Reality Roll Call

by Deb Porter-Jones

This is the week that David Cook fans have been waiting for. The week that David proves he’s the American Idol. I don’t mean to diss the other contestants, but I’ve felt for some time that Cook is a cut above the others. They’re all talented individuals, but for this competition, David Cook is, in my eyes, the only clear winner.

This week the contestants will be performing songs from the rock and roll era. David Cook is up first and sings “Hungry Like The Wolf” by eighties new wave band Duran Duran. Surprisingly enough, he doesn’t do any of his trademark re-working of the song and it sounds pretty much the way Duran Duran would sing it. Just okay. Randy and Simon agree that it was a little underwhelming considering the originality that he’s brought to most other songs he’s performed in the past. And of course, Paula thinks he’s wonderful. I give him a B.

Next up is Syesha Mercado whose first song is “Proud Mary” by Tina Turner. A tall order for Syesha, but then she’s used to being daring and singing the selections of iconic performers. She actually did just okay with this song. Again, she knows that when she tries these classic songs by legendary performers, she’ll be judged against them. She’s no Tina Turner but in my opinion she did just okay with this song. She gave a rather half-hearted, unsure attempt at Tina’s rockin’ choreography. It reminded me of a poor man’s Tina or Beyonce. Both Randy and Paula raved over her, but Simon had the same opinion that I had. He thought it was a “bad, shrieky impersonation of Tina Turner”. I agree. I give her a C.

Next up we have Jason Castro. I wonder if he put down the blunt long enough to properly prepare for rock and roll week. Nevertheless, he attempts to sing a song by Bob Marley; “I Shot the Sheriff”. Did he pull it off? I know he attempted to channel the spirit of Bob Marley. I would hope the whole flower child, folk song-y peace and love persona made it easier for him. In actuality, the performance was so bland and dull, I lost interest halfway through. Randy agreed and thought it was not good at all for him. Paula managed to find something nice to say about his connection to the crowd, but half-heartedly admitted that it was not good. Simon was the only one who told the truth, saying that his performance it was “utterly atrocious” asking Jason what he was thinking. Simon went on and on and Ryan Seacrest, in an attempt to stop the carnage, encouraged Paula to say something positive “for the next song”, to which Paula replies “Jason, you’re good.” Wow. He’s not. I give him a C.

Lastly, we have David Archuleta whose first song choice is Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” a favorite of his. David, predictably, does pretty well with this song and changes it up a bit. He definitely kicks it up a notch with this performance, I think he’s actually trying to win this thing. Of course, Randy agrees “he brought the hot, mad vocals”. Paula agrees that he’s becoming a “seasoned” performer already. Simon says he “could’ve whistled the song and it would’ve been better than the last song” (performed by Jason Castro). Simon also said it was the best performance so far. He’s right. I give him an A.

On to the contestants’ second song choices. First up is David Cook, again and this time he chooses, “Baba O’Riley” by The Who. Now I must admit, this is one song I’m not familiar with so I can’t be comparing his performance to the original. But I think he did a great job with this song. He also played guitar while her sang and he was hot, as usual. Randy agrees, Paula agrees and Simon said “welcome back, David Cook.”

Syesha’s second song choice is “A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cook. I must admit, I’m not sure Syesha hasn’t over-extended herself this time. This song is a classic from the Civil Rights Era written by one of the most-loved soul singers of all time. I personally don’t think Syesha is good enough to pull this one off. And I don’t think she did. She belted out the last couple lyrics, but I wasn’t impressed. I don’t think Syesha has the depth yet to be able to pull this type of emotional song off. And, sadly, Randy agreed. He said he didn’t like the vocals, didn’t like the instrumentals, nothing. By the time he got done, poor Syesha was in tears while she was explaining how important the song was to her because of its significance in the Civil Rights Movement. Paula and Simon both absolutely disagreed and said, with this performance, she was changing. And of course Randy felt like crap because he made this pretty girl cry. But I gotta agree with Randy, she’s not ready yet to sing a song that big, and sing it well. I give her a B.

Jason’s second song of the evening is “Mr. Tambourine Man” by Bob Dylan, which is seemingly a good choice for our folksy Jason. And almost immediately, Jason hums through a line that he’s obviously forgotten the words to. Then he finishes to turn in another hum-drum performance. He SO does NOT belong here! Maybe American will get a clue and put him out of his misery tonight so we don’t have to sit through another mediocre, karaoke performance next week. Randy said he wasn’t “in the zone.” Paula said some meaningless words meant to boost his obviously faltering self-esteem but Simon just spoke the truth, “Jason, I’d pack your suitcase.” I sure hope Simon’s right; this is torture. Jason’s got to be wondering why he’s hung in there so long. We’ll see tomorrow. I give him a well-deserved D+.

David Archuleta’s second song choice is “Love Me Tender” by Elvis Presley. I don’t know if he’s overstepped his bounds with this one, but we’ll see. Actually, David’s performance is rather sweet and heartfelt. A little pitchy in the end, but very sweet. No Elvis, but he was really good. Randy thought he had “the hot vocals of the night.” Paula thought it was very beautiful and Simon he “crushed the competition” tonight. Personally, I didn’t think it was quite that phenomenal, but I think the Boy Wonder easily impresses because of his age, especially next to Jason Castro.

I think tonight David Archuleta stole the show handily. The only one who even came close was David Cook. I think those two are the ones to beat. We’ll see tomorrow.