After last week’s elimination round, the Top Six American Idol contestants picked up from where they had let off. Musical compositions by Andrew Lloyd Webber, was the theme for last night’s performances. The strengths and weaknesses of the contestants came out with their performances of the legendary composer’s songs. Before the performances began, Randy Jackson said, “Simon Cowell and I were saying last week that this is probably going to be the toughest night of the season. These are tough songs."

Here is a recap of individual performances by the top six contestants:

1. Syesha Mercado: She chose to sing ‘One Rock & Roll Too Many’ from ‘Startlight Express’ to which Mr. Webber had commented that, “I think she kind of will bring the house down.” Her performance was so incredible that all three judges finally landed on the same decision about Syesha. Simon said, “Syesha that was very sexy. The whole kind of Michelle Pfeiffer riding the piano. I actually agree with Randy. I thought this was one of your strongest performances so far. I thought you showed lots of personality, which we hadn’t seen before. I don’t know if you’re going to take this as a compliment or not, but Randy’s right, you definitely are more comfortable in this area.”
2. Jason Castro: Performed ‘Memory’ from the hit Broadway musical ‘Cats’. Andrew Webber said, “I think Jason’s made a very brave choice in taking this song, and I’m not sure I would have done it.”  Although Jason gave his best to the song, still his performance failed to impress the judges. Rand Jackson said, “I do like one factor. I thought musically — vocally — for me, it was a little bit of a train wreck. But I do like the fact you with the dreads singing that kind of song. It’s just not the kind of song for you. It’s just not your thing. I could see you singing a Jack Johnson song with a guitar, but this is too much melody for me, for you. It’s too big of a song."
3. Brooke White: Chose ‘You Must Love Me’ from the musical ‘Evita’ for last night’s performance. Brooke didn’t have luck on her side and even her performance failed miserably. Firstly she forgot the lyrics as soon as the song started and she just couldn’t keep up with the melody of the song. Paula Abdul said, “Umm, You must never start and stop. Having said that, this is the biggest show and the biggest platform. No matter what, you’re strong enough and you’re great enough as an artist to pick up the pieces. What I did love about this performance Brooke is you didn’t over-act. You just were you and you did sing the song. Anything that became part and parcel or broken a little bit vocally was an emotional strength of yours."
4. David Archuleta: The 17 year old American Idol contestant gave an exceptional performance when he chose to sing ‘Think of Me’ from the ever popular ‘Phantom of the Opera’. Randy Jackson said, “What is really cool is you’re exactly what this show is about — if you can sing, you can sing anything. I knew this would be a big night for you. You even put your own personality into it with the little Stevie Wonder riffs here and there. Dude, it was the bomb! This boy’s the one to beat!"  
5. Carly Smithson: Sang ‘Superstar’ from the famed musical ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’. The performance got some subtle reactions from the judges. Paula said, “I love so much that it was so unexpected. I thought at first it might be too high of a range for you, but I love what you did in the chorus." Simon finally cut some slack to Carly and said, “Other than the fact that it got a little bit shouty in the middle, it was actually one of my favorite performances of the night."
6. David Cook: He chose to sing ‘Music of the Night’ from ‘Phantom of the Opera’. David gave a stellar performance with this song and was able to get great comments from all the judges. Randy said, “I said it before, I’ll say it again — in fact, I said it earlier tonight — if you can really sing, you can sing anything. Dude, that was an amazing vocal performance. Unbelievable! Another molten hot lava ball tonight right there!" Simon to Randy’s comments stating, “David I think you made the most of the song. This is not the side of you I like. I much prefer the grittier, more raw side. It was too rounded off, but you made the most of the song you were given."

Gerry Grant

Reporter
My Entertainment News

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This entry was posted on Thursday, April 24th, 2008 at 3:32 am and is filed under American Idol. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.