me (and many others) this was perhaps the most off the wall thing Paula has done, and the most damaging, to her, to the show, and to the hapless Jason who now realizes they really do want him gone and he was never going have a chance. Reminds me of the manipulations in Queen week for Ace, where they made their feelings known to him that they wanted him to be toast. Remember? I never thought the show was rigged in voting, but have always known how they manipulate. This brought that to new highs (lows?).
ROUND 2
Jason - "September Morn" - I can only guess what was going through Jason's head during this performance, but his body language showed us he started out mostly defeated. The song was very pretty, very Jason, very nice to listen to after all of that. But that said, his demeanor changed subtlely by the middle of the song, when he appeared to be starting to give up and the song lost some sparkle, and by the end, he just gave up altogether; I thought the ending kind of trailed off and he didn't concisely finish it. Then of course all 3 judges heaped on him some more. Very blatantly done, Idol. We know you want him to leave this week. I hope he has enough fans with their dander up that he is saved and your plan is foiled. We will see.
David C - "All I Really Need Is You" - This was not vocally his best for sure. It was OK. Maybe it was the song that didn't capture me. Maybe I am still in Paula-shock. Anyway, I liked it but nowhere near "blazin'" like Randy felt.
Brooke - "I Am, I Said" - OK - now Idol is blatantly supporting Brooke. She gets additional stool time with Ryan because someone perceived that people might not want to vote for her since she reacted so strongly to Simon telling her that her first song was a "nightmare". Must clear that up so no one dislikes her. Geesh! Why not give stool time to Jason and ask him what he thought of Paula pre-judging his performance? Erg. On to the song - it was much better than the first one, but her last note was missed and very shaky - not a good way to end. Randy of course then gives her the green light to sing with flaws because it's "her". Whatever. The next manipulation is in. I'm getting cranky.
David A - "America" - Nice to see little David do 2 uptempo songs. I liked the first one better but this one was good too. The little pixie is just so damn cute.
Syesha - "Thank The Lord For The Night Time" - Very lively but she missed notes all over. She seems to stay in tune better on ballads and stray on uptempo. It was fun like last week's song, but she still just does nothing for me. Mix her up in a bag with a dozen other singers of her type and you could never pick her out. And AGAIN with the bare feet - is she short of cash in her clothing allowance? That's 3 times. Come to think of it, I'd like to see Jason come out in bare feet. That would look kind of right on him. In any case, Idol also wants her saved which is why she closed the show tonight.
All in all, I thought this was a very poor night for a Final 5 on Idol. After Round 1, Simon said they had better be great in Round 2 because it wasn't good enough. Then DON'T PICK NEIL DIAMOND FOR A THEME. Not exactly exciting songs.
It is also one of the worst nights in term of manipulation. Their message: Jason out, Brooke in, save Syesha. They have gone easy on Brooke in particular for most of the season and it has become ridiculous.
Who's going home?
Idol wants: Jason out.
I want: Brooke or Syesha out.
Let's see where the votes go.
AceOfDiamonds - May 1, 2008 02:48 PM (GMT)
Top 5 Elimination
Jason Castro out first - SAFE
David Archuleta out next - SAFE
David Cook out next - SAFE
That leaves the 2 girls Syesha Mercado and Brooke White.
Syesha - Safe
Brooke - Eliminated
NOTE: I did not call the girls the Bottom 2 because Ryan never called them that. He only said that one of them was safe and one was going home. That leaves open the possibilty that Syesha was not 4th in the voting but we will never know for sure. It certainly is something they have done before, usually to get a particular contestant's fan base a sense of urgency so they will vote harder the next week to keep that person in. At this point they obviously want Syesha and the Davids in the Top 3. I believe it is quite possible that Jason was the 4th place finisher but after Paula gave her now infamous (and outrageous) critique of Jason's second song before he even performed it, the show chose to bring Jason out first and set his mind at ease in fairness to him. Or - maybe she really was in the bottom 2. Who knows? Just thought I would throw that in there.
Jason Castro out first - SAFE
David Archuleta out next - SAFE
David Cook out next - SAFE
That leaves the 2 girls Syesha Mercado and Brooke White.
Syesha - Safe
Brooke - Eliminated
NOTE: I did not call the girls the Bottom 2 because Ryan never called them that. He only said that one of them was safe and one was going home. That leaves open the possibilty that Syesha was not 4th in the voting but we will never know for sure. It certainly is something they have done before, usually to get a particular contestant's fan base a sense of urgency so they will vote harder the next week to keep that person in. At this point they obviously want Syesha and the Davids in the Top 3. I believe it is quite possible that Jason was the 4th place finisher but after Paula gave her now infamous (and outrageous) critique of Jason's second song before he even performed it, the show chose to bring Jason out first and set his mind at ease in fairness to him. Or - maybe she really was in the bottom 2. Who knows? Just thought I would throw that in there.