Reality Roll Call

By Deb Porter-Jones 

Tonight’s show features the music of Broadway legend Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber.  Sir Andrew has created beautiful music with lyricist Tim Rice for some of Broadway’s most memorable tunes from shows such as “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, “Evita”, and “Cats!”

Syesha Mercado sang “One Rockin’ Road Too Many” and she did a wonderful job with this song!  She was animated and full of personality, something that, strangely enough, most of her songs were pretty devoid of in the past.  It’s not surprising that she did so well, however, when you consider that her background is in the theater and acting. All the judges absolutely loved her performance and thought it was her best yet.  I give her a well-deserved A+.

Jason Castro is up next and he opts to perform “Memories”, a song from the play “Cats!” What’s interesting is that in the play this song is sung by a female cat and Sir Andrew proceeded to give Jason pointers on what the play is about, how he should sing it, what the scene is about where the song is sung, etc.  Sir Andrew felt that Jason would not take any of his pointers, and thought he was an unlikely person to sing this song; a young guy with dreadlocks. In the play the song is sung by a female balladeer that’s actually a cat.  Interesting choice for Jason, and his performance was interesting as well.  Not good, just interesting.  I think this performance will be Jason’s downfall.  He was clearly scared to death to sing this song and it was painfully obvious, even to the judges.  He sang in his usual breathy way and no one liked it.  Randy thought it was a “train wreck”, Paula thought it was brave for him to sing a song that was penned for a female balladeer (didn’t say she liked it, just that it was brave) and Simon said he appeared miserable and it was obvious he couldn’t wait until the song was over.  I agree.  I give him a C.

Brooke White is up next and she chooses “You Must Love Me”,  from the movie “Evita”.  Sir Andrew thought at first she didn’t have a clue what the song or the scene was about.  After he gave her some background on the song, the story and the scene, he felt that she may be a natural actress and could be quite good if she kept up the emotion.  Well, she did it again, folks.  Brooke started the song, and a few words into the performance, she faltered, and started again. It was painful to watch but, truthfully, you couldn’t tell if she meant for that vulnerability and feeling to come through, or if she was truly feeling that away because of her gaffe.  I think she did a pretty good job considering she forgot the words and appeared to be scared to death the entire time.  I like Brooke, but I wonder if she’s actually done it this time.  Randy thought she did a good job taking the advice of Sir Andrew regarding the emotion of the song, Paula said “you must never start and stop” but she did a good job picking up the pieces.  Simon thought she would be disappointed when she watched the tape.  I think so, too.  But hopefully, she’ll get another chance.  I give her a B.

David Archuleta chooses to sing “Think of Me”, from “Phantom of the Opera, ” a song that Sir Andrew composed for a woman, specifically a diva.  His biggest advice was for David was to sing the song with his eyes open.  David sang this song with only a guitar and some strings in the background.  It was a pretty good performance, although in my opinion, it was a bit bland. Randy thought David is now “the one to beat”, Paula thought he turned the song into a pop ballad and was really good, Simon thought it was a “bit forgettable”.  I’m sorry, but I agree with Simon; we may not remember this song tomorrow.  He gets a B.

Carly Smithson started to sing “All I Ask of You” and Sir Andrew said it was absolutely the wrong song for a “girl with a big voice in her chest”.  He suggested “Jesus Christ Superstar”.  Carly did a phenomenal job with this song!  Her big voice was perfect for this song; Sir Andrew definitely knew what he was talking about.  Paula gave her a standing ovation and the judges loved her performance!  Randy didn’t know if it was her best performance but it was definitely good.  Paula loved what she did with the chorus and Simon said it was his “favorite performance of the night.”  I agree, next to Syesha Mercado, she was excellent.  I give her a well-deserved A+.

David Cook is up next and sings “Music of the Night”.  Sir Andrew thinks this is the most sensual song he’s ever written.  He has to imagine he’s singing to a gorgeous young woman and he may be okay.  I think it was his weakest performance of the competition and I think he chose the wrong song this time.  It’s a very Broadway type of song, but I don’t think it was the right one for David.  However, Randy thought it “was molten hot”, Paula thought it was fantastic.  Simon thought he made the most of the song he was given, this is not the side of him that Simon likes, he prefers the grittier, more raw side of David (so do I).  But he did what he could with it.  I give him a B.

I think the ones to beat are Syesha and Carly.    They clearly took to the Broadway genre a bit easier than most of the others.  We’ll see what tomorrow night brings!