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The top three battle it out on "Idol"It’s do-or-die time on American Idol, and I can happily say that Syesha Mercado is still alive and kicking. While most Idol “experts” (and even some judges) will tell you that the finals should come down to a battle of the two Davids, I’ve been hoping for a small miracle that would allow Syesha to strut her stuff into the finals. Last night she may have gotten her opportunity. The show was split up into three pseudo-rounds: In the first round, songs were chosen by a judge, in the second the contestants chose their own songs, and lastly the producers made selections.
For boy-wonder David Archuleta, the evening resulted in mixed reviews. Paula Abdul chose “And So It Goes” by Billy Joel for his first song, and Randy Jackson said he was completely “in the zone.”
David’s personal choice was possibly the most interesting of the season, singing “With You” by Chris Brown. Though it’s definitely the first time he’s tackled something that’s even remotely targeted towards his age bracket, it didn’t necessarily make it a good decision. Simon Cowell’s assessment of the situation (like a chihuahua acting like a tiger) was right on the money. Lastly, the judges had him sing “Longer” by Dan Fogelberg. Bor-ing. David numero dos (David Cook, for any Idol neophytes out there) was given the task of tackling Roberta Flack’s “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” My first thought was, “What the F?” But, alas, I begrudgingly admit that the talents of Mr. Cook and the musical prowess of Mr. Cowell did, indeed, prevail. It was an awesome, awesome performance.
His last two songs were very widely recognizable songs — “Dare You to Move” by Switchfoot and “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith, respectively — and while they were both solid, they weren’t nearly as inspired as his first of the night. The Aerosmith song did provide a different texture to his voice that I don’t remember hearing from him before. It was nice. He is a shoo-in for the top two. Syesha, on the other hand, needed a bit of a boost to have a shot, and Randy tried to give it to her by selecting “If I Ain’t Got You” by Alicia Keys. When she found out, Syesha was visibly excited to be singing some Keys.
The judges and I were all in agreement that Syesha sang the song perfectly, and they stole words out of my mouth during their critiques as well:
Yeah, Simon couldn’t even complete his thought without getting that out. For herself, Syesha chose “Fever” by Peggy Lee and gave a very sexy performance, complete with a prop chair and a short dress. The judges weren’t too crazy about her song choice, but who cares? (OK, so at this point I’m just being shallow, but do any of you really mind? I didn’t think so.) Lastly, the producers chose Gia Farrell’s “Hit Me Up” from Happy Feet, which really actually angers me. That song was very obviously not the type of song Syesha has done well on, and while the two boys were spoon-fed songs that my hamster could have chosen for them, she got this random song from a cartoon soundtrack. Now, I’m not hating on the song — I quite like it — but they had to have known she wouldn’t be able to provide the type of performance needed to surpass the Davids with that. I have tried so hard to avoid writing about “conspiracies” and things being rigged on Idol and whatnot because, frankly, there is enough of that silly chatter around the net to make my eyes cross. But this, well, this is a travesty. Cook, without even a blink, should be in the finals. Will the other — to my surprise and delight — be Syesha? Goodness, I hope so. Submitted by on May 14, 2008 - 11:00am. |
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For sure there is a conspiracy
There is no way that producers could've thought for a second that song would've been good for her, which is a shame. Either way, I voted for her and only her. She has done so well these past few weeks and she deserves the top 2 more than boring, balad singing David A.
David Cook will most definetely be in the top 2, although he's never been my favorite. I thought he did no justice to "Dare You to Move," but nevertheless, I can't deny he is a good singer.
Here's to Syesha for the win!
Hmmm. A mass conspiracy
Hmmm. A mass conspiracy behind AI? Who would have thought?
For the amount of money that's put into this show, no one should be surprised to suspect (or find out) that the producers toss their weight around regarding the results. Sure. I enjoy the show now and again, but the fact that no results are ever released (and now this suck-tastic song choice for Syesha) have me firmly believing that the producers are really just delivering their hand-picked winners (the contestant with the most commercial potential) to the audience. The auditions? That's about singing ability. The competition itself? Geared towards finding out and then grooming the person most likely to earn them a lot of money in the next five or so years.
Is there something wrong with this? Not really. But let's call a spade a spade, hey AI? Stop pretending that you're doing anything other than guaranteeing the biggest payoff for your investors.
All It Is Right Now...
Man, Syesha OWNED that song.
Man, Syesha OWNED that song. She sang that song better than Alicia did! I was not that moved by David Cook's performance, it was only ok for me--I didn't get chills like I did for hers. BUT i'm a big dyke so that chills from a dude don't happen that often...
Syesha v. David Cook finale....please?
American Idol
I voted for both Syesha and David Cook. Instead of voting only through text messaging, I decided to call as well this time and I never got a busy signal voting for Syesha -- But I did for David Cook. I really hope that isn't a precursor of what's to come.
I can't stand David Archuletta.
Aww man!
I have to throw in my two cents' worth for David A. In no way do I enjoy his song choices, but he makes it all look so effortless. He comes across as pretty modest, slightly nervous (which is cute), and I kind of have to admire his guts for choosing such insanely cheesy music. It takes courage to choose the kind of shit you'd hear on Delilah, know what I mean? Especially when you're a 17 year old
gayguy.My vibe is that David C will win, because he clearly has this massive fan base. But c'mon, the guy is such a poseur! The hair, the scruffy beard, his lame-ass guitar "playing"... his vocals are OK, and just OK. His range is average.
Syesha has great pipes, but she's flat a lot of the time. Just a teeeeensy bit off. Last night, I was watching her do that last number (the one where they compared her to Rihanna) and there's just this little something... missing. She sings well, but I don't get the impression she totally 'feels' her music. She needs to love what she's doing more than she appears to. It's subtle, I don't know how to explain it better than that.
Archuleta's song choices suck, but he feels his music 110%, IMHO.
We'll see. My money'd be on David Cook... But he's my least fave of the three. Oh well.
Paradise is exactly like where you are right now... only much, much better. ~Laurie Anderson
Idol top 3
Of course, the results are influenced. First suspicion of this was when Rueben won instead of gay effeminate Clay. Every year I complain the show is rigged and every year I watch. I always have a handful of favorites each year. This year it was Cook and Carly. I was hoping that would be the final two because then it would be a win-win, however, that was never even a blip on the producers radar. I would like to see Archuleta go home tonight. I don't know, Cook gave me goose bumps last night with his first song. I loved it. I like him more than I like Daughtry.
Oh man - anybody checking out the results show? Fantasia's performance. One word - HOT! OMG! It was awesome! WOW! Now that is what is lacking this year for sure, energy, passion, personality! Age aside, Ms. Sparks had more personality than most of the top 12 this year and she was 17. Oh well - Cook FTW!!!We all know it's rigged.
We all know it's rigged. Let's be real here.
That last song was pure sabotage, and everyone knew it. Syesha. I love you even if you just never could get a break. You were my absolute favorite, but I just knew it wasn't going to happen.
I didn't even know Cook was just at the auditions initally for moral support for his bro. I bet the brother feels real nice about the whole thing. God, I just hate him. I'm sorry I keep saying it.
Ho Hum
This is the first year I am not thrilled with any of the contestants. Probably the one I enjoyed the most was Carly.
David C may be talented but for some reason I just cannot stand him. David A for all his talent is kind of creepy in some ways to me. I think Syesha has become more likeable to me in the last few episodes. No doubt she has talent and I think she will wind up with some music deal in the end.
Winning Idol is not necessarily the most important thing. Point in fact...Jennifer Hudson. Can we say Oscar and Golden Globe???
Hmmz
I must say Syesha's performance was a pleasant surprise: she has matured rapidly and improved enormously.
It still puzzles me as to who are the people that chose the contestants' last song. Ryan called them "our producers" and then the judges ended up criticizing Syesha as if it was her song choice. It annoyed me deeply.
Anyhow, Syesha put up a good fight and I hope she'll have a good path ahead :D
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"All my possessions for a moment in time"
[Elizabeth I]