American Idol 7: Let the Dream Begin!

Tonight, after saying goodbye to Kristy Lee Cook last week, it was time for the remaining six contestants to take on the songs of the great Andrew Lloyd Webber on ‘American Idol,’ season 7.

Tiff: This is a theme I’ve definitely been looking forward to this season. Anything Broadway related makes me happy. Not to mention Webber is brilliant.

Kim: If you guys ever get the chance to see Phantom in Vegas….SEE IT! It’s amazing, and sitting under the chandelier is fun. Stay at the Venetian too, their rooms are gorge.

Tiff: First tonight was Syesha Mercado with “One Rock and Roll Too Many.” I thought she did good with this song. I liked the sass and attitude she showed with the song, and she was a little more entertaining than usual in terms of performance. I thought she looked really pretty too. I liked her dress a lot. I agree with Randy, I think she could do well on Broadway.

Kim: WHHYYY is she first when she goes in the beginning of the how almost every single week?? It was her or Carly’s turn to get the pimp spot. Thankfully, she brought it tonight! And boy did she need to. But finally shining on a broadway theme probably doesn’t say much for her future as a recording artist.

Tiff: Up second tonight was Jason Castro with “Memory.” Haha, he didn’t know a cat sang it? Seriously? It’s FROM ‘CATS.’ He did this song non-Broadway sort of way. In my opinion, it was sort of a Jeff-Buckley inspired take on a very typical Broadway style song. Dare I say I liked him just a little (and I mean a little) more tonight? But yeah, if they wanted him to be Broadway-esque, it didn’t work, but I liked how he spun it.

Kim: Oye, I can’t figure out why he chose this song. I suppose if he hadn’t been so sick, it would’ve sounded better, because vocally it fell apart in the middle.

Tiff: Third on stage was Brooke White singing “You Must Love Me.” Whoa, she messed up on the opening, huh? I actually thought she sounded better before she started again. I think messing up shook her up a bit. I didn’t think it sounded great, and I think she knew it. Paula said, “You must never start and stop.” I agree, I think she should have kept going even though she messed up. Granted, it was a bit brave to start again, as Simon said.

Kim: We should at least be glad that she didn’t smile through the whole thing; that in itself was a huge achievement coming from her. I’ve always loved this song and I was surprised at the amount of justice she did to it. Although I’m not sure if that was real emotion of just fear.

Sigh, Randy & Simon are just so useless this season. And Paula continues to be the only judge with a brain this season…

Tiff: David Archuleta took the stage fourth, singing “Think of Me.” I’ll say first that ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ is easily one of my favorite plays ever. It was the first to which I was exposed at a young age. That said, I am partial to the ‘Phantom’ songs. I’m used to the song being backed with a piano so the guitar was an interesting, and nice change. David actually made this sound a bit like a pop song, as in a song that could be on radio today. I adore him. He’s adorable, and yes, I liked it. Simon thought it was one of his weaker performances…. what?

Kim: Wow, that was a great arrangement. I expected more of them to make the songs sound current like that. Contrary to what Simon said, this is probably in my top 3 faves from him.

Tiff: Fifth was Carly Smithson singing “Jesus Christ Superstar.” I agree with Andrew, “JCS” was a much better choice for Carly and her voice. I thought the music was a bit overpowering for her, it drowned her out a bit. I actually think her voice got lost in all the music and the background singers’ voices. I didn’t like it nearly as much as the judges seemed to. She looked really cute though, I liked her dress.

Kim: Why did ALW have to tell her that? Finally, we see Carly having fun on stage again and not trying too hard. But I don’t like what she’s wearing.

Tiff: And sixth, last tonight was David Cook and he sang “Music of the Night.” Again, I’m totally partial to ‘Phantom’ songs. Wow, he sang the opening exactly as it was supposed to be sung. And when he got to the first bridge? Loved it. I was actually surprised he did so well (in my opinion) with a theater song. But I really liked it. Adore.

Kim:   He needed to do that after his vocal trainwreck last week.  It was SO nice to just hear his natural voice instead of that forced, fake, wannabe Scott Stapp thing he does.  Oh, up until that last note of course *sigh* that was unnecessary.  But overall this was probably his best vocally, and that’s saying alot because MotN is a haaaaaard song to sing.

He should’ve worn the mask.

Tiff’s Ranking, Best to Worst
01. David Archuleta / David Cook
02. David Cook / David Archuleta
03. Jason Castro
04. Syesha Mercado
05. Carly Smithson
06. Brooke White
Likely Bottom Three: Brooke White, Carly Smithson, Syesha Mercado
Who Should Go: Brooke White
Who Will Likely Go: Brooke White, or Carly, I wouldn’t be sad.

Kim’s Rank 

1. David
2. David
3. Syesha
4. Carly
5. Brooke
6. Jason

Bottom 2: Brooke, Jason (maybe Carly)
Should Go: GTFO Brooke.
Lowest Votes: Carly
Will Go: Jason
Is it sad that I know most of those songs by memory backwards and forwards? I think tonight was successful for the most part.  And I really can’t call who’s going to go tomorrow.   I’m sure Brooke will get sympathy votes, and Carly could get lost in the shuffle with voters trying to save others, but the question is will they let her go?