Wednesday, March 19th - American Idol - Top 11

A quick update on me. No, I wasn't hungover or in jail after a rowdy St. Patrick's Day. Well, I wasn't in jail. I was a bit hung over after the Bag Lady festivities on Monday night, and since Blanche, Romeo, and I all took Tuesday off, we met up for lunch and then some darts, which lead into a whole day of drinking and ended with Karaoke.

That is a story for another day, because I'm dealing with some drama in my apartment. The return of my ceiling tit!

I wanted to get a quick American Idol recap in though.

I find myself siding with Simon once again, when he said that it was a mistake to do another week of the Lennon/McCartney song book. I know they were excited to get access to it (hey, Michael Jackson needed the money!), but it was just overkill. Last week was exciting and surprising, but this week was pretty dull an uninspiring. There were a couple stand outs, and once in for all, Carrie Underwood, Jr., NEEDS TO GO!

Sidenotes: I don't recall them ever allowing the contestants to talk so much after their performances. Amanda Overmeyer and Carly Smithson practically recited the Gettysburg Address. Also, they were certainly drilling into our heads how long they have to sing. If I heard "a minute thirty" one more time, I was going to kick Carrie Underwood, Jr.

The Top 3

1. Carly Smithson - I know everyone thinks David Archuleta has this in the bag, but my god, she has the best voice in the entire competition. Plus, the fact that she has absolute control over that voice, really makes her probably near the top, if not the top, singer the competition has ever seen. "Blackbird" is a very tough song, with octave leaps and other technical pizazz that can kill an average vocalist. Carly was fantastic. Now, if she would only let someone else dress her.
2. Amanda Overmeyer - Okay, it was tough to find a top 3, and I can't say she had the best vocal. However, to quote Paula, she is true to herself, and for me, that was enough to vote for her multiple times. She's kind of the opposite of Carly. She's pretty much an entertainer, not a vocal stylist. The performance of "Back in the USSR" was certainly a mess, and you could almost hear the combined brainpower of the tweens across America saying, "Mom, what's the USSR?" I'm giving her props for her talk at the end of the performance, where she stated her philosophy on performing songs, and of course, she said, "Ballads Suck!" I love you, my dear. Though you're going to have to pop out a Lita Ford power ballad soon.
3. David Cook - Once again, the word nerd turned in a muscular performance with "Day Tripper", which in some ways was better than last week. It was also interesting that he brought out a vocorder. It at least keeps things interesting. I probably wouldn't mention that I got my inspiration from Whitesnake, but different strokes, folks. Anyway, I'm starting to notice that David has a bit of an ego, which is bad for him. One bad week, and he could be toast. It's time to shake up the formula, and hopefully, the theme next week will allow him.

The Meh-iddle (no order this time)

• David Archuleta - I know, I know. I'm supposed to bow down and worship this little tyke. I am on the wagon to the fact that he can sing, but it is going to take a lot more than standing in the middle of the stage and belting out ballad after ballad (BALLADS SUCK!) Also, the dude is 17, and I find it incredibly creepy that there looks like their are women who are pushing 30 in the mosh pit, screaming his name, and practically throwing their bra's at him.
• Brooke White - The curse of the stairs continue. Stay away from the stairs, fools! To me, Brooke is going to get very boring pretty quickly, and tonight was a big step into the cesspool of mediocrity. She was just awkward and kind of scary, and Simon was right. You could have turned the video off, and you would have known exactly what Brook was doing and wearing. It was just too predictable.
• Jason Castro - I've said before that I don't get his appeal...other than his dreamy eyes and face (not dreads), but this was the week where he was pretty indefensible by anyone. It was so bad, and so boring. He's lucky there are others who are much much worse.
• Syesha Mercado - She was the most improved of the week, but "Yesterday" is certainly a safe song to choose. She gave it some vocal uniqueness, but it is still the musical equivalent of singing "Happy Birthday." Nearly everyone knows that song... Let's hope this is a confidence builder week for her, because it would be nice to have another big voice.

The Bottom 3

• Chikezie - He committed the sin of trying to catch lighting in a bottle twice. He basically tried to repeat his amazing performance last week, and it just didn't work. It can't be a surprise twice, dawg. Plus, you're not Stevie Wonder. Leave the harmonica alone!
• Ramiele (sorry..not bothering to look up her last name) - The fact hat I can't really remember a thing about her performance is pretty indicative of how she has disappointed me. She really does have a good voice, but she has no clue how to use it. Let's hope she doesn't fall to the fans of Carrie Underwood, Jr. She deserves one more chance to see if she can pull it together.
  
• Kristi Lee Cook - The only compliment Kristi can take from the last two weeks is that a drag queen (Donna Rhea) did a version of her "8 Days A Week" at the Bag Lady show on Monday. This week was even worse, and I don't think a drag queen will even touch it. It just pissed me off because David Hernandez may not have been the best singer, but he was certainly a lot better than her. She needs to GO!