American Idol Live Blogging – April 15, 2008
April 15, 2008 by Jeanne
It’s time for American Idol season seven’s Top 7 to perform and be mentored by Mariah Carey. This should be interesting!
David Archuleta was pretty emotional meeting Mariah and she had some great advice. She also said she is proud of who he is as a person and that his singing is beautiful. He sang “When You Believe” and he was great!!!! This song is not only a Mariah song but she sang it with Whitney Houston and he still worked it out. Randy said it was the bomb! Paula said he made Mariah proud. Simon said it was really, really good.
More after the jump!
Carly Smithson said that Mariah is cute and Mariah said Carly has a really powerful voice and makes smart choices for her range. Carly sang “Without You” and I didn’t feel an emotional connection, I’m sorry. Randy said it got better in the middle but that the lower notes were not great. Paula said she liked that Carly showed vocal restraint at the beginning of the song. Simon said he really wanted to hear her sing this song but that it was only an “okay” version.
Syesha Mercado chose to sing Mariah’s lesser known song “Vanishing” which I actually really loved so much back when I first bought her first album. Mariah gave her some tips and she seems to have tried to use it. Randy said that he likes that she is bold and tries the hard songs and did a good job. Paula said that it was smart to pick a song that not a lot of people know and that she was great overall. Simon said that it was technically very, very good but he’s not sure if she should have picked such an obscure song.
Brooke White seemed genuine to Mariah Carey and seemed to make an impression on her. She chose to sing “Hero” and she was trembling. I haven’t seen her so nervous. Randy said that he was really felt it at the beginning but that it felt apart at the bridge and lost confidence at the end. Paula said she is authentic and that the unplugged version of the song was really brave. Simon said that he doesn’t think she had much choice but to sing that song because of the theme this week but that something vital was missing.
Kristy Lee Cook was rehearsing in from of Mariah Carey and gave her goosebumps (wow!). Kristy could really be on the upswing. She chose to sing “Forever” and it was a good performance! I was pleasantly surprised. That could be a country hit right now! Randy said that he didn’t think it was amazing but he said that she stepped it up at the end. Paula said that Kristy is a smart girl and she was blown away and agreed with me (lol) that it could be a hit. Simon said that he didn’t get chills and that the performance was a bit whiny at times.
David Cook surprised Mariah by choosing “Always Be My Baby” and it made her proud as a songwriter to hear what he did with it. I thought it was best that he could have done with this, even though there was a little weirdness. This had to be tough. Randy told him that he could be a recording artist right now. Paula said that it could be on a movie soundtrack. Simon said it was like coming out of karaoke hell into a breath of fresh air because he took a risk. These comments reduced David to tears – aw!
Jason Castro is about getting songs to people’s hearts according to Mariah and she even gave him some of his ideas. He chose to sing “I Don’t Wanna Cry” and I was so surprised! I cannot believe how well that worked! Randy didn’t really love it (what is wrong with him tonight!?) and said it felt like a weird beach luau. Paula said she would love to be at that luau listening all night long. Simon agreed with Paula and said it wasn’t the best vocal but it was cool.
CR: Michael Becker/FOX
The big problem I had with Kristy Lee is that while she was technically good this week, she is always so emotionally flat when she sings and I end up bored and phasing out.
It was the first week I actually really liked David A, and overall I thought the guys stole the night.
I probably don’t need to mention that I *loved* what David Cook did.
I think the tears were less from the comments though, and more from his brother being there.
I think the one in the most danger might be Brooke because her performance was just the weakest (though she did her best) or Syesha just because she’s been in the bottom so many times (even though I thought she did really well).
Not that I’m emotionally invested in this show or anything… lol.
Sorry, but please let Carly go- that was so average- I think it will come down to the 2 David’s and hopefully David Cook is #2 so he doesn’t have the stigma of control that so many winners have.
Wait did I just pick him to lose? LOL
Go David Cook! (and yes he was crying for his brother- that was too sad. He looks very weak- the article I read about his hometown coming together to send him with appropriate personnel was awesome)
I think it was a bad idea to have the Idols sing Mariah songs. Even the ones that were less known still had the “Mariah stamp” on them.
At least she was a better mentor than Gwen Stefani!
I agree with Sherry that Kristy is always pretty flat in terms of emotions. It does make the performances dull and uneventful. That is something she really needs to work on.