Kim’s American Idol 7 Best & Worst Performances

Posted by Kim on May 24th, 2008 filed in American Idol

Remember all those crazy award categories I gave out last year? They’re baaaaack, as is my annual list of best and worst performances. Now mine is bit different and more accurate than most others you’ll probably read this season. So click the link below and enjoy the ride!

20. You Dont Have To Say You Love Me - Ramiele

Ramiele was pretty high on my list when the season started, as she was for a lot of people, and I remember her giving the best performance of the night for the girls that first week. It’s a shame that it was all down hill from there, although that didn’t surprise me in the least, because she had such a pretty smoky tone to her voice and this song highlighted that perfectly! I loved how dramatic she made it too, like the head turn right in the middle. [watch]

19. Midnight Hour - David H

For me, this was the PERFECT way to start off the season! I loved me some David Hernandez too, and I’m still steaming mad that he didn’t make it past #12, but what can you do? He had one of the strongest voices there, and a whole lot for R&B soul going on. I really like the gospel feel of the arrangement, and I have to say his use of melisma is a guilty pleasure. [watch]

18. Blackbird - Carly

I feel obligated to include this highly underrated performance on my list. It wasn’t the most exciting but I was blown away by her vocals here. We all know Carly can SANG but beyond that I think this was the best vocal performance of the season. But alas, nothing she nor Michael ever did was enough for Simon. Those two were just way too talented for their own good. [watch]

17. A Change Is Gonna Come - Syesha

This isn’t my favorite performance from her, but I still think it was her “moment”. Not necessarily a moment in the sense of the show, but just a turning point for her. The lyrics really did explain her journey, I mean it was a LOOOOONG time coming for her to come out of her shell and get any kind of attention, and you could really felt this song on a deep level and it showed. [watch]

16. Tainted Love - Danny

Yeah, I did it, I added this. Danny probably could’ve gone farther if he had picked better songs and gone with diva ballads but he was totally himself with this one, and I had been waiting for him to do something like this! It was probably the most fearless, fun and FIERCE performance of the whole season. I was hoping he would be our crazy performer of the season and bring plenty of Blue Spandex to the stage, but nope. Oh well, we’ll always have Tainted Love. [watch]

15. If I Was Your Woman - Syesha

This song, paired with “Yesterday”, made me a Syesha fan. She was still kind of like a roller coaster for me honestly up until her last couple of weeks on the show, but ultimately I’d rank her second right behind Carly for the girls. This performance had a lot of soul, and that’s something I’m a total sucker for. I really didn’t think she’d land in the B3 after it but I guess I should’ve seen it coming! I can understand why it didn’t connect with the usual AI audience, but it did for me. [watch]

14. Love is A Battlefield - Brooke

Man Brooke was on fire during the semi’s. Not sure what happened afterwards, but she was my favorite of the girls for a while there. She doesn’t have a strong voice, but the girl probably has more emotion in her voice than any of the other finalists. I still don’t get why Cook gets all the “originality” praises when it was her and Jason who really went out of their way to make songs their own. I always wondered how this song would sound slowed down; I didn’t think it would work, but she made it work. And she was smart to not bring in the band towards the end (shut up Paula). It was really beautiful. [watch]

13. Smoky Mountain Memories - David A

This performance is just PRECIOUS. There are a lot of different types of idols that I like, and one of them is that guy who can just get up there and sing beautifully; a pure vocalist, in the vein of Clay Aiken or Josh Groban, so it should be no surprise that I was a David A. fan (and have been for years actually!). He picked the PERFECT song; it highlighted how beautiful and pure the tone of his voice is, and you can tell he connected with the lyrics. [watch]

12. Music of the Night - David C

One of the reasons why I wasn’t a Cook fan was, well, because of his voice; he always sounded like he was forcing his voice to fit this Scott Stapp/generic rock sound, on top of other technical problems he had. But there wasn’t a single trace of that in this performance and that’s what made it great. It was SO refreshing just to hear his natural voice and to hear him articulate the lyrics. On top of that, I mean, come on, it’s MUSIC OF THE NIGHT from Phantom, baby. How can you go wrong with that?

11. Stand By Me - David A

Finally, we saw a different side to lil David here! He made subtle changes to an old song and made it sound slightly more current, and it wasn’t a dreary ballad with some kind of message of hope. And I love, love, LOVED that he threw in the Sean Kingston line, that was so clever; props to Dadchuleta for that move. This was really the first time he played up the whole teen idol side. The echo of 8 year olds around the world can still be heard.

10. You’re So Vain - Brooke

Okay, it was totally a predictable song choice, she didn’t really make it her own (nor did she need to) or add all that to it, so why do I still love it? I don’t know, Brooke was just sort of infectious here. I didn’t even mind all the smiling. And singing straight to Simon was a pretty bold move!

9. Eleanor Rigby - David C

A lot of Cook fans don’t even rank this performance very high on their lists which surprises me, cause I thought it was pretty tight! Vocally, far from his best, but everything else worked; the cool mix of the song, care of Doxology, and the light show. The moment in the picture above, when he sang “aaah” and all the lights were flashing and burning my corneas (I’ll just ignore that part) I was like “woah!”. Very articulate of me, huh?

8. Hello - David C

Every single year I say someone needs to sing this song; I didn’t expect to hear it sounding like this! I remember my friend was telling me he did and alternative mix of the song and this is my face –> o_o . Yeah, he tried it on “Happy Together”, which was sort of a disaster, but it totally worked here. Like the judges said, it could be a hit right now. I love the original but I love it done this way just as much.

7. We Are The Champions - Michael

If you all only KNEW what a relief this perfomance was, oh my gosh. It was bad enough being stressed over the, ahem, less than stellar MJ performances in the weeks prior but…”We Are the Champions”??? The same song that J.D. Fortune totally sucked at (sorry!), Taylor kinda warbled through and Greg Neufeld from Canadian Idol got eliminated for?!? Someone get me some oxygen.

Oh me of little faith; the boy SAAAAAANG that song! It was like a rock concert inside of AI. And you have to have serious pipes to pull of Queen classics; he did it twice. Still, as great as this performance was, something told me there was more to come (and there was).

And that’s why they call him the King of Queen!

6. Light My Fire - Michael

Well the flames in the background pretty much sum it all up, don’t they? So, Simon was saying he was “trying” in this performance, and I pretty much think the opposite. When he came out there it just seemed effortless, like a natural frontman as the judges said (and later retracted when they decided he wasn’t “rawk” enough). It was like he just went out there like it was nothing, wasn’t overthinking it or anything. And actually, I think the lack of that quiet confidence was the biggest problem in his string of performances that came after, much more so than song choice. But yeah, this performance, although not his best vocal, was just HOT. Even the scarf was hot.

[quote Mz3BNMG-giE]

5. Yesterday - Syesha

I love the way this song sounds with an R&B twist (see Boyz II Men’s version, which I grew up listening to). Syesha’s version was just so ridiculously beautiful, nothing more to say about it. And she really could’ve overdone it, but she didn’t. She changed notes up where they were needed to make it work for her, she was soft and tender at some parts and powerful at others. She really knows how to make dynamics work to her advantage and that shows her versatility as a vocalist.

4. Another Day In Paradise - David A.

Dreary and boring my rear end. During the semi’s, we saw so much more range from little David; he was upbeat and cute week 1, had his “moment” in week 2, and then showed himself as an artist with this performance. Sure, he isn’t as great as he usually is vocally when he plays piano, but this, in my opinion, was the ONLY performance this season when I felt the piano actually added something and took the performance to the next level. Like Simon said, he should’ve played through the whole thing, but oh well.

And this was just one of many performances where he sang with emotion; why does no one give him credit for doing that? For someone so young he really does know how to connect with songs.

3. Crazy On You - Carly Smithson

I have this performance downloaded on my computer and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched it! It’s just so upbeat, rockin’ and fun. And to be honest, I was kind of hatin’ on Carly before, but this turned my opinion of her around. This is EXACTLY the kind of music she should be singing, it’s a perfect match for her voice and vibe.

And that’s why they call her the Queen of Heart!

2. Papa Was A Rollin Stone - David H

Yup, a 12th place finisher ranks 2nd on my list of faves (although him ranking that low is just plain absurd). I think this was one of the smartest song choices of the season, by far, probably right behind “God Bless the USA” because he found not only a song that fit his voice but a song that is timeless. I mean, this song always makes you want to get up and dance, an it sounds current even though it’s from the 70s. He got a little bit off pitch during some of the runs at the end, but I still love all his glorious melisma!

Okay, if you’ve EVER read this blog before, I’m pretty sure you know what my #1 is Drumroll PLEASE………..

1. It’s All Wrong, But It’s All Right - Michael

If you can make a song your own, give a flawless vocal performance, nail the high notes, and sing in the right key, that my friends, is a showstopper. Other contestants can only do a few of those things at the same time, but Mikey can do it all. Like I said before, I’m a sucker for soul, and the soulful/bluesy arrangement was perfect. And I think people really forget how good of a singer he is, but he showed that here. And ONLY he could pull off that outfit, especially the ascot!

Honorable mentions: Think of Me - David A., Come Together - Carly, If Only For One Night - Chikezie, Travelin’ Through - J Cast

Worst

1. I’m A Believer - Brooke
2. Michelle - Jason
3. Eight Days A Week - Kristy
4. Fragile - Jason
5. Show Must Go On - Carly
6. Here Comes The Sun - Brooke
7. We Can Work It Out - David A.
8. Innocent - David C.
9. A Day In Life - Michael sorry bb
10. Always Be My Baby - David C.

 

*AWARDS!*

Best Mentor
ALW

Best Lighting
Eleanor Rigby

Best Song Choice
God Bless The USA - Kristy

The DAUGHTRY Award For Most Overhyped Contestant
Guess

The “Hemmorage” Award for Overhyped Performances

1. Always Be My Baby - David C (will take over for Hemorrage next year)
2. Hallelujah - Jason
3. Billie Jean - David C although I liked this.
4. Imagine - David A.
5. Somewhere Over The Rainbow - Jason this too.
6. Let It Be - Brooke

 

 

John Stevens’ “Crockadile Rock” Award for Most Awkward Performance
With You - David A.

 

 

This years Blue Spandex award is handed down from Blake Lewis and “You Give Love A Bad Name” to Chikezie for “She’s A Woman”, the only contestant who had the guts to go out here, take major risks and in the words of Fantasia, “act uglay”.

 

Randy Jackson & “Wha ’bout the Chill’run” Dawg Award for Pitchiest Performance

Here Comes The Sun - Brooke

Josh Gracin’s “Celebration” Award for Worst Song Choice
I’m A Believer - Brooke

Master Class Vocals

*Blackbird - Carly*
And So It Goes - David A.
It’s All Wrong - Michael
Music of the Night - David C. (there can be miracles…)

Carrie Underwood’s “Hello Young Lovers” Snoozefest Award

Longer - David A.

The Anthony Federov “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” Award for Most Wretched Arrangement

8 Days A Week -Kristy

The Blake Lewis Award for Best ORIGINAL Arrangement

Think of Me - David A.

Melinda Dolittle Award for Consistency

Syesha, who never had a bad performance.

Ranking The Episodes/Themes

1. 80s - lot’s of “showstoppers”
2. Dolly Parton - most successful
3. Birth year
4. 70s
5. ALW
6. Lennon/McCartney
7. 60s
8. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
9. Mariah
10. Beatles Redux
11. Neil Diamond

Ranking the Studios (Play Count + General Favoritism, etc)

1. Yesterday - Syesha
2. Dream On - Michael
3. Billie Jean - David C.
4. Smoky Mountain Memories - David A.
5. Across The Universe - Michael
6. Eleanor Rigby - David C.
7. Forever - Kristy
8. If I Fell - Jason
9. Come Together - Carly
10. If I Was Your Woman- Syesha
11. Forever - Kristy
12. A Day In The Life - Michael
13. Angels - David A.
14. Over the Rainbow - Jason
15. Little Sparrow - David C.

Final Thoughts!

Overall, I’d probably rank this season second to last, right above S3. The semi’s were super fun to watch, and highly competitive. Once we got to the top 12 it was sort of meh, and then we saw a mass exodus of the only talented/versatile/interesting performers left, leaving a bunch of contestant who weren’t really growing week to week. The finale pt.1 and pt.2 were the most exciting in years, which helped redeem things a little bit. But I still think this is a highly talented group, and a lot of them have major potential. This was probably the only year where I had like 5 or 6 favorites right off the bat.

Let’s hope next year is a bit better!