Caramba!

Of course, American Idol is milking Beatles’ Night for all it’s worth.

Amanda Overmyer opened the show with “Back in the USSR”, and she tried to rock it. If it was the first time I saw her perform, I would have been impressed. But I’m tired of Amanda Overmyer. It’s the same thing week after week after week, and what’s worse, no fantastic performance yet! I don’t see her winning American Idol. It’s just a matter of time before she goes home, if she doesn’t turn things around.

Kristy Lee Cook brought out her guns today by looking extra pretty, showing off her legs and wearing a dress with a low neckline. I guess she figured that’s what will help her stay. Her performance of “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” wasn’t as awful as her performance last week, but it’s still not good. I can’t even say it’s okay.

And then we get to David Archuleta, who I truly believe is not just one of the Top 2 performers of the night, but the Top Idol contender for Season 7. He bounced back tonight with his performance of “A Long and Winding Road”. Simon was right, he NAILED it. “Imagine” is still his best performance, but this performance was solid. I am so happy! I still think it would have been awesome if he sang “Here, There and Everywhere” but hey, no complaints on tonight’s performance. Go little David!

Here’s David’s performance:

Michael Johns performed next with “A Day in the Life”. Poor, poor Michael Johns. 5 performances already and nothing fantastic yet. Imagine, his most memorable performance is “Bohemian Rhapsody” from the auditions! I don’t think his performance was as a bad as the judges made it appear but it was very far from being great. It’s so sad to see him struggling until now.

Brooke White. Okay, here’s the thing. I love the song “Here Comes the Sun”. I’m not sure if it’s my bias, but I don’t think the performance was as horrible as the judges thought it was. It was still a good performance, I think. However, having said that, I got annoyed again at Brooke with her being defensive and all.

David Cook chose “Day Tripper” and I think he did okay. I understood Simon when he said it was a bit predictable. Also, I’m not into gimmicks, especially if it looks staged. Gimmicks that blend into the performance don’t come across as gimmicks. What he did, well, it was a gimmick to me.

Carly Smithson’s performance was one the best performances of the night. I’m glad she chose “Blackbird” – she doesn’t always have to choose songs with high notes. Here’s the thing though – her face gets all weird and that’s not a good thing. She sang the song well, but her facial expressions just didn’t match the song.

Jason Castro’s performance of “Michelle” was just okay. I totally agree with Simon, Jason’s face sold the song. See, in American Idol, it’s about selling the song, making it seem ‘your song’. He did that with this song, but it just wasn’t as good as his past performances. I agree with Randy too, maybe it’s because he didn’t connect to the song.

Syesha Mercado’s rendition of “Yesterday” was good, but I wasn’t comfortable with how she changed the song. I understand that the contestants should make the songs ‘their own’ but it’s very dangerous to do that with classic songs, “Yesterday” being one of them. Though objectively, the performance was good, I was uncomfortable.

Chikezie’s performance of “I’ve Just Seen a Face” was a mess. I am tired of Chikezie too. He’s trying too hard. He was so desperate to add a gimmick to his performance. You will not survive on antics alone. Chikezie should be in the bottom 3.

What an awkward performance by Ramiele Malubay, mostly because she can’t dance! She chose an upbeat song in “I Should Have Known Better” because she said she didn’t want to bore the judges again. Well, I don’t know how she did it, but she still bored me. Her voice isn’t the problem, listen to the audio alone and she sang well. Unfortunately, it’s not just about the voice. It’s really sad, but I don’t see Ramiele winning American Idol this season.

Tonight’s performances, ranked from favorite to least favorite:

• David Archuleta
• Carly Smithson
• Brooke White
• Michael Johns
• Syesha Mercado
• Jason Castro
• Ramiele Malubay
• David Cook
• Amanda Overmyer
• Chikezie
• Kristy Lee Cook

Bottom 3 should be Chikezie, Amanda Overmyer, and Kristy Lee Cook. If it’s possible I would send all of them home. But only 1 will go home, and I think it will either be Chikezie or Amanda. Mainly because Kristy Lee Cook looked good today. I can be wrong though, and I would be totally okay with that.