Reality Roll Call

by Deb Porter-Jones

This is the second to the last performance show for this season and the competition is really heating up. Tonight’s show has the last three contestants competing by singing three songs each: One song chosen by one of the judges, Randy, Paula or Simon, one song chosen by the producers, and the last song to be chosen by the contestants themselves.

For David Archuleta, Paula Abdul chooses a song by Billy Joel: “And So It Goes”, a slow, pretty song full of melancholy stringed instruments. David did surprisingly well with this song. It required extreme control over his breathing and David did really well with it. Paula and Randy loved it. Simon thought it was, “very good, a bit predictable; not outstanding, but really good”. In my opinion, it wasn’t fabulous, but he did a good job. I give him a B.

by Deb Porter-Jones

Tonight’s elimination show may prove to be as surprising as every other elimination show in the last few weeks. The show begins with a tribute medley to the music of last night’s mentor, singer-songwriter Neil Diamond. The medley was exceptionally cheesy and karaoke, to borrow a phrase from Simon, but it’s really appropriate here! Really bad medley; Jason Castro appeared to be reading the words from a teleprompter and everyone just looked uncomfortable with the dance steps and the words. Really cheesy performance; I can only hope the Idol Tour won’t be as bad.

Anyway, on to the eliminations. We discover early on that Jason Castro and David Archuleta are safe. Wonder of all wonders – not about Archuleta; rather that Castro has made it through another week. Like I said last week, none of the eliminations have made sense to me since Amanda Overmyer, but who am I?

by Deb Porter-Jones

Tonight’s show features the song stylings of the musical singer-songwriting legend, Neil Diamond. He’s also written such iconic hits as “I’m a Believer” sung by the Monkees, “Solitary Man” and Sweet Caroline”. Diamond is probably most well known for penning the music performed in the film in which he also starred, “The Jazz Singer”. This man is truly a legend and our young contestants are truly blessed to have the opportunity to be in the presence of and learn from this superstar.

Our contestants are to sing two of Neil Diamond’s songs and then face a bit of nerve-wracking critique from the judges.

Jason Castro is up first and he performs “Forever in Blue Jeans” and “September Morn”. In the former, he plays guitar and sings rather well. Jason’s a really laid-back fellow so obviously you believe that he’d rather be “Forever in Blue Jeans”. That’s a no-brainer and he did a great job. I give him a B.

Tonight our six finalists will discover who ends up in the bottom two this week, and which one will eventually go home.  After last night’s performances of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Broadway classics from the likes of Evita and Phantom of the Opera, there should be a few predictable performances slated to be on the chopping block.  Namely, Brooke White, who stopped and started for the second time last night, followed by a very under-whelming performance, and Jason Castro, who whispered his way through yet another performance.  He’s been mediocre at best for the last month or so.  But everyone else, honestly, was pretty good.  The Davids, Archuleta and Cook, did very well, respectively. Syesha and Carly were both phenomenal.  So, we’ll see.

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+.

Tonight’s show includes more footage from various stars’ visits to Africa last year.  We begin with Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker, best known for his phenomenal portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.  Whitaker is joined by his wife, Keisha, in Rwanda where they visited the family of a man who was blinded by a land mine.  This man lives as a beggar on the streets of Rwanda, and is assisted by his 6-year-old son as they walk through the streets begging for coins on a daily basis to pay for food to feed the family.  Whitaker and his wife were invited into the home of this man and his family, three children in all, who sleep in a hut on a dirty mattress.  Whitaker and his wife also visited an orphanage where not enough children are taken in, children who have been orphaned by the ravages of HIV/AIDS.  The people who run the orphanage are angels who have made it their life’s work to make a difference in the lives of children who would have ended up lost.  Idol fans were again encouraged to donate in an effort to also make a difference in the lives of people who are in such great need.

by Deb Porter-Jones

Tonight’s focus is “inspirational themes” and Michael Johns is up first!

His is an inspirational story in that he is from another country and has come to America in search of the American Dream. So far, it seems like he’s close to finding it. He sings “Dream On” by Aerosmith and boy, does he rock it! He even attempted a really high falsetto portion of the song; even though Randy thought he had “some pitch problems”, typical Randy critique. I think he clinched it, and so did Paula. She thought it was a perfect song; she also thought he sounded “as good as he looks”. Simon thought it was “a very good performance.” He also slightly agrees with Randy, but he thought it was a “little bit wannabe-ish,” and he thinks Michael’s really a bluesy singer, not so much a rocker. I think Michael Johns rocks no matter what genre of music he tries his hand at. Great performance. I give him an A.

By Deb Porter-Jones

Tonight American Idol has invited country music legend Dolly Parton to share some of her wisdom gained from more than four decades in the music business.  The singers will all be performing Dolly’s own country songs.

Dolly is such a warm, inspiring performer (just like Paula, right?) and she said she finds it difficult to critique other singers. She knows what it’s like to be a singer and have your performances judged – so most likely she’ll be taking it easy on our young performers.