I just got home from our convention in Cagayan de Oro. I did not get to use the Internet when I was there, but I did not miss this week's AI episode.
The theme is not really very exciting. I know very few
Neil Diamond songs from the early 80s and that is it. Predictably, a lot of the songs sung tonight were unfamiliar. Unfortunately, they get to sing two songs each that night. I wish this was done for the more current and familiar Mariah Carey catalog. The whole show was really very much rushed along by Ryan Seacrest in order to fit all 10 songs into a single hour.
Again, it was only
David Cook who was able to being some sort of excitement to these unfamiliar songs. He made them interesting to listen to. He sang
"I'm Alive" and
"All I Really Need Is You." Not perfect, but I liked both of these performances, especially the second song.
Syesha Mercado had a very good version of
"Hello Again." I would call this the best vocal of the night. Her second song '
'Thank the Lord for the Night Time'' was good and sung very strongly, but again unfamiliar.
David Archuleta was proficient as usual in
"Sweet Caroline" and
"America", but there certainly isn't anything in these performances. Boring for me, but OK.
Brooke White's "
I'm A Believer" was again very tense and awkward. Fast songs are really not her thing. She did much better in her second song
"I Am, I Said," where she played piano. The piano really makes her sing so much better.
Jason Castro seems really so listless, so much that it makes me feel like he already wants to leave. OK for
"Forever In Blue Jeans", and OK for
"September Morn" (I guessed this song for him correctly!) -- but very weak, and lifeless. He was actually my bet for elimination after watching that episode.
However we all know now that it was
Brooke White who got the boot this week. This pattern is already shaping up to be a repeat of what happened in AI5, when Taylor Hicks, Elliot Yamin, Chris Daughtry and Katharine McPhee were left after Paris Bennett was eliminated. We know that Chris Daughtry was eliminated next. Will Jason Castro be the one to leave next? Or will Syesha's unpopularity get her kicked out first, to forge an unprecendented all-male Top 3?
Side Note 1: I liked the performance of
Neil Diamond himself on results night of that new song of his entitled "
Sweet Amazing Grace". The guy still has got IT.
Side Note 2:
Paula Abdul had a very weird error on the performance night when
she commented on Jason Castro's second song ever BEFORE it was sung! How could an error of this kind happen? On results night, the audiences were reassured that Paula's job is not in danger.
