We’re down to the final 12 for American Idol and all of these performers will enjoy at least some fame after the season is over no matter how soon they get voted off. Usually we’ll see some significant improvements from here forward in performances and presentation. Tonight is Beatles night which gives the group a lot of fun and popular choices so let’s see how they do this week.

	Syesha Mercado kicked off the Beatles night with “Got To Get You Into My Life” from the Revolver album and looked a little bit nervous. Syesha has some performing experience before American Idol so we were surprised to see this coming from her. She did a good job on the song though, has an impressive stage presence and remains easy on the eyes with some better hair this week.
	Chikezie put some serious “Chikezieness” on She’s a Woman with a real down-home feel. We were surprised we didn’t see someone playing a jug at some point which would have fit in well. While I really didn’t care for his rendition of that song, Chikezie really seemed to find is own groove and showed it off with an impressive performance that was well received by the audience and ALL of the judges. Yes, even Simon.
	Ramiele Malubay continues to impress us with such a big voice from such a small person but aside from that there wasn’t a whole lot impressive about Ramiele this week. The expectation is that the performers will kick things up a notch or two for the final 12 and she just didn’t do it this week.
	Jason Castro - dude, do I ever like to hear this guy talk. He’s seems to have the classic laid-back and care-free attitude that you would expect from any “free spirit”. He sang “If I Fell” and put his own, even more laid-back twist to it. We felt like he did a good job but the particular song didn’t reflect Jason’s attitude no matter “cool” he made it. He needs to pick up songs with lyrics that reflect the vibe he’s putting for us to really enjoy his performances.
	We learned this week that the American Idol crew shacked Carly Smithson up with Amanda Overmeyer in an apartment for the remainder of their tenures with the show, which I’m sure will turn out to be a spin-off of its own. I have to say that this is the first performance of Carly’s that I actually liked. She sang Come Together by the Beatles and it really looked like the right kind of song for her and she did an awesome job. This was a huge improvement for her from last week and for us changed in status from “dislike” to “tolerable”.
	David Cook did an incredible job last week and we were looking forward to an even better performance this week. He put on a rock twist that we didn’t even think was possible with Eleanor Rigby from the Beatles Revolver album and got a standing ovation from the crowd. At the beginning of the song we weren’t so sure but he actually pulled it off with some pure talent. It’s a must hear if you can get it off of iTunes later on.
	Brooke White performed “Let it Be” and showed off some of her piano skills this time instead of the guitar. She’s got a good voice but for us just never stands out. The Idol hair and make-up crew looks like they are doing what they can but Brooke just continues to look like an older Carly Simon to us. We can’t deny she has singing talent and is a good performer but just doesn’t strike us as an American idol. Keep on truckin’, Brooke.
	If you’re behind on the gossip, David Hernandez is the one that is rumored to have been a stripper in a prior career. I think there was more to the story and of course today he just mentioned a previous job at a pizza bistro which is much less exciting but also less controversial for David. His version of “I Saw Her Standing There” was just a little boring for us. He sounded a lot like the original version when the Beatles did it, but not near as good. I’m not sure if it wasn’t his song or not his night but either way David Hernandez is at risk to be voting off the show this week.
	Amanda Overmyer gave it her all again this week with a gravelly voiced “You Can’t Do That”. I’m just not picking up what Amanda is laying down in this competition. She’s obviously doing well since she’s gotten this far but I still think she could do even better if she would quit trying to act so tough and just perform.
	The Aussie Michael Johns sang “Across the Universe” from the Beatles’ “1970″ album and although he’s got a voice on him it was really an uneventful performance. We had to agree with Randy Jackson and define this as a little sleepy, no matter how well it was sung. He should have added a little more “Michael Johns” to the song.
	We have to continue with our theory that “hotness” will get a girl quite a ways in the music business. This week Kristy Lee Cook put a country twist on “Eight Days a Week” complete with a fiddle and banjo which was just plain weird. Simon’s quote was “Dolly Parton on helium” and we think she went out on a limb that broke. If this one is available on iTunes you should hear this one too, but not if you have to pay for it. She sure is good lookin’, though.
	David Archuleta did his rendition of “We Can Work it Out” and set a high bar for himself in previous weeks which he just didn’t meet this time. He mimic’d a Stevie Wonder version of the song and I think he forgot some words early in the song which was maybe some of his youth coming through in his performance. Still the same young, smiley kid but not so good this week.

So there we have it for the first week of the American Idol top 12. Overall the contestants did well, however a lot of these have more professional performing experience than contestants we’ve seen in previous seasons. Poor David Archuleta messed up on his lyrics which normally would be the end for a contestant but David’s rep will likely pull him through.

On a side note, when it was announced that tonight was Beatles night we were hoping it would coincide with some announcement from iTunes that the Beatles albums would finally be available for download, but no such announcement happened. I guess we’ll have to just keep waiting.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 11th, 2008 at 8:10 pm and is filed under American Idol, Singers, Television. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Be sure to subscribe to the PopTherapy.com feed because it is really, really funny. Have something funny you want to share? Please let us know.