Real Kato Blog: American Idol 2008 Week 5: Top 11

It's the Beatles again... I guess tonight, we include Ringo and George.

Amanda "Blackheart" Overmyer: 6.2
"Back in the U.S.S.R.". She's still got that enunciation problem. And this isn't a very melodic song to begin with, but she's making in downright atonal. Definitely a step down from last week. It's energetic, but ultimately, this is still a singing competition. I give her a 5.

Kristy Lee "Jessica Simpson" Cook: 2.0
"You've Got to Hide Your Love Away". She's got the completely wrong vibe for this song. It's supposed to be bitter; she's singing it like some kind of anthem. She's devoid of personality, this is just an awful arrangement, and it's barely passable vocally. I give her a 2. I think this might be the last week for her.

David "Cheeks" Archuleta: 4.6
"The Long and Winding Road". It's a good song choice, if he can pull it off. A couple of pitchy notes to start, but he gets back on key pretty quickly. He's over-singing just a little bit; it's supposed to be a simple, tender song, and he's maybe embellishing too much. But not bad. Definitely a vast improvement over last week. I give him a 7.

Michael "Aussie" Johns: 4.2
"A Day in the Life". A little pitchy, again. That's a chronic problem for him. Oh, he totally blows the high note. When he drops an octave for the chorus, it sounds better. Ergh, I think he missed a line in there somewhere. This is just not the right song for him. Meh. I give him a 3.

Brooke "Granola" White: 5.8
"Here Comes the Sun". Another good choice for her. But it sounds a little bit like a cereal commercial. The dancing is hideous, and what's with the "WHOO"?. The singing isn't a complete disaster, but it was, as Randy says, awkward. I give her a 5.

David "Shaggy" Cook: 7.6
"Day Tripper". Risky. Good start. It's a good arrangement (it's the Whitesnake version), and the vocals are solid. It suits him, and I actually kinda like it. Maybe the best I've seen from him. I give him an 8.

Carly "Potatoes" Smithson: 7.4
"Blackbird". Hmm, nice. She consistently shows the ability to capture the vibe of the song. It gets a little shouty when she goes high, and that spoils it a bit. But mostly, not bad; a solid performance. I give her a 7.

Jason "Battlefield Earth" Castro: 5.4
"Michelle". It's a little too fast. It's not awful, but kind of sloppy; it's almost like he's drunk. A bit safe, and not very memorable. I give him a 6.

Syesha "Whitney" Mercado: 6.6
"Yesterday". A great song, but it's so well known, it's almost a cliché. I don't know if it's really a good song choice, and it's kind of a, mm, dramatic rendition. The singing was decent; controlled and on-key. I give her a 7.

Chikezie "Weezy" Eze: 7.2
"I've Just Seen a Face". Interesting choice. It's a pretty nice arrangement. A few pitchy notes, but nice. But, ugh, the harmonica comes out, and then the fast country part is well, hideous. What the heck? I give him a 6.

Ramiele "Monique" Malubay: 7.0
"I Should've Known Better". Hmm. Terrible first note. This is a little weird. Not awful, just out of character. It's nice that she's showing a little range, and a little bit of pep, but I just don't know. I give her a 7.

My bottom three: Kristy Lee Cook, Michael Johns, Amanda Overmyer.

Permalink 1 Comment

Posted by Ken in: television

Comments

Comment #1 from chip (Guest)
2008 Mar 19 - 10:16 pm : #

I always enjoy reading your comments about American Idol.

I think this week was very tough for the singers. Most of them have never spent time listening to Beatles songs so they picked what they knew last week and struggled this week.

In addition, you can tell many of the singers are "full of themselves" because they are getting attention.

A couple points...

Chikezie is a nice performer. I really liked what he did last night and last week. He shows a lot of creativity. So what if the harmonica was rough. He took a chance, made it fun, and won the night for me. He is "going for it" and it shows. I don't agree with you Kato or the AI judges. It was good.

Carly's "Blackbird" was bad. It just was not intimate. She should have sang a song like "Golden Slumbers".

Ramiele is so busy making friends and looking for support that she struggles finding material. She takes fun bouncy songs and drags them down through boring arrangements. She is so much better than this.

David Archuleta's "The Long and Winding Road" did not have conviction. In many ways it is not his fault. He is young and "green". He can't sing from experience and it shows. He was lucky to make it through last week. He went very safe this week. For a person who is suppose to be a front runner, he is so limited in song selection it may hurt his chances to win. (David can we have another slow song next week?)

Syesha's "Yesterday" did nothing for me. It was "capable" and did not have any creativity. "Going through the motions" would be how I would describe this week for her.

Kristi Lee is not creative at all. If she is going to try to be a country singer, someone will have to arrange her songs. She is a wet rag in her arrangements.

Michael needs to find Doors week or INXS week. He stumbled this week. The song was too complicated for the time. He needs to focus on simpler songs and delivery.

Brooke's song was wrong for her, too. I think the short week caught up to them. She definitely performed this week like she didn't know where to go from last week and the song to pick.

David Cook is ready for a recording contract. He is performing like he doesn't care if they vote him off because a band is ready to pick him up.

Jason Castro picked the wrong song. He is better than the song he picked and did not sell it very well.

Most of the time I think Simon is too hard on the contestants. This week I agree with most of the things he said.

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