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“American Idol”: Letting it be on Beatles night

Last night on American Idol, the new set was unveiled to mark the beginning of this year’s finals. Ryan Seacrest made a big to-do about it, and the cameras swooped around the stage to show off all the changes. I, for one, didn’t see that much difference, but I do like that the band is now on a balcony above the stage. That was cool.

When they finally got to the singing part of the show (remember that?), they revealed that the tunes for the evening would be those of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Apparently, the Idol producers decided it was a good idea to butcher songs by the greatest songwriters of all time, rather than the usual mediocre ones. I love the Beatles, and I figured out early that the performances would take on one of two forms: phenomenal or disastrous. Those are the only options for songs of this caliber.

Boy, was I dead on. I am sorry to report that on the aforementioned scale, the ladies were more frequently found on the “disastrous” end of things. Particularly Kristy Lee Cook, singing “8 Days a Week.” I believe this may have been one of the worst performances on Idol, ever (and I’m a country music fan!). Check out the fiasco

performance for yourself.

Yuck. On the other hand, two of my favorite contenders were absolutely fantastic. Carly Smithson, everyone’s favorite Irish “amateur,” sang “Come Together.” In her pre-performance interview, Carly revealed that the song was very familiar to her; she sings it almost every time she performs.

I’m so glad to finally see a “breakout” performance from her after all the hype. I find myself not wanting to like her each time she comes on stage, yet she continually changes my mind. Good for you, Carly.

But, as much as I liked Carly, my favorite performer (for the third week in a row!) was Brooke White. This girl has some major talent. At the beginning of the show, I thought (and hoped) that no one would have the audacity to try to sing “Let It Be” or “Yesterday,” so I let out an audible groan when I heard Brooke say she would be singing “Let It Be.” After seeing her incredibly heartfelt (I feel like Paula now) rendition, though, I am happily eating crow.

That girl has some major talent. And she’s gorgeous.

Most of the other women’s performances weren’t particularly noteworthy, and I think (in addition to Kristy Lee) they are all at risk of elimination. I know some of you are fans of Amanda Overmeyer, but I admit that I haven’t been able to really get behind her voice. I respect her originality and her style, but she still seems incredibly out of place on this show. My other two favorites from last night were David Cook, singing “Eleanor Rigby” and Michael Johns singing “Across the Universe” (which sounded very much like Rufus Wainwright‘s version). I am including entirely too many men, aren’t I?

My highly unimportant opinion is that either Kristy Lee or Syesha Mercado will go home tonight. Your thoughts?

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