Wow did they try to cram a lot of performances into a single hour this week, considering all the significance they like to give penultimate weeks. Hell's Kitchen must be doing pretty terrific in the ratings to avoid getting pushed back half an hour or so. This lead to a couple minor annoyances with arrangements that were simply too short. But it also lead to a (much better managed) quick pace that came across as put up or shut up time for the contestants.
The gimmick this year was by and large the same as the past few final threes; though the presence of Clive Davis was replaced by shadowy reference to "the producers" this year. I don't mind the change.
The format began with a song one of the judges chose for each Idolateer. Followed by a song they chose for themselves. Followed by one chosen by
"the producers" for them. Simple enough? Well considering the considerable commercial time and mugging for the camera by Ryan Seacrest and the judges it seemed fairly ambitious to squeeze into an hour. Take the jump to see how it went.
David Archuleta got the lead spot. On a night they each got three to sing it wasn't as much a disadvantage as in prior weeks. Still a bit of a surprise.
He opened with the song Paula Abdul chose for him,
"And So It Goes," by Billy Joel. This one was smooth and controlled and showcased David at his best in my opinion. The band arrangement was very subdued. The song was a nice slow ballad with places for him to do his preferred ornamentation. Very solid if not stunning.
His next song was
"With You," by Chris Brown. This was the song David chose himself and his reasoning was solid. He wanted something more contemporary sounding after a season full of old stuff. And he got it. And he showed he's not really up to that style, which is both ironic and just. Sorry, but David the Balladeer may some day learn to handle this sort of up tempo contemporary song. But he struggled with breath control and looked awkward with it throughout.
Then the Idol producers annoyed the nation by choosing
"Longer," by Dan Fogelberg as his final song. I'm still cleaning the sugary residue out of my ears after listening. Yes, it's sort of a classic. No, it's not due for any kind of revival. No, David didn't do anything unexpected or interesting with it either. He just sang it straight up changing no one's opinion about him one way or the other.
Sayesha Mercado got the middle spot tonight and seemed to be at her pageantry best with her constant bright smiles and shallow but sparkly comments tonight. We've seen better sides to her personality than this, but as the tension builds this seems to be her safe zone.
She opened with
"If I Ain't Got You," by Alicia Keys, chosen for her by Randy Jackson. It was a good choice in the sense it forced her to be contemporary. It was a bad one because it all too easily lent itself to the diva role Sayesha too often bores within. It was notably short of the original, although both Paula and Simon had to note she looked maaahhh-vehlous.
Next Syesha herself chose to do
"Fever," by Peggy Lee. Yes, America... she sees herself on Broadway, not at the Idol finale. If you had any doubts the decision to use a chair as a prop for an original dance number to accompany the song should have dispelled them. If not, the comparatively weak vocal was for naught. Paris Bennett sang rings around this version two seasons ago, just as a comparison. But once again Sayesha looked maaahhh-vehlous.
The producer chosen number for Sayesha was
"Hit Me Up," by Gia Farrell. It seemed a poor fit for her. The lighter, quicker R & B vocals Randy would later compare to Rihanna never quite clicked with her, as she kept trying to cling to big notes in more traditional diva style. It wasn't awful, but it was very uneven and not notably strong in any particular area.
David Cook got the pimp slot closing us out tonight... a refreshing surprise. I was worried a bit because I knew the pressure would be on him more than any others to be
original no matter the song choices. And with three songs to prepare and a whirlwind tour of his hometown in the same week, there wasn't a lot of time to prepare. Could he pull it off?
Simon Cowell challenged him right from the start, choosing
"First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," by Roberta Flack for him to perform. It was very obviously thrown out as a bit of a dare. "Show us what you did with Lionel Richie's love ballad 'Hello' was no fluke." David opened it slowly and traditionally and let it simply build into something of a rock anthem sound. Nothing terribly tricky in the arrangement, but it certainly didn't sound like Roberta Flack either. If this was a pass/fail test, he passed. But it wasn't one of his best of the season by any means.
For his own choice, Cook went with
"Dare You to Move," by Switchfoot. He gave this one more of a straightforward rock sound from the start. However, shades of last weeks "Baba O'Reilly" it was truly only getting started when the 90 second window closed. I suspect he had something special building here. But for the part we heard it was just about average from him.
The producer chosen number for David Cook closed the show with
"I Don't Want to Miss a Thing," by Aerosmith. Meh. Didn't like the idea, but Cook executed it pretty well. It was a nicely emotional and powerful note to close out the show on. But it wasn't very original or memorable. Still good enough for Simon (and me) to state that Cook won the night between the three contestants.
Now to wrap up... I didn't like the producers choices in a single case this year. How about next year we give them each two songs and let the arrangements go longer? I think that's a far better display of their respective talent. Had David Cook been able to devote more time to a single original arrangement with another classic arrangement we might have heard something special. If David Archuleta had time to learn how to control his breathing better on up tempo numbers he might have shown a refreshing new side to himself. Sayesha... well she's kind of the sacrificial lamb here anyway, so maybe she could have come up with something but I'm not killing myself thinking it over.
Best of the night: David Cook. But it wasn't so much a huge night for him as that might sound.
Middle of the pack: Archie. He is who he is. It's a powerful and appealing yet limited package.
Going home: Sayesha Mercado. She needed something a lot more breakout than this to make it to the finals, which was always a long shot.
UPDATE: THE RESULTS
Blah, blah, blah... what the hell is
Fantasia doing?!! ... blah, blah... IT IS ON!!
David versus David!!! Ali versus Frazier!!! Dog people versus Cat people!!! Sweet versus Salty!!! Less Filling versus Great Taste!!!
Oh, and nice having you around Sayesha. You've been great. But come on... even you saw this coming, didn't you? You'll be hearing from casting directors before you hit the pillow tonight so it's not all bad. You're beautiful, talented, and now well known so you've got good things ahead. It's just that... well we needed the David clash or the story of this season would have ended all wrong.
And now it's on. Can the obscure bartender with the gritty, rock edge deny the reality show pro and Next Great Teen Sensation the title that looked to be his from almost the very start of the season? Can anyone
ever overcome the votes of the tween to teen and also the over 40 female voter block?
Hillary versus Obama was nothin' compared to this. And thankfully the ramifications aren't quite so serious so we can just enjoy it in this case.
On to next week's finale!
Mindy Jeanne
On the other hand I don't think Randy quite gets David Cook regardless. He's got a lot more going on than "rocker," as Simon and Paula and lots of others clearly understand. I think he's trying to put him in a "Daughtry" box, but that's not quite the right fit.