Caramba!

To be consistent with “Idol Gives Back”, this week’s theme is Inspirational Songs.  This year though I wasn’t as inspired as the past year, maybe due to the song choices?  I don’t know.  Oh well… on to the performances.

Michael Johns opened the show with Aerosmith’s “Dream On”.  It was actually the perfect song choice for Michael Johns, he just kind of fell short with his performance.  It wasn’t a bad performance, he just didn’t do anything to OWN the song.  But it was okay.

Syesha Mercado chose Fantasia’s “I Believe”.  She hasn’t learned from past comments – if you choose a song originally sung by a past American Idol contestant/winner, OF COURSE you will be compared.   I agree with the judges – she sang it well, but she wasn’t able to connect to the audience.  There were no emotions involved.  Very unlike Fantasia – you FEEL the message when she sings the song!

Jason Castro chose the PERFECT song in Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s version of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”.  I ABSOLUTELY love that version!  And I absolutely love his rendition.  As Simon said, “fantastic!”.  Jason is such a unique singer/performer, he deserves to stay.

Kristy Lee Cook sang “Anyway”.  I don’t have comments because I wasn’t able to watch her performance.  I just know that she should already go, no one left deserves to go before her.  NO ONE.

David Cook sang “Innocent”.  It wasn’t his best performance but it was still good, it still had that David Cook vibe.

Carly Smithson sang “The Show Must Go On” by Queen, and I totally agree with Simon – she seemed ANGRY while singing.  I don’t think “angry” goes with “inspirational”, don’t you agree?  She has to do something about her facial expressions, she can look really scary when she sings.   She will probably be part of the Bottom 3 on friday.

David Archuleta sang Robbie Williams’ “Angels”, and it was another great performance.  I think he missed some notes but they were not very noticeable.  David is out to win this thing!

Brooke White closed with show with James Taylor’s “You’ve Got a Friend”.  It was the perfect song choice for her!  I agree with Simon though – it was NICE and PLEASANT but not much more.  It was a good performance, but it wasn’t as good as her past performances.  The down side to giving amazing performances is that more is expected from you.

The performances, from fave to least fave:

1. Jason Castro
2. David Archuleta
3. Brooke White
4. Michael Johns
5. Syesha Mercado
6. David Cook
7. Carly Smithson
8. Kristy Lee Cook

I think Syesha, Carly and Kristy will be part of the bottom 3.  Kristy SHOULD GO HOME.  I’m just not sure if that will be the result of tonight’s voting.  Let’s see.