This weeks American Idol is down to nine after the unfortunate loss of easy-Chikezie in last weeks run. The episode happens to fall on April fools day and can’t go off without an opening April fools joke from Ryan Seacrest which we’ll spare you. (You can thank me later.) Dolly Parton graced the contestants this week and hence they all sang one of Dolly’s 3,000 songs that she’s written over the years, which proved to be easier for some than others. I really had no idea Dolly had quite that many songs but I have to admit that many of them sound an awful lot alike to me.

Syesha Mercado actually did an enjoyable performance this week with a Dolly Parton/Whitney Houston combo version of “I Will Always Love You”. She kept the song style under control during most of the performance but pulled out a little Whitney at the end. Overall it was very well done and Syesha has an impressive and confident stage presence. Like Kristy she’s got some good looks on her side which certainly doesn’t hurt either. We’d like to see Syesha stick around for a while but sometimes she seems just a little too polished and has a little too much experience to allow us to watch her grow into the American Idol. She would have been a great Idol probably 4 years ago when she was a little greener.
I say this every week, but I’m going to say it again. Ramiele Malubay just has a surprisingly big voice for such a small person, and we think the fan’s interest in her is probably a cross between some talent and the novelty of a tiny person who talks so tiny and sings so big. This week she sang a gospel flavor with “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind” and did and OK job. Aside from the voice irony it really didn’t stand out and didn’t get a lot of praise from the judges, either. Ramiele will be lucky to make it into the top 5.
Jason Castro is a performer that we really like and I think he’ll make it into at least the top 5 but I would be very surprised to see him win the show. I actually find myself looking forward to his dazed and care-free music with a smile. This week he had to pick a Dolly Parton song which couldn’t have been easy, but he went with “Traveling Through”. It had a little faster tempo than we think Jason is comfortable with but he pulled it off, with a smile of course. Hopefully next week will be a Bob Marley theme to make up for this week for Jason’s sake.
Carly Smithson sang “Here You Come Again” and it was a song that seemed to fit her well. We’re not big fans of Carly but this performance was probably one of, if not the best performance of the night. Simon suggested that she work on her dress, and we can only hope that they can do something with her general appearance too. Those make-up artists can usually do quite a transformation with contestants by this point in the season but I think Carly is going to need another seasons worth of work.
David Cook has moved into the position of my favorite for this competition, but we were wondering what and how he would pull of a Dolly Parton song. David sang his own arrangement of Little Sparrow and toned it down quite a bit from his previous rock-style performances. It was a good chance for him to show a little diversity but honestly no one is likely to pay anything to hear David Cook sing this type of songs. I think people are likely to pay money to hear David sing other things though, winner of Idol or not.
Brooke White kicked off the show tonight and did her version of Jolene. It was a simple song and fit Brooke well but also fit right into the mold of the type of performances Brooke is already known for. We continue to stand by our thought that Brooke is too old to be and American Idol and has only made it this far because she’s been surrounded by surprisingly less entertaining individuals with some bad weeks.
Michael Johns pulled off “It’s All Wrong, But It’s All Right” and had a little more of rocker theme going this week – more so than David Cook this time around. Michael definitely has a good voice and is an excellent performer but at the risk of sounding like Simon Cowell, he is just forgettable every week for me. His songs all sound very similar to me each week no matter what they are, and every one of them seems to have an excessive amount of repeating lyrics. Maybe he can’t remember a lot of lyrics but I don’t think it would matter in this case. No one will dislike Michael but we’re betting that not many will be taking extra time to send him votes in the near future, either.
“Coat of Many Colors” was the choice from Kristy Lee Cook and I’m sure she had a tough time narrowing it down to just one Dolly Parton favorite. She’s been singing songs with a Dolly-like twang the whole season, whether it should have it or not. Needless to say Kristy was right at home with this song and did a better job than previous weeks. Good singing or not we’re just happy to see Kristy stay in the competition for something nice to look at and will continue to get our votes for that alone.
David Archuleta is just a singing machine. This kid was bred to sing songs and looks like he has been doing it for 15 out of the 16 years he’s been alive. I wonder if he even really enjoys it anymore? He sang “Smoky Mountain Memories” and did what sounded like a flawless job. Everyone loved it and he did the shy-boy reaction that he always does with a big smile like he can’t believe it. He knows he’s better than his competitors but I would bet he is also realizing he is probably never going to be a pop star. I hope he spends some quality time with Jason Castro during this season to learn how to relax.

That’s all until tomorrow night when we’re sure to lose another and bring this count down to eight. Although Kristy Lee Cook and Jason Castro are a couple of our favorites, for very different reasons, we’re guessing they will both be in the bottom three for the next episode and our prediction is for Kristy to get the boot.

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