10 Worst Performances of American Idol 7

It's time for me to state the obvious (again): Bad performances are a part of every season of "Idol", and they're often more memorable than some of the good performances. Sometimes we feel bad for the contestants, sometimes we shake our heads at their mistakes and sometimes we can only laugh.

As no season would be complete without them, it's only proper to honor them with their own Top 10 list. You may not agree with my picks, but as I said in my last post, this is my list and these are my opinions.

10. Michael Johns - "Light My Fire"

The judges heaped all kinds of praise on early "chosen one" Michael for this pimp spot performance from the first week of Semifinals. Following the judges' lead, most of America raved about it as well. When you actually listen to it though, all you hear is an off-key, warbled impersonation of Eddie Vedder singing Jim Morrison. It was head-hangingly ridiculous.

9. Ramiele Malubay - "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind"

Ramiele had been just mediocre enough to stay in the competition each week up to this point despite the fact that she was rarely very interesting (her playing up her Filipino heritage didn't hurt either). With this awkward performance where her voice was drowned out by the band and she couldn't seem to find the beat or the notes she finally got her walking papers.


8. Carly Smithson - "Total Eclipse of the Heart"

The deep-voiced verses that climbed into the shoutfest chorus that ended as a cracking glory note where Carly looked like she was trying to take a dump on stage all added up to a mess. It wasn't too different from her other performances in that she tried to do too much and failed, but this one was especially bad. The fact that Chikezie went home the same week as this display of dreck is further evidence of how unfair this competition can be.

7. Kady Malloy - "Who Wants to Live Forever"

Kady was pretty much doomed going into the last week of Semifinals due to her lack of a distinctive musical personality, her cold presence and the fact that she'd been awful the week before. She didn't do anything to raise her stock after this performance of a boring 80's Queen song where the pitch was all over the place.




6. Amanda Overmyer - "Carry On Wayward Son"

Rather than trying to shout an entire song, Amanda tried to prove she could really sing. All she proved was that she couldn't, as she didn't hit a single correct note. Throw in the scary streaks in her hair, the lyrics that were meant to be sung by a man and the odd dancing and you have a true Hall of Shamer. Amanda also may have gotten the surest sign in "American Idol" history that she was confined to a limited niche when Randy told her the song had "too much melody".

5. Chikezie - "More Today Than Yesterday"

Even I can admit when my favorite contestant screwed up. In his first week on the Semifinal stage Chikezie started completely off-key and then turned a fun, upbeat song into a snoozer while wearing his now-infamous orange suit. After he directed some sarcastic remarks at a critical Simon I actually started to wonder if I'd like him as much as I had based on his interviews. Thank goodness the voters gave him another week to redeem himself (and boy, did he ever!).

4. Kady Malloy - "Magic Man"

My mother best summed up this off-key, off-the-beat horrorfest by saying it was the type of performance where she couldn't wait for it to end because it was so painful. Kady officially became next week's target after surviving this train wreck and sending the more likable Alaina Whitaker home.

3. Kristy Lee Cook - "Rescue Me"

The first girl out of the gate on the first week of Semifinals, Kristy, arguably the least soulful singer who ever lived, decided to tackle Fontella Bass' signature tune...with the flu. Her bug-eyed expressions, robotic stage movements and strained notes (combined with the visibly underwhelmed guys watching from the sidelines) set the stage perfectly for what her improbable "Idol" run would be like. The fact that she survived the death spot after this performance is a testament to the importance of early screen time.

2. Amy Davis - "Where the Boys Are"

It was no surprise that Amy lasted only one week after this debacle. I'm not positive, but I'm guessing that if you plotted each note she hit on some sort of a graph not a single one would land on the "proper melody" line. After her elimination she said that she had trouble adjusting to the floor monitors since she was used to using ear monitors. Now we have to spend the rest of our lives wondering if she could've impressed us had she had the right equipment.


1. David Archuleta - "We Can Work it Out"

Little David got the pimp spot for the first week of Finals and the expectation was that he'd close the show on a high note. Instead, David forgot the lyrics several times, kept losing the pitch and generally looked uncomfortable the whole way. It was at that very moment America realized the pageant boy was human after all. It didn't matter though, as he still ended up making it to the finale without hitting the Bottom 2 or 3.

Dishonorable Mentions:

David Cook - "Happy Together"
Asia'h Epperson - "All By Myself"
Michael Johns - "Go Your Own Way"
Michael Johns - "Dream On"
Jason Castro - "Mr. Tambourine Man"

Most singers probably wouldn't want to end up on a list like this. After all, who wants to be remembered for doing poorly? I say earning a spot on a list like this is an honor. If you're mediocre and forgettable people will forget about you altogether. At least this way you're a part of "American Idol" history, and you're failing among some of the best.

Next time: The 10 Oddest Performances of American Idol 7. If there was a really bad performance that appears to have been overlooked here, check out my next post. It may show up!

10 Best Performances of American Idol 7

It's time for me to state the obvious: Most of us who watch "American Idol" want to see good performances. We want to see those magical moments where a contestant wows the audience, looks like a star and (hopefully) inspires the viewers at home to pick up the phone.

Season 7 had a lot of ups and downs, and I thought some of those ups deserved to be recognized. Here, in my opinion, are the ten best performances from this newly-completed season. You may disagree with my choices, but hey, this is my list and these are my opinions.

10. Brooke White - "I'm a Believer"

Yes, you read that right. This was one of my ten best performances of the season. If you don't want to continue reading it's your loss. After struggling for weeks with her usual serious fare, Brooke decided to do something different with this Neil Diamond-penned Monkees classic. Playing the guitar in front of a backdrop of green and purple ovals, Brooke upped the tempo for the first time all season and let loose with an energy we'd never seen from her before. Doggone it, it was fun!

9. Jason Castro - "Travelin' Thru"

Jason's performances often seemed like the same old thing, but with this one he managed to do his usual guy-with-a-guitar routine and be interesting and memorable. After the previous week's dreary "Fragile" that earned him a trip to the Bottom 3, he picked a song that was catchy, fun and positive, and it all clicked. Jason wouldn't see the Bottom 2 or 3 again until his elimination.

8. Alaina Whitaker - "More Today Than Yesterday"

When the Top 24 was named many observers (including me) predicted that Alaina would get the axe in the first week. She was one of the "interchangeable blondes", her early screen time had been limited and the only thing she seemed to be known for was her resemblance to Carrie Underwood. Sure, she had a good voice, but was she exceptional enough to get America's vote? As it turned out, she was. Fighting not to be eliminated on her birthday, she delivered an energetic, note-perfect rendition of the Spiral Starecase classic that was enough to earn her not only another week in the competition but the title of "dark horse" from Simon Cowell. Alaina was unfortunately eliminated after that second week, but her version of "More Today Than Yesterday" will forever live on in the memories of those who remember robbed contestants.

7. Brooke White - "Every Breath You Take"

This performance marked the first time Brooke had to restart her song during the voting stage of the competition. After repeating the first half of the first line she settled in behind the piano and added some sweet Brooke flavor to a song I've never been a big fan of. While Brooke openly struggled with confidence issues, she seemed to be in complete control of her performance that night.

6. David Archuleta - "Smoky Mountain Memories"

While this performance wasn't too different stylistically from Little David's usual stuff, there was something about it that I especially liked. Perhaps the emotion in his singing didn't seem quite as contrived as it did in other performances. Perhaps the song wasn't as sappy and full of clichés as some of his other choices. Perhaps it was the fact that he owned the song, sang his heart out and didn't show any signs of nerves. Whatever it was, I felt a connection with this one that I often didn't, and it inspired my mother to say "That kid is a star".

5. Chikezie - "I've Just Seen a Face"

The first time I saw this performance I wasn't sure what to make of it. It almost seemed like Chikezie was trying too hard to recreate his success from the previous week. After watching it a second time though, I loved it. It started out seeming like a return to his R&B ballad side (where he most certainly excelled) when out of nowhere he busted out a harmonica and the song became a bluegrass foot tapper. He totally seemed to be having fun out there and he stayed in the pocket the entire time (unlike certain contestants who won't be named). It kept him out of the Bottom 3, and it gave me hope that Chikezie would be in the competition for the long haul. Oh, what could've been...

4. Brooke White - "You're So Vain"

After an uncomfortable performance in the first week of Semifinals Brooke became the first "American Idol" girl to play an instrument in the second week. She accompanied her perfect song choice with a guitar, and it was then that we saw the real Brooke perform for the first time. It was clear that she could live up to the early hype, and the judges had fun discussing whether the song was directed at Simon. While Brooke didn't get quite as far as I thought she would early on, she had one of her most satisfying, engaging performances here.

3. David Cook - "Always Be My Baby"

While America raved about David Cook every week I still disliked him. I felt he was overrated and I couldn't stand his grungy style. I viewed him as a villain and hoped for a shocking elimination each week. When he was forced to do a Mariah Carey song for Top 7 week I assumed he'd just give it his own post-grunge arrangement (or one he found on iTunes) and I'd be bored as usual. Instead, he opted for an orchestra-backed rock arrangement and put feeling into his singing that I'd never heard from him before. Though it wasn't announced on the show, we internet diehards knew that his brother with cancer was in the audience that night. It likely contributed to his being emotional and made the judges' overwhelmingly positive feedback extra special. It was then that David Cook started to win me over. Though I'll never consider myself a fan of his, I was able to be genuinely happy for him when he won.

2. David Archuleta - "Imagine"

Little David had gotten a lot of hype early on with his audition and Hollywood performances. The judges pimped him to death the first week of Semifinals, and the whole time I never really got what all the fuss was about. He had an OK voice, but there was something weird about it that kept me from thinking he was anything special. I finally "got it" when David performed "Imagine" in the second week of Semifinals. Unlike some people, I'm not a fan of "Imagine". I don't see it as some sacred song that shouldn't be messed with and I think its message is a bit pretentious. When David sang it though, he added an element of innocent sincerity to it. He cut out the lyrics that expressed anything controversial and showed us he was a nice kid who just wanted everyone to love each other. That common thread in many of his songs would become tiresome eventually, but at that point it seemed real and refreshing. The season gained itself a frontrunner right then and there.

1. Chikezie - "She's a Woman"

How can you put the awesomeness of this performance into words? Chikezie fused a little bit of bluegrass, a little bit of soul, a little bit of "My Generation" and probably a little bit of a few other things I didn't pick up on into one insane burst of stand-up-and-shout excitement! A lot of viewers didn't like Chikezie due to his arguing with Simon and his outlasting fan favorite Danny Noriega, but I always defended him because I felt he had a lot of potential. With "She's a Woman" America finally got to see what I saw in Chikezie and then some! Rarely have I felt so vindicated, and never in this entire season did any contestant do anything as mind-blowingly magnificent as this performance. In a world where everything is fair Chikezie wins Season 7 of "American Idol".

Honorable Mentions:

Amanda Overmyer - "Back in the USSR"
Alexandréa Lushington - "Spinning Wheel"
Chikezie - "I Believe to My Soul"
David Hernandez - "Papa Was a Rolling Stone"
Jason Castro - "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

So there you have it. The highlights. The best of the best. At least to me. I know my list probably doesn't look like most people's lists would, but that's the beauty of differing opinions. Care to share yours? Feel free to comment with your own best-of list or put in a good word for a performance that wasn't mentioned.

Next time: The 10 Worst Performances of American Idol 7 (that should be even more fun!)

Finale Recap

Wow. That was some show. I have about five pages worth of notes to incorporate into one recap. Let's see if I can get it all done in time to get to bed at a decent hour. Oh, who am I kidding? I'll be up late tonight. A blogger's work is never done!

Ryan tells us that 97.5 million votes came in last night, and that there was a 56-44 split between the winner and the runner-up.

They have Mikalah Gordon covering David Cook's hometown rally in Kansas City and Matt Rogers covering David Archuleta's hometown rally in Salt Lake City. Those 11th Placers sure make good hosts, don't they? Next year let's have Kevin Covais covering one of these things. He's an aspiring journalist, isn't he?

We open the show with the Top 12 singing The Temptations' "Get Ready" surrounded by the "So You Think You Can Dance" dancers. My sister is actually watching with us tonight, and she comments that the choreography reminds her of The Brady Bunch. Amanda Overmyer looks thrilled to be doing this, and I can distinctly hear Chikezie's voice amidst the rest of the crowd. Such a great, underappreciated talent, that Chikezie. It's hard being his only fan.

The Top 2 duet is Chad Kroeger's "Hero". This is a boring post-grunge song that's better suited for Cook. It's not too much fun.

There's a goofy promo segment for the new Mike Myers movie "The Love Guru". Apparently the Davids got to watch a special screening of it, and they even get to meet "Guru Pitka" himself! The guru tells Cook to shave, as it's not the 90's anymore, and he tells Archie some stuff about growing up which is probably totally embarrassing to the kid. At the end the Davids are talking and the guru appears out of thin air to put some shaving cream on Cook's face, which makes him crack up. It's good that Cook doesn't seem have too much of an ego to enjoy the cheesiness of this whole thing.

We're "treated" to a duet between Syesha Mercado and Seal with the song "Waiting For You". Even though Seal's voice seems to be going he still sounds better and more soulful than Syesha. Boring.

The next performance is Jason Castro doing "Hallelujah" again. I've always felt that this song and Jason's performance of it were overrated, but I guess it's one of those moments everyone will remember him for. Hey, Melinda Doolittle is in the audience!

We get to see the final Ford commercial, which features Sam Cooke's "Good Times" listed as "Let the Good Times Roll". As usual it's just a montage of clips and outtakes from the previous Ford commercials this year. It's OK, but nothing special.

The Davids both get their own Escape Hybrids! Lucky dogs!

The Top 6 Girls perform a Donna Summer medley. It includes "She Works Hard For the Money", "Hot Stuff" and "Bad Girls". I can't stop watching Amanda and how unenthusiastic she is. It's hilarious. Suddenly Donna Summer herself somes out to sing her new single "Stamp Your Feet". What? Donna Summer is still around making music? After promoting her song that will only be played in dance clubs she finishes the medley with the familiar "Last Dance". I'm still trying to get my head around the fact that Donna Summer is still out there trying to stay current.

Ryan then talks about shocking eliminations and how two contestants "left before their time". Oh great, I just know he's talking about...Michael Johns and Carly Smithson! Singing a crappy new arrangement of The Box Tops' "The Letter"! If "left before their time" means "overstayed their welcome" I agree with Ryan. I wish they'd stop shoving these two down our throats as if they were good or something. Chikezie better get his own performance if I have to sit through this. Now there's a contestant who left before his time.

They bring out Jimmy Kimmel to roast the show again. He makes a joke about Sanjaya, who's in the audience tonight. He also shows us that Ryan looks like Chris Sligh without being made up and that Simon's comments can be set to music. It's a nice little diversion.

The Top 6 Guys get their turn to medley it up now. They start with Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69". It leads into Bryan Adams' "Heaven". Oh no, is this a Bryan Adams medley? I guess after all the Bryan Adams stuff we heard in Hollywood it was only appropriate to honor him at the finale. In all honesty though, Bryan Adams is a talented guy. The man himself (has Bryan Adams ever been referred to as such?) comes out to sing "I Thought I'd Seen Everything" and the guys join him for "Somebody". It's an odd choice of artist to honor with a medley, but it works.

So far this finale is better than last year's. They aren't focusing on boring guests no one cares about like Green Day or Bette Midler. They're giving the contestants the attention. They also aren't doing those dumb bad audition awards. Those were awful.

Jordin Sparks talks about a new attraction at Walt Disney World called "American Idol Experience". Wow. So you can see what it's like to be a contestant? Do you just get to experience the adulation of hundreds of fans on a red carpet or do you get to perform on stage and be de-pimped by Simon?

David Cook gets to perform "Sharp Dressed Man" with ZZ Top. Wow. Now there's a pairing I wouldn't have expected. A grunge voice backed by a blues rock band. I actually love it though. Cook does a funny dance during the guitar solo which reminds us that he's not as cool as a lot of people would like to think he is. Keep waving the nerd flag, Cookie! How many songs did our final two have to learn for this week? They're both going to need some serious rest after all this is over.

We go back to Kansas City with Mikalah. She talks to David Cook's old music teacher, Ms. Gentry. She's proud of her former student and thinks he's going to win. Awesome.

Now we get the best duet of the night. Graham Nash and Brooke White perform "Teach Your Children". Just beautiful. That's all I can say. This season was infinitely better for having had Brooke in it.

Hey, during the break there's a Guitar Hero commercial with David Cook in it! That's crazy! When did this guy have time to sleep this past week?

The Jonas Brothers perform. Finally I can pause the tape for something. I guess this is where all the cheesy guests that have nothing to do with "Idol" come in. The first half of the show was good while it lasted.

We see a montage video of some of the more memorable bad auditions. Why are they showing Alexis Cohen? She wasn't funny. Auditions like hers need to be removed from the show next year. The last one in the montage is the now-immortal Renaldo Lapuz, who then comes out on stage to sing "We're Brothers Forever" for the Nokia Theater crowd. The USC marching band and cheerleaders accompany his performance, which is awesome. After the popularity of his audition you kind of figured they'd do something like this for the finale. At least I did, and I thought it was cool.

OneRepublic is here to perform their single "Apologize". Great, I can pause the tape again. Hey, David Archuleta comes out to duet with the Gary Sinise lookalike playing the piano! I have to unpause the tape now! Now I have to tape all the guests in case one of the Idols suddenly joins them!

We go back to Salt Lake City with Matt. He talks to both sets of David Archuleta's grandparents. They both think his musical talent comes from their side of the family. Awesome.

Jordin Sparks is back live to perform a song for us called "One Step at a Time". It's as generic as everything else I've heard from her, but it's cool. Oh no, Blake Lewis is in the audience lip-synching along! Get the hobbit (thanks, Vote For the Worst!) off my screen!

They show us an "unseen audition tape" for The Pips, which has Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. backing Gladys Knight on "Midnight Train to Georgia". It's not that funny. Gladys performed this song live on the finale last year. That one was much better.

Carrie Underwood is here to perform her single "Last Name". My mother hates this song and I'm not too fond of it either. Kristy Lee Cook doesn't come out to join her, but there is a backup singer off to the side who kind of looks like her.

During the break there's a repeat of the Guitar Hero commercial with Archuleta in it instead of Cook. It's actually funnier because of the fact that Cook resembles a rock star and Archuleta doesn't. Hilarity.

We get one final medley from the entire Top 12. It starts with George Michael's "Faith" by the girls. The next song is "Father Figure" done by the guys. A George Michael medley? Why George Michael of all people? Does this mean he's going to come out (no pun intended) and perform with them? Wow, they actually gave David Hernandez the line about being "naked". Oh, the subtle humor. You just know someone out there was having fun at his expense. The last song in the medley is "Freedom 90" before (yep, I was right) George Michael is introduced and sings "Praying For Time". Can we get Luke Menard back to sing "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go?" I'll admit that George Michael is a talented guy, but do we really care about him right now? He looks creepy and sings for way too long. After it's finally over Ryan mentions that old Georgie is going on his first American tour in 17 years. Oh, so that's what it is. He's plugging his tour. I won't be there.

Finally, finally, finally...it's time for the results. Randy and Paula say their usual fluff, and Simon apologizes to Cook for being disrespectful to him the night before. He says that after watching it back the match may not have been as one-sided as he'd thought. I'm glad someone besides me thought it was pretty even.

After all this chatter and a special delivery from some guy who monitored the results we finally find out that the winner of "American Idol" is...David Cook!

Cook is overcome with emotion, and Archuleta handles second place with more grace than some people thought he would. I didn't expect it a few months ago, but I'm actually happy for the guy. Cook's sing-out is some song called "The Time of My Life". Huh? What's this song? I thought they chose their own winner's singles? Whatever. As soon as I hear a lyric about a "magic rainbow" I can't help but laugh. Good luck trying to sell this song that no one heard until they were busy processing the fact that David Cook was the new American Idol. Add this one to the long list of songs he had to learn for this week. Get some rest, dude!

Well, I'm not planning to buy anything David Cook releases, but I'm glad he won. Now that they've gotten a "rocker" Idol I hope the producers and judges will cut back on the boring post-grungers in future "Idol" seasons. We don't need a hundred Nickelback clones out there.

My mother is disappointed. She wanted Archuleta to win because she thought he did better last night and wanted to win more than Cook did. Oh well. In the long run no one will complain about Cook's win. He'll be the first male winner not to be outsold by another male contestant from his season and "Idol" will have another feather in their cap. Archuleta's diehard fans will be able to enjoy him as long as he's able to handle the pressure of being a teen idol, so everybody wins.

Well, it was a long and disappointing season, but there was some good to come out of it. Hopefully next year will be more interesting and there won't be two contenders with the same first name. It was annoying having to type out "Archuleta" over and over.

Check back over the next few days as I compile a few lists for Season 7! I also wanted to give some recognition to Ramiele Malubay, as she was the only finalist I never mentioned in this recap.

Top 2 Recap

After four months of sitting through auditions, Hollywood, annoying contestants and difficult eliminations it all comes down to this. Our seventh American Idol will be either David Cook or David Archuleta. One is a mature rocker who seems to have the most overall appeal to America, the other is a shy teenager with a big voice who has a diehard legion of fans in his corner. Tonight is crucial though, because plenty of people will be tuning in for the first time and voting.

We get a teaser with a boxing theme to it. In fact, it's a recurring theme throughout the night. Boxing analyst Jim Lampley even gives us an analysis of each round during the video segments. It's pretty cheesy, but if you watch "American Idol" you have to have to love cheese or at least tolerate it.

We see a video talking about what the American Idol title means. It's reserved only for superstars, they say, while showing us the faces of Kelly Clarkson, Chris Daughtry and Carrie Underwood. Chris Daughtry? Last I checked he didn't win "American Idol". I'm sure a lot of people think he did, but no matter how many times we hear that "America got it wrong" Taylor Hicks will always be the rightful Season 5 title holder. Take that, "Idol"!

We learn that Archie won the coin toss and opted for the pimp spot. Smart kid. Ryan chats with the Davids and the judges. It's nothing special. He asks them to talk about their opponents. Archie says that Cookie is awesome and that he wishes him the best of luck. Cookie says that he figures the competition is over and they're just having fun.

The first round will be songs chosen by Clive Davis. Aw man, I thought he was done picking songs for contestants after Randy criticized his song choice for Katharine McPhee. I guess we're stuck looking at his creepy face a while longer. We all know he's only here because of name recognition, because his recent demotion indicates that even his bosses haven't been that impressed with his work lately.

The Combover leads off with U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". This could be a good song for him. It's a continuation of his transformation from grungy rocker to sweeping anthem singer. I think it's pretty good. He stays on key and delivers it well. My mother doesn't like it because she thinks it's too much of his typical yelling. Randy says it was hot. Paula says he's in great voice tonight. Simon says it was phenomenal. I say thumbs up.

Mini-Carmen's song from Clive is Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me". This performance marks the fifth time this song has been performed on "American Idol". As he sings it I can't help but think how Clay Aiken-ish he is. His musical style is the same and now he gets to sing a song Clay sang on the show. Andrew Lloyd Webber advised him to keep his eyes open in the video clip, and you can see him consciously keeping his eyes open at one point. I think it's pretty good, but not as good as it could have been. Randy says it was flawless and unbelieveably molten hot. How many times is he going to use that comment this year? Paula says she got chills. Simon says it was arguably his best performance, and that he wins Round 1. Wow. They're actually pimping Archuleta? I thought they didn't want him to win anymore. Maybe this is all for drama and Rounds 2 and 3 will go to Cook. I can't help but feel good for Archie as he gets emotional listening to the judges. While Cook doesn't seem to care if he wins or loses, Archie really seems to want this. I didn't think the performance was as great as the judges did, but it was solid.

For the second round the contestants get to pick their own winner's singles from the songwriting contest. Does this mean the show is moving in a direction that'll encourage artistry and give the winner more creative control? We can only hope.

Cook is doing a song called "Dream Big" by Emily Shackelton. The opening lyrics are "When I was a little boy/I swore that I would change the world". I'm guessing that since it was written by someone named Emily and it didn't rhyme that the lyric was originally "girl", not "boy". He plays guitar along with it and for the first time we hear a winner's single that has some rock to it. The lyrics are the usual pap, but Cook manages to make it kind of cool. Randy says David's voice made it work. Paula says it was a great way to make us fall in love with a song we didn't know. Simon says it didn't feel like a winning moment. I can agree that it didn't seem like one, but is this competition about finding talent or finding what looks best on TV? Sadly, I think I already know the answer.

Archuleta is doing "In This Moment" by Ryan Gillmor. Now this song is pure winner's single cheese. Of course, that's the type of song Mini-Carmen was born to sing, so he does a pretty good job with it. My mother says she likes it better than Cook's. Randy says he wasn't crazy about the song (as he does every year), but that David can sing the phone book (as he does every week). Paula says he was on fire. Simon says he chose the better song and that Round 2 goes to Archie. Wow. More pimpage. I thought they didn't want to deal with his father. Could they actually want him to beat Cook?

The final round is where the contestants get to choose any song they want. This is often where the contestants reprise a performance from earlier in the season. One chooses that route, the other doesn't.

Not choosing that route is Cook. He performs Collective Soul's "The World I Know". I'm not familiar with this song, as I didn't really enjoy music in the 90's, but I actually think it's pretty good. Cook accompanies himself on acoustic guitar and sings it perfectly. This guy is showing himself to be a worthy Idol. I'm not going to go crazy over this type of performance, but it's well-done. Randy says he's showing his nice, sensitive side. Paula applauds him. Simon says it was the wrong song choice and that he should've done "Hello" or "Billie Jean" again. Cook explains that he views the competition as a progression and didn't see the point of doing something he'd already done, though he understands where Simon is coming from. Honestly, I think Cook did a very good job tonight, and the criticism he's gotten only tells me that they want Archuleta to win.

Archuleta decides to repeat his performance of "Imagine", and it's about as good as I remember it being when he sang it in the Top 20. I'm sure the judges will eat it up. I can't deny that this kid knows what he's doing when he sings this song. Randy says it was exactly what the show is about, and that the best singer in the competition is standing on the stage. Paula says it was stunning and left her speechless. Simon says (continuing the boxing theme) that it was a knockout. Wow. I guess that's the first unpredictable thing that's happened all season. In the finale they pimped Archuleta and de-pimped Cook. Who would have thought?

Ruben Studdard closes the show with a live performance of "Celebrate Me Home" and a montage of clips from the season on the screens behind him. Ahh...fun memories. Hey, there's a clip of Syesha! I'd totally forgotten about her!

I've been saying for a while now that David Cook has it in the bag, but now I'm not so sure. The judges made it clear who they liked better tonight, and there may be enough swing votes to give little Archie the title. Honestly, if I had to predict right now I'd say that tomorrow we'll be crowning David Archuleta the next American Idol. I hope it's Cook for reasons I've already explained, but Archie is a likable kid and I'll be happy for him if he wins it. The real highlight of tomorrow though, will be seeing Chikezie, Brooke and Amanda on stage again! How exciting will that be?

How to Improve "American Idol"

We're hearing a lot these days about what's wrong with "American Idol" and what changes need to be made. While "Idol"'s ratings remain high, they aren't quite as high as they were in seasons past, leading the people behind the show to consider an overhaul. I've read several articles and blogs making suggestions, so I figured I might as well put my opinion out there too. Nigel Lythgoe, I hope you're reading this.

I'd like to start by addressing some of the suggested changes that I disagree with. While I do think "Idol" needs changes, I'm not of the opinion that they need to be drastic. Here are some things that I think should stay the same in spite of the fact that some people want them changed.

1. Keep the group numbers. I know they're cheesy and sometimes a bit awkward, but the group numbers can be so much fun too. I'm disappointed sometimes in how lackluster they are, but there are other times when they're the highlight of the results show. It's good to see the Idols out there singing together and not taking themselves too seriously. It reminds us that this show is supposed to be fun.

2. Keep the Ford commercials. Some people consider them useless filler, but I think they're fun to watch and the contestants say they're fun to shoot. I like those moments when the Idols are enjoying themselves together rather than competing, and it's always cool when they pick some obscure favorite for the song. When they used "I Want You to Want Me" this year it was the best part of the show, as Chikezie ended up going home that night.

3. Keep the elimination format. Some people hate the gender-balanced Finals, as it often doesn't reflect the 12 most popular contestants in the competition. Still, the entire reason it was adopted was because of the Season 3 Finals that featured 8 girls and 4 guys. Most of the girls were "divas" and the guys weren't strong enough to give them a run for their money. Diversity among the contestants is one thing that makes the show interesting, and you're more likely to have that diversity with the current format in place.

Now that we know what not to change, let's talk about what should be changed.

1. Shorten the results shows. Apparently they're already planning to do this, but I just wanted to affirm that it's a good idea. I know the group numbers and Ford commercials take up time, but there's plenty of other stuff you could cut. The viewer phone-in questions, for example, are a complete waste of time. More importantly, instead of dragging out the drama with the results, just get to the point. You don't have to spend two minutes talking to each contestant about his or her performance and shooting the breeze with the judges before saying "safe" or "in the Bottom 3".

"Canadian Idol" manages to do their results shows in half an hour, and they sometimes include guest performances, group performances and special video segments. They get that stuff out of the way early and then handle the results all at once at the end of the show.

I like the hour-long results show during the Semifinals, as there are four people to send home and it's nice to give each one a final moment in the spotlight, but a whole hour to send off one person is boring. As long as the Ford commercials and group numbers stay I'm all for the shorter results shows.

2. Don't have too many narrow theme weeks. I can understand not choosing theme weeks that are too broad, as they can seem not even to be a theme sometimes. Still, I had a hard time enjoying theme weeks from Dolly Parton, Mariah Carey and Andrew Lloyd Webber this year because I wasn't very familiar with their music. I'm familiar with several of Neil Diamond's songs, but someone who wasn't wouldn't have enjoyed that week either. One or two of these types of themes is OK, but doing four of them over a five-week span is a good way to bore people. If you pick themes that aren't too broad or too narrow you can appeal to a wide range of people without losing the cohesive feel of the week.

3. Cut down the audition episodes. Seriously, I know the bad auditions bring in ratings, but we don't need a month of audition episodes. I was really sick of the audition episodes by the last two weeks of them. Once again, our neighbors to the north give us a good example of how to handle it better. They fit all their auditions into two two-hour shows and they give more focus to the good ones than the bad ones. Speaking of bad auditions, that's another point I'd like to make...

4. Cut out most of the bad auditions. Some are entertaining, but most aren't funny and take up way too much time. Half the time I just want to tell the people to shut up rather than listen to them. Two or three funny ones per audition episode would be OK, but every other audition being some tone-deaf person screeching is just irritating. The fact that some of these useless people get screen time and some of the people in the Top 24 don't is frustrating, which leads me to my next point...

5. Let us get to know everyone in the Top 24. Contestants who come into the Semifinals with no previous screen time are at a major disadvantage. If they have bad or mediocre performances early on they can't overcome it as easily as someone who the viewers have already gotten to know and love. It makes the show predictable, as it's obvious who the producers want to go far and who they don't. Just look at my post on the Top 24 and you can see that I predicted 9 of the Top 12 correctly. The three who made it that I didn't predict would (Chikezie, Amanda Overmyer and David Hernandez) finished 10th through 12th. Stop the blatant pimping and at least give the appearance of a fair competition.

I realize the Top 24 isn't even decided yet when the audition episodes start airing, so it's not always possible to include each contestant's audition in the episode for his or her audition city. Still, Hollywood can be used to introduce America to a contestant, similar to what was done with David Hernandez this year. I couldn't help but feel bad for Garrett Haley, who was never seen until the chair episode and ended up being the first person eliminated. He seemed like a funny kid, and his voice was probably just as good as David Archuleta's. Who knows what we might have seen from him had there been more voters invested in him? As it was, more people cared about Josiah Leming than Garrett when the Top 24 rolled around.

I once read a suggestion that there be a special show to introduce America to each member of the Top 24. I actually think that's a really good idea. Cut out some of the audition episodes and have a two-hour special where each contestant gets an equal amount of time to tell us about himself or herself. Maybe someone the producers don't think is especially interesting or marketable could connect with America and end up going farther than anyone anticipated. How unpredictable would that be?

Finally, the most important suggestion of them all...

6. Find contestants who are interesting and likable. Remember Chikezie? He was funny, talented and creative. He threw curveballs at you during his performances, and when he was on he nailed it. I'm going to confess something here that will probably make everyone reading this think that I am one pathetic loser (because let's face it, I probably am). I actually teared up a little when Chikezie got eliminated. I'd never done that before, and I couldn't even figure out why I did at the moment. I think the answer lies in my long-winded rant from that night. After Chikezie was eliminated we were left with nine contestants, only one of which I really loved. I felt like we were robbed of several great, interesting performances that Chikezie could have given us. I still listen to his two Beatles performances on mp3 all the time, and they're still pump-your-fist-and-say-"yeah!" awesome.

I love music and I love creativity. I don't want to see one-trick ponies who make predictable song and arrangement choices. I want to see contestants whose performances I can look forward to each week. That's what's going to get me and many other people excited about "Idol", not contestants who are merely talented. There were several contestants I found interesting this year, but they were all eliminated early. After a while I was only watching out of curiosity.

"American Idol" is a great show, but there are so many things that keep it from realizing its full potential. As a fan I can only hope that some of these ideas I've suggested will be implemented, and that Season 8 will bring back the magic. Let's not let a great concept go to waste.

Top 3 Results Recap

Here we are at the Top 3 Results show. One person leaves the competition and the other two get record deals. Ryan tells us that to come so close to the finale has historically been devastating. That's a bit of an exaggeration, as making it to the finale hasn't guaranteed success either. They have to create drama though.

The group sing is McFadden and Whitehead's "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now", which was Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard's duet in the Season 2 finale. You just can't recreate the magic of the days before contestants and viewers became jaded. David Cook has to be embarrassed to be doing this cheesy choreography. The look on Syesha's face throughout the episode so far makes me think she knows she's a goner.

The Ford commercial is shown fairly early, and the song is Los Lonely Boys' "Heaven". The Top 3 go to a fortune-telling machine. Instead of telling any of them "Forget it, kid!" it shows fame and fortune to be in all their futures. Uh-huh. I have no doubt that Syesha's going to accumulate tons of platinum records.

Fantasia performs. As she's my least favorite winner, I pause the tape. After watching the performance I don't regret that decision.

Now we get the videos of their trips home. First is David Archuleta, who's going back to his hometown of Murray, Utah. We get to see the little guy do his tour of morning talk shows, radio shows, malls and Jazz games. He even gets to be mobbed by a bunch of cheerleaders. That's one of those moments all us dorky guys dreamed of in high school and he actually got it. Lucky dog. Hey, the background song is "One Big Holiday" by My Morning Jacket! Cool choice. The memory of seeing those guys perform this song on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" and Conan getting excited and yelling "I cannot wait to buy this CD!" after the performance has always stuck with me. David gets emotional and starts crying at one point in the video, and I don't blame him. Even though I don't want him to win I can't help but be happy for the guy, as this whole experience clearly means a lot to him.

After the video of his trip home is over we get to see a video of David's "Idol" journey. Interesting. This is the type of video they show when someone gets eliminated. Now we'll get to see what we would've seen had Mini-Carmen been eliminated, which he won't be, since his quest for the "Idol" title will end in the finale.

Now it's Syesha Mercado's turn. She's going back to her hometown of Sarasota, Florida. Instead of My Morning Jacket she gets Diana Ross' "I'm Coming Out" as her background song. Supposedly there wasn't a huge turnout for Syesha in her hometown, and judging by the video I sort of get that impression too. It's mostly the same type of stuff as in David's video. She does her trademark "O lo!" thing when riding in a helicopter. She hangs out with her family. I guess the lack of support for her means that there isn't a ton of stuff to show us.

After her hometown video they show her journey video, which will save them the trouble of showing it later. It has Fantasia's "I Believe" as the background song rather than that "Here comes the rest of our lives" song that was in David's. Is she going to be like Phil Stacey last year, who was the only person to get a different song than the rest for his exit video?

Finally it's David Cook's turn. Before they show the video we get to meet the younger brother who got him to audition. The trip back to David's hometown of Blue Springs, Missouri has Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer" in the background. Hey, that was his audition song! We get to see David doing weather for his local morning show, thanking the school teacher who inspired him to go into music, throwing out the first pitch at a Royals game and being overcome with emotion when stepping onstage to play for a crowd of people. We get a little bit of Aerosmith's "Dream On" in the background later in the video.

For David's journey video the song is Daughtry's "What About Now". I guess Syesha isn't this year's Phil Stacey after all.

Finally it's time for the results. Ryan tells us that America has decided that the finale will be between...David Archuleta...pause for all the applause...and David Cook. Syesha is eliminated, which comes as a shock to no one. It was more shocking that she made it this far. I was thinking (and hoping) we'd be Syesha-free a long time ago, but somehow she defied the odds. When people look back on where the contestants finished this season it'll appear that Syesha was extremely popular when in reality she was totally forgettable. Archuleta cries as Syesha sings "If I Ain't Got You" one more time. Cook watches stone-faced.

Next week will be the finale everyone was expecting. I don't think there's any way David Cook will lose, but you can never be too sure on this show.

Top 3 Recap

Here we are. Two of these three contestants will be in the finale. The other will fall disappointingly short. The public has been anticipating a finale between Davids Cook and Archuleta ("Combover" and "Mini-Carmen", respectively) for a long time now, but will the seemingly indestructable Syesha "Snoha" Mercado spoil those plans? Tonight's performances will determine who gets the record deals and who has to make his/her own way in the industry.

The first round of songs are picked by the judges. They've been criticizing their song choices all year. Now they have nothing to complain about.

Mini-Carmen's song is Billy Joel's "And So it Goes", picked by Paula. I'm sure his fellow Utahn Carmen Rasmusen will be proud, as she also did this song on the show. The song starts with a note from the backing orchestra, which leads into Mini-C's a cappella first half of the song. Before it turns into a Bo Bice moment the backing musicians kick in halfway through. I really like the vocal on this song. Each note sounds perfect. While it's not too big a departure for him, there's something special about the way he sings this one. This may be one of his best performances. Then again, maybe I'm just in a good mood. My mother doesn't like the song. Randy says he's in the zone. Paula says it was a beautiful performance. Simon says it was predictable but good. I say Mini-Carmen's off to a good start.

Snoha's doing Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You", which Randy picked for her. Seems like a fairly predictable choice. Apparently this was the song she did in her performance on failed "Idol" ripoff "The One". The positive to this performance is that she doesn't oversing or screech. The negative is that her voice seems to be lacking the depth that we've seen from some of the other divas on this show. I can't believe I wrote that. It's a competent performance, but I'm not excited. Randy says she did a good job and that's why she's "standing there in number three". Is Randy already conceding an all-David finale? Paula loves it. Simon criticizes Randy's choice, saying he wishes he'd picked a song for her that she could change up from the original more. Whatever. It's the same old boring Snoha to me.

Combover's song is Simon's pick, and it's Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face". I actually really like his semi-whiny head voice on this song, because it seems heartfelt. Combover accepted the challenge and succeeded. My mother doesn't like how much the song was trimmed down though, because it seems too short. That's what happens when you try to cram nine performances into an hour. Randy says he wishes Simon had picked something less predictable and more rock. Wow. Now we're making revenge comments here? Paula calls the boys out on their feuding and then tells Combover that she loves it. Simon says it was one of his best performances. I think it was probably the best of the night so far.

For the next round the contestants get to choose their own songs! No genre or theme restrictions! Anything they want! It's their chance to represent themselves to America for a shot at the finale! The only limit is what the producers will clear!

Mini-Carmen chooses Chris Brown's "With You". I don't listen to modern pop-R&B, so I'm not familiar with this one. It's good to see he didn't choose another inspirational ballad though. He's obviously saving his "inspirational ballad" energy for the winner's single at the finale, assuming he gets there. I guess since his father isn't helping him select songs anymore he's now free to be a teenager. The only problem is that this performance is a trainwreck. He loses the beat and forgets the lyrics early on. He gets it together somewhat in the second half, but it's still a bit uncomfortable. This song has more of a "young black guy" vibe than a "white teenage male diva" vibe. I give him credit for trying something different, since most of us would agree that his usual act has grown stale, but it just didn't work. Randy says it was a bad song choice but gives him credit for doing something younger. Paula thinks he did well. Simon says it was awkward, like a chihuahua trying to be a tiger, but applauds him for not doing a treacly ballad. I'm just glad we have at least one Mini-Carmen performance that wasn't the same old thing.

Snoha chooses "Fever", a jazz standard with Peggy Lee's version the most well-known. She decides to use a chair as a prop to add sexiness to her performance. She's really actressing it up tonight with the funny voices during her interview segments and this choreographed routine. My mother thinks she's stepping up her game. I think it's a solid performance. Randy says it was a great performance. Paula says she's not sure it shows who Snoha is as an artist. Simon says it was cabaret. Assuming Paula's lines aren't scripted, I'll actually give her credit for making a good point here. All this girl is doing is proving she belongs on Broadway, not that she's a recording artist.

Combover chooses Switchfoot's "Dare You to Move". This should be a good one for him, as it's got that dark alt-rock feel to it. He's got the guitar back in his hands this time. My mother doesn't like it, saying there's too much yelling in it. I agree that his upper register is off-key, as it seems to have been quite a bit lately. Overall it's OK, but once again it's too short. That's the problem with this guy's style. He's all about building drama, and it doesn't work with these abridged performances. Randy says it wasn't his best tonight. Paula says it was too short and she wanted more. Simon says it wasn't the best melodic song. I say he seems to be doing the best he can, even if it's not outstanding.

Now we have our final round of songs. This time they're picked by the producers. We'll see who gets songs best suited to their strengths and who gets crappy songs that are designed to get them sent home.

Mini-Carmen gets Dan Fogelberg's "Longer". Good choice. It's sappy enough to be right up his alley. It's nice of them to honor Dan Fogelberg like this after his recent death. He sounds OK, but for some reason he looks a bit creepy while he's singing. My mother loves this song and sings along with it. It's back to the same old thing for Mini-Carmen, but it's pretty good. Randy says it was another hot one. Paula says it was lovely. Simon says he sang it very well but that it was a horrible song. I think he's two for three tonight, which may be enough to get him into the finale.

Snoha gets Gia Farrell's "Hit Me Up". I'd never even heard of this song until earlier tonight when I saw the spoilers and listened to the music video for it on YouTube. It's not really an "Idol" type of song. It's one of those cheesy "belt while the backup singers sing the hook" dance-pop numbers. It's fun and catchy, but I don't think it suits her style at all. It's nothing special. Randy says he could see her doing a Rihanna-esque song like that, but it was just OK. Paula says it's not the type of song for her, and she's not sure if it's good enough for the finale. There we go. Finally she gets the anti-pimpage necessary to ensure an all-David finale. We knew it was coming. Simon says her best moment was "A Change is Gonna Come" from last week, and that nothing tonight gave her that defining moment. It's obvious they don't want her to advance, and this performance may have sealed the deal.

Combover gets to close the show with "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", written by Diane Warren and performed by Aerosmith for the Armageddon soundtrack. The thing I'll always remember this song for is that my brother once referred to it as "wussy crap" and cited it as a reason he didn't like Aerosmith. I guess it's good showcase for both of Combover's sides: rocker and sweeping soundtrack song singer. He's backed by only violins for the verse and sounds OK there. Instead of going into the chorus at the usual spot he inserts the bridge, which allows him to build the drama even more and not let it seem clipped. I have to believe that the competition is wearing on his voice at this point. There are a few off-key moments and I hear some Carly Smithson-like straining as well. It's not a great performance. Randy says it was just OK. Paula says she'll see him in the finals. Simon says "David Cook wins the night". I agree with Simon.

I'm going to make the safe prediction here. Syesha's going home tomorrow night. She was able to Bottom 3 her way into the Top 3, but ultimately she doesn't have the fanbase or pimpage of the two Davids. I'm sure no record label wants the challenge of marketing a Broadway-ish diva who failed to attract a strong fanbase after making it to the Top 3 on America's highest-rated TV show either. Syesha's had a good run, but it's time for her to go.

It's time for me to say something I never thought I'd say earlier in the season: I want David Cook to win. That's right. A guy who hated on him most of the season wants him to win. Is it because I like him? No, not really. I've grown to appreciate his talent a little more, but I still don't like his chosen genre of music. I'd never buy his album. I've gotten to where I can admit that he probably isn't as much of a jerk as I'd previously thought, but I still think he has a somewhat dull personality. So why do I want him to win?

I want Cook to win because he's clearly the most popular contestant, and if he doesn't win fans will be whining about it forever. I'm a Taylor Hicks fan, but it seems like he can never be discussed without the thought that Chris Daughtry or some other contestant "should have won" being brought up. It's annoying, to say the least. Daughtry was clearly the chosen one for Season 5, and even though he finished in fourth place he was treated like the winner. Taylor was savvy enough to get America's votes, yet he's constantly swept under the rug. I say the winner of the competition should be respected as such.

Syesha and Archuleta aren't as marketable, so when their post-"Idol" careers don't take off, their fans (OK, Archuleta's fans, since Syesha doesn't have any) won't have a legitimate argument against Cook's victory (well OK, it never stopped Katharine McPhee's fans from arguing against Taylor, but that's another story). You rarely hear any arguments against the victories of Kelly, Fantasia, Carrie or Jordin, since they were all the most commercially successful contestants of their respective seasons. The male winners were both outsold by another male contestant from their season, so you hear arguments against their wins all the time. If David Archuleta won he'd end up in the same boat as Ruben and Taylor.

Not only do I think Cook is more talented than Daughtry, I think he's more likable. Clearly the powers that be at "Idol" want a rocker among their pantheon of winners, so I say Cook is as good a choice as any. If they get their rocker Idol this year it might also mean we won't have to sit through more of these post-grungers in future seasons, something I'd personally love.

Go David Cook! I may not like your style, but you winning would be the best thing for this competition.

Top 4 Results Recap

Tonight the general consensus is that Jason Castro is going home. He's struggled for three straight weeks and the judges were brutal on him last night. DialIdol has him going home, and he's said publicly that he's ready to leave the competition. I think tonight we say goodbye to the dreadlocked goofball.

Ryan tells us the Top 3 were all within a million votes of each other. Considering how close Syesha and the Davids were on DialIdol it only gives us more reason to expect a "Buh-bye, Jason!"

The group number is Steely Dan's "Reelin' in the Years". With only four people it's more apparent how cheesy the choreography is. There's actually a guitar solo in the middle, which I'm not sure has ever been done with a group number on this show. My mother, who earlier dissed the group numbers, enjoys this one, though she doesn't like the abrupt ending. I have to agree. It's a good group sing in a season that's had a lot of bad ones.

Ryan tells us that they're going to fill the couches with the Top 3. Since there aren't any stools, I guess we're to assume that they're not doing the Bottom 2 tonight. The first Idol to face the music is David Archuleta. Well, there aren't any stools to send him to, so obviously he's going to be on the couches! And he is! Ryan tries to introduce a clip of some of the past Idols' trips home from the Top 3, but they have video problems and we end up never seeing it.

We get to see a video of the Top 4's trip to Las Vegas to watch Cirque du Soleil perform "Love", featuring the songs of The Beatles. There are Beatles songs in the background of the entire segment. It looks like a cool show. They get to meet the cast of the show at the end. It's nice of the Idols to recognize the less famous. The two Davids get the most face time during the segment, since we're obviously supposed to connect with them more than the other two.

David Cook is next to learn his fate. Again, if there are no stools to send him to, we know he's going to be safe, and he is. That leaves us with Syesha Mercado and Jason Castro. Ryan acts as if he's about to deliver the verdict, but Jason interrupts to say "You're going to tell us now?" Of course he isn't. There's still half an hour left in the episode! It's time for a break! Like last week Syesha has to sweat it out, but they never actually say she's in the Bottom 2. Still, we knew that Syesha and Jason were the only ones with any chance of leaving tonight, so it figures that it's down to the two of them.

The Ford commercial is set to Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire", and it features the Idols as matadors teasing a Ford car instead of a bull. It's kind of funny. It reminds me of a scene from the "Monkees" episode Don't Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth. The "Papa Gene's Blues" romp gets interrupted so Mike can face the task of milking a cow with the drama of a bull fight. Remember that one? It was great! No, you probably don't. Yes, I'm still a nerd. Anyway, fun Ford commercial. I'm sure that if David Cook becomes a big rock star he'll have a good laugh when he looks back on this one.

More viewer questions. More me not caring.

Maroon 5 performs their new single "If I Never See Your Face Again". I'm not a huge Maroon 5 fan, but their songs are pretty catchy, so I'll keep the tape rolling on this performance in case I want to watch it again sometime. This song isn't bad. As I listen to Adam Levine I can't help but realize that he'd probably never make it as a contestant on "Idol". His voice works with his band, but his singing style is too quirky for him to be a solo act on a show like this one. Still, he's made it big, and he's here to dispense advice to the hopefuls on the couch. He tells them they should be ready to work, and that they'll end up being jaded after a while. He says they'll hate it but they'll love it. I can imagine.

Bo Bice is also here to perform. He's doing a song called "Witness" from his latest album See the Light. I actually think this song rocks. Few people seem to realize what an impact this guy had on "American Idol". He paved the way for a lot of the rockers we've seen in the last few years. If it hadn't been for him we may not have David Cook right now. Hmmm, now that I think about it, darn you, Bice! Naw, I'm kidding. I don't have much of a problem with David Cook anymore, and Bo Bice is the real deal. Still, it's hard to imagine a world where he beat out Carrie Underwood for the title given the difference in their successes.

Now it's time to get Jason's elimination out of the way. Ryan chats with Jason and Syesha. Jason says he feels that his inexperience is showing, and notes that someone said he "shot the tambourine man" last night. Syesha talks about how emotional she was last night and how today in 2008 we could have the first black or woman president. You think the oh-so-diverse Democratic Party is getting enough hype these days? Ryan finally reads the results, and, coming as a shock to absolutely no one, Syesha is in the Top 3. Like I said in my last post, I never would've predicted it a month ago. When she goes home next week she'll be able to look back on one of the most unlikely runs in the history of this show.

Jason's exit video is basically a montage of all his awkward cluelessness, and it's pretty funny. They have a clip of him singing Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" with Renaldo Lapuz at the auditions. I guess we'll never see what Jason did for his audition that got him through to Hollywood. I read that the reason he was never shown until the Top 24 was because of song clearance issues, so I assume that's why his audition remains unseen. I guess when the judges pimp you a lot and you have a hairstyle that makes you stand out you can still go far on this show without much early screen time.

As Jason straps on his guitar for his sing-out Ryan tells him he looks relieved. Jason says that he kind of is, because he'd probably have a hard time memorizing three songs for next week. His sing-out of "I Shot the Sheriff" is much worse than the original performance, but I don't care because this guy may have had one of the funniest eliminations ever. I'm already looking forward to the exit interviews.

I don't expect anything out of the ordinary to happen for the last two weeks. Next week Syesha will likely be eliminated, and Cook will likely beat Archuleta in the all-David finale the week after that. America will finally have the rocker Idol they've been waiting for, and next year the show can focus on finding people with interesting, unique styles, not finding the next Daughtry to atone for Taylor Hicks' supposedly "wrong" victory. At least, I can always hope.

Top 4 Recap

Tonight our Idols take on songs from the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock. Hey, Luke Menard is still hanging around the audience! I miss Brooke, but at least now I don't have to worry about voting, since I couldn't care less who wins anymore. Interestingly enough, I tried to guess the order in which they'd be performing tonight and got it exactly right. I'm sure no one cares, but I thought I'd throw that in.

We're starting with Combover tonight. He does Duran Duran's "Hungry Like the Wolf". Interesting song choice. He rocks it up a bit, but this time it has more of an 80's feel than a grungy one, which I like. My mother thinks it's a bit karaoke and affected, but I say it's not too bad. Randy says it was a solid performance but he's looking for "mad, hot vocals". Paula says it left her with a big appetite. Simon says it was a little bit copycat but probably good enough to bring him back next week. I didn't think it was as bad as the judges seemed to, even if I'm not getting overly excited about it.

Snoha is next. She's doing "Proud Mary" which she says is "by Tina Turner". It's by Creedence Clearwater Revival, people! OK, I know she's doing the Tina Turner version, but it's a shame that a great CCR song is known by most people these days as a Tina Turner song. My mother observes that Snoha is dressed like Tina Turner. The slow intro is a bit off-key, but she starts dancing around when the music picks up, which makes my mother laugh. It does look kind of goofy. Randy says she's in the zone. Paula says she looks like a star. Simon says it was a bad, shrieky version. My mother thinks it's pretty good and that she did something different with it. I think it's just OK.

Now it's The Code Man's turn. He's doing Bob Marley and The Wailers' "I Shot the Sheriff". Reggae on "Idol"? I guess Blake Lewis sort of did it last year. This isn't really a singer's song, but the image of Code Man's dreads with this performance may be memorable enough to get him some votes. Randy says it was really karaoke and nothing special. Paula says he performed to the audience more than ever, but she wasn't crazy about the performance. Simon calls it utterly atrocious. It's clear that they want Jason gone this week.

Getting the pimp spot once again is Mini-Carmen. I guess he'd gone the longest of these four without getting it, so it was his turn. He's doing the Ben E. King classic "Stand By Me". He adds some runs to it, but they don't ruin the song like they did last week with "Sweet Caroline". It's not my favorite performance of his, but it's pretty good. Randy says it was hot. Paula says he's seasoned already. Simon says it was the best performance of the night so far. I guess it's a toss-up between him and Combover.

Combover is doing The Who's "Baba O'Riley" for his second performance. It's about time The Who had one of their songs done on this show. I'm not a Combover fan, but he's won me over to the point where I can tolerate him, and I say this could be a great performance for him. He rearranges it so that it has a dark, slow intro. Well, at least he won't be accused of doing karaoke this time. The music picks up at the "teenage wasteland" part, and there are a few noticeable bum notes when he goes into his upper register. I'm disappointed with this performance. The song itself is very dramatic, and it doesn't work well pared down for an "Idol" performance. He could've done so much more with it if he'd had more time. As it is it's lacking. Randy loves it. Paula wants more. Simon says "Welcome back, David Cook". I actually liked his first performance better.

Hey, Rascal Flatts is in the audience! Aren't they performing on "Dancing With the Stars" tonight? I guess they must be filmed in the same building.

Snoha's back to do Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come". It's a good song, but it's not a great performance. There are too many off-pitch moments for me, but at least she ends with a good glory note. There's not much to say about it except that it doesn't impress me much (who am I, Shania Twain?). Randy says he doesn't love it and that the arrangement didn't work for him. Paula stands and claps before heaping tons of praise on her, which moves Snoha to tears. I think she just bought herself another week with this show of emotion. Simon agrees with Paula. Syesha then talks about how the song means so much to her after she researched its history. Yeah, there's no way she's going home after all this.

Code Man is back behind the guitar for his second song tonight, Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man", which was most famously done by The Byrds. It starts off sort of cool, but then he forgets the lyrics and hums to cover it up. He later says "is no place" rather than "ain't no place", which seems odd. Is he tanking on purpose? I read last week that he said he was ready to go home. Randy says Jason isn't in the zone tonight. Paula says it didn't blow her away, but that Code Man does. Simon says he should pack his suitcase. The producers clearly want Jason gone, and he apparently doesn't want to be there either. Still, Simon telling him to pack his suitcase may garner him some sympathy votes. Of course, the sympathy vote is the only thing that's kept him in it the past two weeks, so perhaps the voters are sick of bailing him out.

Little Mini-Carmen is doing Elvis Presley's "Love Me Tender" as the night's final number. This is a really slow song, but he handles it pretty well. The camera is zoomed in on his face most of the time, which I suppose is to make the voters feel close to him. It's not an exciting performance, but I like it. Randy and Paula both love it. Simon says he crushed the competition tonight. I guess all the pimping may be to save him from the middling vote totals he's been getting lately (if DialIdol is to be believed). He may have picked up some of the Mormon voters now that Brooke is gone, so that's certainly in his favor as well.

Ryan closes the show by telling us that our vote is more crucial than ever tonight. Well this is the first week this season I'm not voting. What do you think about that?

Now it's time to make some predictions. Going into this week I was thinking we could lose David Archuleta in a shocker, because every odd-numbered season has a shocker in the Top 4. Archuleta doesn't seem to be doing anything new, lots of people on the internet seem to hate him and DialIdol has had him as vulnerable in recent weeks. Unfortunately for all you Archie haters, I don't think it's going to happen after all the pimping he got tonight. David Cook got the death spot, but at this point I think he's so far ahead of the pack that nothing will keep him from winning. Judging by what I read on the internet, he's clearly the people's choice. Syesha's surprising run has seemed to be nearing the end every week, but after the improvement she's shown recently and the emotion she showed tonight I think she'll have plenty of voters in her corner. I never would've pegged her for the Top 3 a month ago, but now I'm actually predicting it will happen. That leaves us with Jason. A part of me was thinking he'd shock us by being safe again this week. He has lots of fans, he projects a very memorable image, and even Vote For the Worst has gotten on board with supporting him. Still, it seems that both he and the producers are hoping he gets voted off this week. Combine that with my reasons why the other three will get votes and I don't have much choice but to make Jason my pick to go home.

To make it official:

Bottom 2: Syesha, Jason
Going Home: Jason

The rest of this season should be fairly predictable. Oh well. At least Jason's exit interviews will be entertaining.

A Tribute to Brooke White

In my first year as an "American Idol" recapper I've resorted to the cliché of giving the contestants goofy nicknames. Brooke White though, never got a nickname because I liked her too much to joke about her with a silly moniker. Still, I ended up regularly calling her "my girl Brooke White", because she was the female contestant I loved the most. I defended her even when the rest of the internet "Idol" community started getting tired of her and finding her annoying. I found something to love in every performance, even when I knew she wasn't at her best. I talked her up as much as I could. What was it about this young woman that made her "my girl"? Why could I not turn on her like the majority of the audience?

From the beginning of this disappointing 7th season of "American Idol" Brooke stood out to me. Not only was she pretty, but she said that her best friends were the twin baby girls she was a nanny for. At her audition we also learned that she'd never seen an R-rated movie. In our cynical culture a person like her certainly stands out. I liked her almost instantly. I later learned that her squeaky-clean sweetness was due to the fact that she's a Mormon, but still, I give her credit for living out her beliefs. Simon talked about "bringing her to the dark side", a challenge she welcomed, resolute in her values. He gave up after the first week of Semifinals, apparently because he realized her niceness was a big part of her charm. After her elimination she denied any conversion to the dark side.

She got a good amount of screen time in Hollywood, so I knew she was probably going to last a while. I had to put a lot of stock in her, because most of the other heavily-pimped contestants left me cold.

Her first performance was of The Turtles' "Happy Together". It wasn't great vocally, and she didn't look completely comfortable on stage, but we all knew she wasn't going anywhere based on that early screen time. Her awkward-yet-endearing run was just beginning.

Her performance the next week was of Carly Simon's "You're So Vain", and that was where she really broke out. She accompanied herself on guitar and showed that with the right material she could be really entertaining. There was also some discussion of the song possibly being directed at Simon, which made her time on stage memorable. I was liking her chances of lasting a while more and more.

For the last week of Semifinals she did an all-acoustic version of Pat Benatar's "Love is a Battlefield". By this point she was a lock for the Top 12, so her merely solid performance was enough to allow her to coast on through.

In the Top 12 she had one of her more memorable performances when she played the piano and sang The Beatles' "Let it Be". Brooke has said that it was her favorite performance, and she further established her incredibly emotional persona with her tears at the end. While it wasn't one of my favorites at first, I've grown to appreciate it more over time.

The Top 11 was a turning point for Brooke in the competition, because I think it was the beginning of the end for her. She sang "Here Comes the Sun" in a bright yellow dress and drifted across the stage uneasily. When the judges gave her feedback she kept talking to them and repeatedly saying "It's OK". Truth be told, I hadn't thought much of her talking to the judges until people all over the internet started commenting on how annoying it was. While I didn't think it was her best performance, I still found it enjoyable in a weird sort of way.

Brooke's song choice for the Top 10 was The Police's "Every Breath You Take", where she once again played the piano. Most people seemed to think it was boring and didn't like the arrangement, but I thought it was nice. I really liked her vocals on it. She had to restart after missing the first note. It was relatively minor, but it turned into a big deal. After being shown messing up and having to restart in Hollywood she gained a reputation for not holding her performances together very well.

The Top 9 was where the first signs of trouble became evident. Brooke went first and sang Dolly Parton's "Jolene". Though I hadn't thought about it at the time, several people commented on the inappropriateness of her smiling during a song about a woman who's scared of losing her man. While it was a bit lackluster for me, I didn't think it was awful. Unfortunately, it earned Brooke her first trip to the Bottom 3, where she was the first one sent back to safety.

Brooke finally got the pimp spot for the Top 8, where she sang Carole King's "You've Got a Friend". She seemed pretty nervous the entire time, and while it wasn't spectacular, it was pleasant and kept her safe.

The Top 7 sent Brooke to the Bottom 3 again, where she ended up being in the Bottom 2 this time. She sang Mariah Carey's "Hero", and considering her lack of a huge voice, I thought she made the most of it with what she had. By being in the Bottom 2 though, I knew that she likely wasn't going to make it as far as I'd expected earlier. I'd envisioned her as the runner up, but by then the two Davids seemed destined to be the Top 2.

In the Top 6 Brooke contributed a first to "American Idol" history. After starting her song ("You Must Love Me" from Evita) she forgot the words, stopped, and asked the band to restart. After that mishap the rest of her performance seemed uncomfortable, and most people (including me) thought she was going home. The next night though, she was declared to be safe, and media favorite Carly Smithson was sent packing. It was probably the best moment of the season.

In the Top 5 Brooke got to sing two songs. She did an awesome fun version of The Monkees' "I'm a Believer" which everyone on earth but me thought was unbearably cheesy. Her second song was Neil Diamond's "I Am...I Said", where she showed more confidence and was generally well-received by the judges. Unfortunately, the sympathy vote that got her through the previous week went to Jason Castro, and she was finally eliminated.

As the last remaining contestant whose music and personality made me want to support her, Brooke's elimination was sort of the end of the season for me. I'll still watch the last three weeks, but the magic she brought will be gone. I can only hope that next year we'll have a more interesting bunch to vote for and end up with a good Idol.

Was Brooke incredibly original? No. Was she always the most exciting performer? No. Did she always brighten my day? Yes. She had a charm I found irresistable. Simply put, Brooke White represents the type of woman I've always wanted to marry but have always had trouble finding. I'm just glad that she was able to last as long as she did. She saved this season from being completely depressing after the Top 10.