American Idol Final 4 Castro Implodes

The American Idol Tour may be coming to a city near you so if you’re interested in seeing the Top 9 Wannabes and the 7th American Idol, tickets go on sale May 17.

This week was Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Week and I was shocked at how bad it was. I didn’t start writing about Idol until it was down to the Top 10 because I figured that it would be interesting to chronicle the rise of these performers rather than the wackiness of tryouts but I am bored silly.

This will be short because the show just wasn’t very good. Jason Castro was horrible again, Syesha Mercado was good but not as good as many of the ladies from past seasons, David Cook seemed distracted and lacked intensity and David Archuleta was the best, which is a clear indicator that the show has lost at least a step.

Several weeks ago Simon said that the contestants were boring and lacked personality. Their song choices clearly reflect that and I think that is the reason for the ratings slide.

What is Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Week anyway? Ryan Seacrest didn’t give much of an explanation so we really don’t know what pool of songs the Idol Wannabes had to choose from; was it songs written by inductees, performed by inductees or the Hall’s 500 most influential songs that he mentioned? We just don’t know.

When song choice is everything being clear about the song pool is critical.

David Cook “Hungry Like the Wolf” Duran Duran 1982 & “Baba O’Reilly” The Who 1971
David Cook looked kind of bored during his first song and honestly the lights were more exciting than him but with this luke warm final four it was probably good enough to keep him around but certainly not up to his usual standard.

Cook’s second song was much better and I would have liked to hear more but he still seemed a bit detached or distracted. Unless he’s blindsided by a “Daughtry” he should stick around for the finals.


Syesha Mercado “Proud Mary” & “A Change Is Gonna Come” Sam Cooke 1965
Syesha Mercado’s first song included a sultry opening, full Tina Turner choreography and a shimmery gold dress (that didn’t hang very well). It was a good performance but a little too close to Tina Turner’s version without her unique performing ability for my taste.

Thinking back to Melinda Doolittle and Lakisha Jones both would have knocked this girl out but given the strength of this final four Syesha should be back.

Her second song “A Change Is Gonna Come” started with a big note and finished with another. It was a great performance and Syesha showed that can be Broadway and more.


Jason Castro “I Shot the Sheriff” Bob Marley & The Wailers & Bob Dylan “Mr. Tambourine Man”
Jason Castro seemed baked in his interview when talking about Bob Marley and offered a completely whack performance of the Marley classic "I Shot the Sheriff". The arrangement was strange and it just came off like over inflated karaoke.

His second song was even worse. His only accompaniment was the acoustic guitar he played and my immediate reaction was “Oh my god, total implosion!” when he began humming because he forgot the words. We're down to the final four out of more than 50,000 people and this fool forgot the words.

And Hey Mr. Tambourine Man play a song for me, cause I can’t remember the words and two songs are just too much for me…

Paula’s “It is what it is” comment was utterly astute but Simon Cowell’s “Jason, I’d pack your suitcase.” comment captured my hopes and dreams to a T.


David Archuleta “Stand By Me” Ben E. King 1960 & “Love Me Tender” Elvis Presley
In his interview Archuleta said that he sings “Stand By Me” in his room to himself. *weirdo* Does this kid not have any friends?

His vocal was very clean and but he looked scared when he sang “All you beautiful girls, stand by me” and the line seemed like a farce; otherwise it was a very strong performance.

He didn’t know Elvis’ “Love Me Tender” but he wanted to sing a ballad. It was a solid performance and Archuleta was definitely the best this week.

I like David Cook and Syesha Mercado but this group just isn’t as exciting as past contenders and I’m finding it challenging to not fast forward through everything but the songs (ok even some of the songs too) and even more difficult to think of something intelligent to say about each of the remaining Wannabes.

It’s supposed to be getting better not worse but I guess that’s why the ratings are slipping.

Paula’s gaff last week was the most exciting thing to happen on Idol in weeks and there is no way they’ll replace her; she’s drama, comic relief and the Wannabe’s biggest cheerleader (pun intended).

People, PLEASE! A little more excitement or at least better song choices!

Results tomorrow and if Castro doesn’t go home the American public will lose all credibility.

Anne