It seems like only yesterday, but Brooke White's infamous restarting of her performance of "You Must Love Me" during Andrew Lloyd Webber week made AOL TV's Top 5 TV Trainwrecks of 2008, coming in at #2. Refresh your memory by watching the moment below:
In an epic battle of the ages, 17-year-old David Archuleta and 25-year-old David Cook took to the Nokia Theatre stage and delivered stunning performances. Going into the night it was anyone's game, but there were certain events that took place during the broadcast that swayed the momentum in one person's favor.
Just an aside: the theatre was too big and there was no excitement compared to past finales. It was too dark and dull, plus the stage was overwhelming.
Beginning with the cheesy and childish mock boxing introduction complete with Michael Buffer serving as the emcee, we knew the show was off to a rocky start. Especially when Arch was introduced as weighing "100 lbs. when soaking wet." Yes it was a joke, but please.
Once all the seriousness began, things seemed to get back on the ground. Clive Davis the crypt keeper was there in all his glory, despite being demoted over at Sony BMG earlier this year. And Andrew Lloyd Webber made an appearance, seeming that he cannot get enough of this show. The two helped coach the Davids in their song choices, which amounted to just fluff. If they do not know how to perform by now, they are not fit to be the next idol.
So after a long, drawn-out montage we finally get something noteworthy, as Cook kicks off the show with Clive's choice for him, U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." Although upon hearing he would be doing this song days ago it sounded like a sure thing and would fit his voice perfectly, it did not sound special at all. It was virtually a straight-up rock cover of the song, which Cook is not always amazing at. Randy seemed pretty impressed, and said it was a "great way to start off this duel of 2007." He brought up the fact that they were competing for the "King of the Nokia" for the first time of the night, but definitely not the last. Right. Paula was a little more creative, even though her "You may not have found what you're looking for but we sure have" comment was scripted to the core. She said Cook had arrived and said "Amen" three times. And then Simon even cut him some slack when he said the performance was "phenomenal" despite the fact that he was tense.
But as soon as Cook left the stage, Arch took to it and belted out Clive's choice of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me." The much overdone song sounded great coming from him, and is completely the right genre of music for him to be pursuing. Suddenly Clive's crazy song choice seems alright. Aside from the vocals, Arch incorporated his annoying arm-stretching, but it did not take away too much from the overall performance. Randy went above and beyond with his syrupy praise of Arch, calling the performance "molten hot" and his vocals "crazy" among other things. He was so blown away, in fact, that he kept repeating "crazy" even as Paula was giving her own critique, which was another unoriginal "The sun is never gonna go down on you' kind of thing. She did say she got chills, though, so that probably was not in the script. Simon declared Arch the winner of round one, saying the performance was his best so far.
So after getting Clive's songs out of the way, Cook retook the stage and delivered a rocked up version of Emily Shackleton's "Dream Big," which he chose from the top 10 vote-getters in the AI songwriting competition. The song completely fit his style, but the cheesy as ever lyrics anchored it down. It also did not feel like a "winning" performance. Randy let everyone know that the song was "just ok" but Cook "sang his face off." Paula was just mesmerized and sat in awe of him, and Simon gave the performance a "6.5 out of 10," using the boxing analogy to say it was "a bit of a lightweight" and "didn't sound like a winning moment."
When it was Arch's turn, he took on "In This Moment," which was even cheesier than Cook's choice, but to his credit it actually sounded like an Idol song. He was able to hit the high note while the song;s lyrics were fairly inspirational and sugary. Randy again was not crazy about the song but pulled out one of his five usual compliments in telling him he could "sing the phone book" and that he was "in the zone." Paula told him some more bland statements in saying the performance had "magic" and that was why he was in the final two. Simon again said Arch was in fact the winner of round two, claiming he chose the better song and it fit the night better, and saying he liked the "egotistical lyrics.' You would, Simon.
As for the contestants' choices in round three, Cook finished out his performances with Collective Soul's "The World I Know," which everyone could see had some meaningful connection to him. It started off acoustic but then the band came in and he even showed off some of his rare falsetto. Upon finishing, Cook started to tear up, which added even more fuel to the audience's fire of applause and cheering. Paula gave him a standing ovation. Randy said he did a very nice job and that this was the kind of record he could see him releasing. Paula again stood and applauded him, saying he was "standing in his truth" and that he delivered performances "with integrity and originality." Simon started his comments off by calling Cook one of the nicest, most genuine contestants they had ever had on the show, but brought spirits down when he told him he should have sung "Billie Jean" again and that his choice was "completely and utterly the wrong one."
So then Arch came out and took on his most memorable performance in "Imagine," again starting at the second verse and not changing the arrangement up from hi earlier performance. His vocals were no better than either of his two prior performances that night, but the mood seemed perfect, and that he had a "winner's moment" with the song. Randy said the best singer of Season 7 was "standing right there!" and that he was what this show is all about. Paula basically echoed Randy's comment, adding that he "left her speechless." And Simon, who had been praising Cook on every show he was on promoting the finale (mainly Leno and Ellen), said that Arch came out to win, and that the audience had witnessed "a knockout," and once again declared that round three in fact went to him. Arch did his best to hold back tears, and definitely seemed like he realized he had just won.
Following the final performance, Ruben Studdard moseyed out to sing this season's "Bad Day" and "Home" in "Celebrate Me Home," set to a montage of some of this season's most memorable moments.
Despite what would seem to be an unequivocal blowout in an Arch's favor, this is far from the case. Simon's one mistake in trying not to cover up his "grand plan" was giving Cook a "secret wink" after he gave his final critique. Translation: Simon was being extra hard on Cook because he knew it would stir up the fans and get them to vote even harder. All week the odds were heavily in favor of Cook winning, and in order to keep the stars aligned, this was his weapon of choice. So now no one should be surprised when Cook is crowned the winner tonight, but legions of casual viewers will surely be shocked. Either way, they both should be fine no matter what, but Cook's emotions and Simon's technique were enough to give him the win.
Now off to tonight's supersized finale, which will hopefully not (but most likely will) feature hologram duets with dead singers. At least Carrie will be there to save the show.
Prediction:
Winner: David C.
If the Top 6 finalists do not win American Idol, they can at least find comfort in knowing they could succeed on Broadway. Well, most of them anyway.
The theme of songs from Andrew Lloyd Webber's catalog was something that has never been done on the show, and could have been a disaster. Instead, the finalists took Webber's advice to heart and actually put on a few memorable performances.
First up was Syesha Mercado, who took on "One Rock 'n Roll Too Many" from Starlight. After Webber decided Syesha should go with her "animated" version over the "un-animated" version, it was apparent to see why he made the decision. She tore up the stage in a low-cut red dress and invoked a lot of sass into her performance. A cameo by Ricky Minor dressed in era attire was also a refreshing twist.
Randy and Paula kept pushing the Broadway thing on Syesha, as Paula called it "her happy place." Simon agreed with Randy, saying she is "comfortable" in the style of music, and called the performance "sexy." It would not be a surprise to see her in the bottom two, but in all likelihood she will escape it this week.
Brooke White, on the other hand, suffered a stumble when she had to restart her performance of "You Must Love Me" from the film adaptation of Evita. Although Webber said Brooke "sang it like she meant it" during their session together, he abrupt restart ended up throwing her off, and she never really recovered. Vocally, it was her weakest performance to date.
Paula had a long pause of her own during her critique, and finally came out with "You must never start and stop." Simon disagreed, saying he would have done the same thing had he flubbed the lyrics. But he also warned Brooke that she would be disappointed upon watching her performance back. A definite bottom 2 appearance tonight.
Jason Castro was the second sub-par performance of the night, as he struggled his way through "Memory" from Cats. ALW seemed to be having fun with Jason, making light of his dreadlocks, but said he would not be surprised if Jason disregarded his advice completely and ended up sounding better. Whatever he did, it did not work out. Jason spent the majority of the performance staring down at the floor, staying planted in a stool throughout the duration. His vocals were also wishy washy and he never really seemed to find a comfort zone.
Randy went as far as calling it a "train wreck" vocally, but Paula gave him credit for singing something a female power-singng balladeer would sing. Simon compared the performance to a little boy being forced to sing a song at a wedding by his parents but making the whole scene miserable. Jason could make the bottom 2, but he will most likely just scrape by, having the third-lowest votes.
The night did improve as it went on. David Archuleta sang "Think of Me" from Phantom of the Opera. He was vocally on par but it was not he greatest performance. If there was one good thing about it, though, it was the fact that David actually listened to ALW's advice that he keep his eyes open as much as possible, as he only closed them a few times.
Randy seemed like a cheerleader during his critique, as he went above and beyond with his praise for the performance. Paula also reached a bit high, calling it "absolutely perfect." But leave it to Simon to get things right once again, as he called it "pleasant but probably one of [David's] weakest performances." Watch as David sails through to take on "Sweet Caroline" next week.
Carly Smithson also put on one of the highlights (if not the highlight) of her time on the show with "Superstar" from Jesus Christ Superstar. The performance was upbeat and lively, something she really needed to do. And ALW gave her some of the best advice a mentor had ever given a contestant, after making her change her song. He also said she looked really happy singing it.
The incorporation of the band and Carly's movement all around the stage added to the overall package, and she received mild praise from the judges (a bit too mild). Simon did say it was "one of his favorite performances of the night," which counts for something. Despite having a standout performance, it looks like Carly will in fact be in the bottom 2, and more than likely she will (undeservingly) go home.
The show was able to go out on a good note, but nothing as lively as Carly's performance. David Cook pulled out a win in "Music of the Night" from Phantom of the Opera, and the highlight of the entire show came during his mentor session with ALW. Trying to get it across to David that the song is romantic and that he needed to imagine he was singing it to the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, Webber asked David to imagine him as a "17-year-old girl," which drew laughs from the audience (and most likely all of America).
David was very controlled, on cue and technically a good vocalist on the song, as he was able to bring out opera elements that he had never shown on the show. It bordered on boring a few times, but he was able to finish on a signature "Cook" note. Two judges were wild about it, but the other one not so much. Simon said he preferred the "gritty rocker" side of David over the theatrical one, something most of his fans also would agree with.
So as it stands, it looks like Ryan will play games with the finalists tonight and separate them all into three groups of two, and then announce which one is the bottom group. If one was to put money on the outcome, it does not look good for Carly nor Brooke, but worse for Carly thanks to the sympathy vote for Brooke. Whatever happens, it will be awfully close.
Predictions:
Bottom 2: Brooke, Carly
Eliminated: Carly
