David Cook was the best of the night for me also.. Never heard that version before, and now that I have, I am glad it was introduced, because it was brilliant.

Ramiele - She is so boring, I can't remember a single song she's done. The bottom 3 is a given, but can she survive?

Castro - Not bad tonight.

Syesha - I agree that she did the best she's ever done. No chance in hell of winning the competition though.

Brooke White - I was disturbed right from the beginning by her Flowers in the Attic family. I hated the arrangement of her song. "I'll be Watching You" is not a romantic song, listen to the words.

David Archeluta - When he talked about his prom, they showed what I'm assuming is his girlfriend in the audience. The first thing I thought of was, "Sister, are YOU barking up the wrong tree." He did okay tonight.

Michael Johns - I don't think Queen is normally a good choice, but I like it quiter a bit.

KLC - Oh boy, she got some terrific advice this week. Voting her out would be UNAMURRICAN! Oh yeah, she sucked too.

Carly - She just doesn't have the skills that she thinks she does.

Chikezie - He's definitely in serious danger. You can tell because when the judges were badmouthing him, the booing from the audience wasn't very loud at all.

David Cook - Yes, yes, it wasn't an original arrangment. He was still the best of the night. I just hate when he does that 5-second rocker ROAR in every song.

I agree.

Giggles is really starting to annoy to the point that I have to leave the room.

I agree. I don't see the problem.

But like Simon said last week, his performances are like a continual concert. If you take all of his performances and put them back-to-back, you've got a pretty entertaining show.

Sure it's a cover... but technically, isn't everyone doing a cover?

Its not just about choosing a cover that has been done before, its about pulling it off, and he did. I just listened to it again, and I just loved it. And I wasnt a fan of his in the beginning, but he won me over tonight. He totally connected to me with that song.

Then you're in for a treat, because it's a certainty he'll do the exact same thing yet again next week (and the next).

das

and so does Castro, Brooke, Sayesha, KLC, etc....they all are pretty much sounding the same week after week.

Ramiele Malubay - "Alone" The long notes were a little too shouty, and her performance was again underwhelming, even though she's under the weather.

Jason Castro - "Fragile" Thought the tempo was too fast, and he chose a safe song to sing, which didn't really separate him from the pack.

Syesha Mercado - "If I was Your Woman" Not a good song, but her singing was on pitch and very powerful and in control. A shame the song itself sucked.

Chikezie - "If Only for One Night" While his vocals sounded rich and lush in spots, that song was putting me to sleep.

Brooke White - "Every Breath You Take" I found her take on the song tepid and strangely uninvolving, she missed on the emotional undercurrent of the song with a bit of a disconnect for me. This song, when sung correctly, should pick up the tempo and run towards the emotional longing that is the heart of the song.

Michael Johns - "We are the Champions" He should just keep doing Queen songs because his vocal range seems to sound good with the Freddie Mercury songs. He did cheat on the long note in the middle of the song, but he was on his game tonight.

Carly Smithson - "Total Eclipse of the Heart" Ow, that was painful, she keeps on being a non-believer in the songs she sing, and she still can't just leave that big note alone, she strangled that last note into something horrible. Relax, lady.

David Archuleta - "You're the Voice" That was a bad song, but the runs got a little boring as well. Just a forgettable listening experience for me.

Kristy Lee Cook - "God Bless the U.S.A" I can see Kristy singing that song before ball games all around the country. That's about it. Simon just doomed her by telling her that was her best performance (that's how he gets people to relax and not vote for her).

David Cook - "Billie Jean" That was pretty tight, all right, he commanded the song all the way through with good pacing and a good vocal performance. "He made it his own" (albeit from Chris Cornell's interpretation) with a different vocal edge from the slowed down tempo.

-------------



Rankings

Enjoyable
David Cook
Michael Johns

Middling if but for a better song choice
Syesha Mercado
Chikezie
Kristy Lee Cook

Under-performed
David Archuleta
Brooke White
Carly Smithson

Once was enough
Jason Castro
Ramiele Malubay


I think Ramiele or Kristy Lee Cook is going home.

Gee, again, just like everyone else. The only difference is that he is, in most instances, taking a more modern or more "rock-ified" cover instead of just doing the original version? As others have stated, what the fuck is the big difference? It isn't as if he is doing it solely to be credited for being some pioneer with it. I recall either he or Ryan giving credit to the singer/band who performed the cover every time, too.

If you guys want to be up in arms over something, be irked that the judges rarely if ever seem to realize that is a cover of a cover. I am not the biggest fan of the guy, but I think a lot of you would shit on him regardless of what he did. He has acted a bit obnoxious and arrogant in the past, but I thought he was very good tonight. His vocal performance, in particular, was the best I remember him being so far-cover of a cover or not.

Ramiele's my pick to go home (yeah I know - join the crowd). Singing first + boring song + lack of identifiable fan base = bad news for her.

-Jason Castro is another guy that's just doing his thing over and over every week. Simon's clearly tired of it, though he does do this kind of thing pretty well. Though it's not really fair of Simon to accuse Jason of not taking it seriously. He's been the same stoned-out happy hippy dude from day one. I don't see it changing anytime soon.

-I guess people are all loving Syesha's performance. Personally, I can't stand these kinds of screaming diva songs.

-Chikezie going for a straight Luthor Vandross vibe. Wouldn't be surprised to him in the bottom group - just wasn't memorable enough, and like Ramiele I'm not sensing a big fan base for him.

-Right on Charlie Goose, about the interpretation of "Every Breath You Take". It's a scary creepy stalker song, that almost everyone misinterprets as a love ballad. Sting wrote it while his marriage was collapsing, and explains it like this:

Brooke was ok ... she'll be safe. Did anyone else catch the one kid in the shot of her family clapping, with his arms crossed and a disgusted look on his face Kind of like Jennifer Hudson's "Whatevia" cousin. I'll be disappointed if VFTW isn't all over this.

-I loved Simon's comments on David A. And that's what he always sounds like to me: at best, a Disney performer. And when he gets his major record deal (and he'll get one regardless of how the show turns out) I have trouble imagining him pushed any other way.

-I liked M Johns this week. Could've done without the first part - "We Will Rock You" is a horrible song for a singing competition, but for some reason people always want to do it. But I think he gave his strongest performance of the year in the 2nd part ("We Are the Champions").

-Was Carly obnoxious on that last note, or what? I didn't like that the judges seemed to be crapping on the Bonnie Tyler original. Nothing great, but I think Carly's fans will rally to pull her out of bottom 3 again.

-If you don't vote for KLC this week, you're un-American Especially with all these damned foreigners on the show. You just knew there was going to be a gigantic graphic of the flag behind her. This'll keep her safe, but it won't be long until she sucks again.

-Agree with the posters here disappointed in the judges by calling David Cook original and daring. And surprised how few people heard Chris Cornell's version, even those claiming to be his fans. "Billie Jean" wasn't some cover he just did for a B-side or concerts - it was the lead single (well, not counting the Bond song which got plopped on too after the fact) from his last solo CD. I don't blame Cook though. He gives consistent performances, he credited the Cornell version. There will be a point where Simon turns on him for being the same every week though.

That "mosh pit" is annoying me more and more every week. EVERY song does not require the arm wave! And they try to force in rhythmic clapping into songs that shoudn't have them.

Certainly, but they're not praised for bravery and originality, now are they? Castro's been criticized for doing the same thing every week, and he should be. And to be fair, each of those other contestants has mixed it up a bit, with varying levels of success. KLC's been all over the map, sucking at all of it, and Syesha's done country/folk, soul, power Whitney, plus a soft emotional performance of "Yesterday". Everyone has their own sound and personality, but most of the contestants are bringing something different each week, and those who aren't should be criticized for it. No one wants to buy an album or see a concert where everything sounds exactly the same.

das

The millions of fans of Nickelback would take issue with that statement.

As I said, it's not that he's covering covers. It's that it's the exact same style of cover every single week. I wouldn't care if he did it once, or even twice, but we're going on 5 weeks now of exactly the same thing. While neither of them is the same type of performer, Daughtry didn't do this, and Michael Johns isn't doing it. It's just as annoying as Amanda growling every song the same way or Carly turning everything into the loudest diva ballad ever performed.

das

Damnit, I knew she would do something but I was *sure* it was going to be the “sex kitten” card, showing up in extremely skimpy clothing. Damnit, she pulls out the flag instead. She’ll survive this week now, but unless she starts showing up in mini-skirts, I don’t see her surviving next week.

My vote for being voted off this week is… Ramiele Malubay.

Singers that impressed me tonight were Syesha Mercado and Carly Smithson (again), and David Cook’s performance was good too. Disappointments were Ramiele Malubay, Jason Castro, and Kristi Lee Cook.

As far as David Cook’s covering a cover – we’ve been through this before with Chris Daughtry. David Cook never said “I came up with this arrangement” and it’s not a sin to sing a song then not shout out which cover you did immediately afterwards.

Speaking of Chris Daughtry, I still think that losing American Idol was the best thing that could have happened to him, it let him make the albums he wanted to, still gave him exposure to tens of millions of fans, and didn’t hurt his rock credibility (American Idol and Rock don’t exactly go hand in hand). David Cook isn’t stupid, he’s doing the exact same thing that Daughtry did and now I’m sure he’ll be one of the success stories from this year. Probably won’t win it, but he’ll be a success.

Tomato, tomato I guess. I am a bit puzzled as to why you take such umbrage with this Cook clown instead of so many others throughout the now 6 season run of this show. There isn't a ton of variation in most of his performances, but I have seen far, far worse examples of being the same week in and week out than him.

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To each their own, but I just don't see his style being exactly the same every week any more than most of the contestants have been since the show first came on the air. Every time I hear Syesha or Ramiele sing, it sounds very similar to me, but I am not seeing the federal offense here.

Oh, I'm not singling him out. That's just where the discussion has gone this week. Castro, Carly, Amanda, they all have the same problem, and I've railed on them for it too, especially when the judges were praising the hell out of Carly when she didn't deserve it. Sucking less than others at the one-trick-pony act is not a valid defense.

Really, though, I must concur with shadowhawk2020. It's that fucking hair.

das

Didn't they mention on idol he was doing chris cornell's rendition of billie jean?

Aren't most songs ripoffs of somebody?

Why should he have to? It was already said that it was a cover.

Either this is the most brilliant post of all time or one of the most retarded. I can't figure out which.

Ramiele's been so bad that it's hard to separate them, but she did disco (terribly) with "Don't Leave Me This Way", and there's no way you can compare "In My Life" with "Against All Odds" and "Alone". As for Syesha, she's done soulful, folksy, power Whitney, emotionally contemplative, and that terrible dance infused version of "Got to Get You Into My Life". They may not be good, but I don't see how they can be lumped into the same one-trick-pony category.

das

David Cook was the best performance of the night for me. The first time I heard him at auditions I was hooked. The tone of his voice does it for me and the fact that he is a rocker clinches it. I really don't care if he is copying a different cover each week, I enjoy listening to him sing.

David Cook audition

RE: David Cook

I can't think of a way that you could correct the judges that you aren't really that original and have it not come off poorly. Either you put yourself in too negative a light or you somehow manage to spin it in such a way that you're really giving credit to the right person (but then you seem smug and arrogant for knowing something the judges didn't). It is what it is.

His performances are entertaining; he slows down the faster songs (tonight), he speeds up the slower songs (Hello) and in some cases he keeps them fairly similar to the original (All Right Now). He knows his strengths with a guitar and where his voice is the most comfortable. I fail to see any issue or validity in the claim that he's just doing the same thing every week.

His hair really bothers me, too. I told my co-worker weeks ago that comb-down must be hiding a thinning spot, and now all he can talk about in relation to David Cook is his hair. We need to know what's under there. He also has a tremendously wide top of his head (which we now know hasn't changed much from his alien baby photo).