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It’s time to see what the Top Nine can do with the first mentor of the season, Dolly Parton.
Ha ha. April Fool’s joke by Ryan. I wasn’t buying it for a second. Though seeing Simon Cowell on “The Moment of Truth” might be interesting.
Dolly is one of my favorite country artists and is incredibly sweet in person. I met her a few times back in my Nashville days.
Brooke White is up first with “Jolene.” She’s using a sparse arrangement with a drumbox, fiddle, her guitar and a backup singer. Love it. She’s incredibly talented and lovely. Randy thought it was just “alright.” Paula thought it was great. Simon thought it completely lacked emotion. I totally disagree with Simon, which doesn’t happen that often.
The fact of the matter is that Simon has never once given positive criticism to any performer doing a country song. He doesn’t get the style at all. Tonight should be fairly tortuous for him.
David Cook is up next. He’s addressing the arrangement question, and stating for sure that he covered OTHER covers. Like we were all confused. He’s performing “Little Sparrow.” His hair looks 100% better tonight. He usually looks like he has a bad comb over. He’s done his own arrangement of this song, and I have to say it was pretty cool. Not balls-out rock, but intense and brooding. He’s got a great falsetto. Randy and Paula both loved it. Simon didn’t think it was as good as last week, but gave him points for making a “song about a sparrow good.”
Ramiele Malubay is on deck. “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind” is the song she’s picked. Her pitch is all over the place. It seems like she’s bouncing too much to keep her breath and support. Her pitch keeps wavering sharp and flat, which means it a combination of terrible breath support and nerves. And that she’s a sucky singer. Randy called it 6.5 stars of out 10. Simon called it “forgettable.” No one mentioned her shitty pitch.
Jason Castro picked “Travelin’ Through.” Dolly called him “funky looking.” I love this song despite the Jesus-speak, and I think it’s perfect for Jason’s style. He’s got such a sweet personality and persona on stage. Randy thought it was good. Paula thought it was one of his best performances. Simon hated it. He “didn’t get it.”
Carly Smithson picked “Here You Come Again.” The song wasn’t written by Dolly; it was Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann. Dolly basically said that Carly sings it better than she did. Carly has slowed the arrangement down and made the song just heart wrenching. It was phenomenal. Paula was really the only judge that loved it as much I did. Simon criticized everything about the performance, including her choice of clothing. He’s really in a mood tonight.
David Archuleta chose “Smoky Mountain Memories.” I’m annoyed by the amount of reverb the engineer has put on David’s microphone tonight. It sounds like he’s singing from the back of a cave. I’m just not as blown away by David as everyone else. He is a good singer, but I just think he’s far too young to know what he’s doing. The judges unanimously called it the best of the night.
Kristy Lee Cook is performing “Coat of Many Colors.” If Kristy is going to have a good week (?) it should be this week. It wasn’t bad. I didn’t notice too much by way of pitch or inflection problems. That being said, I still want her to go home soon. Randy and Paula thought it was her best performance. Simon didn’t agree. He thought it was “pleasant but forgettable.”
Syesha Mercado has predictably picked “I Will Always Love You.” Dolly liked her arrangement. I absolutely hated every second of this. I hate the arrangement. I hate her tone. I hate the way she looks. It was awful. Randy and Paula loved it. Simon thought it was “good, but not fantastic” version of the song.
Michael Johns is closing the show with “It’s All Wrong, But It’s All Right.” He’s doing an interesting lead guitar/grand piano bluesy arrangement. This is my favorite performance of his so far. It was very cool and reminiscent of Joe Cocker or Ray Charles. This is one of the first performances of his that makes me think he could have a successful career post-Idol. Unfortunately, I don’t know what the judges thought, because the show ran late and my Tivo cut it off. I’m guessing they loved it as much as I did. Except Simon, who couldn’t get into anything tonight.
Here’s the recap:
Safe:
David Cook
Carly Smithson
Jason Castro
Brooke White
Michael Johns
Danger Danger:
David Archuleta
Syesha Mercado
Kristy Lee Cook
Bye Bye:
Ramiele Malubay
