Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Mariah Cary Night

How many times have we heard Randy's warning to steer clear of Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Celine Dion songs? Five, six, maybe seven thousand times?

And so what do the producers do this week? Enter the Diva herself, Mariah Carey. Randy should be ashamed of himself. You know he had a hand in getting her on board. I'm not really a fan of Mariah Carey's music, so I'm not going to pretend to know her songs. I recognized a few tonight, but for the most part the songs just about put me to sleep. I was actually kind of irritated by the show this evening. Maybe because I am bitter that Michael Johns wasn't there? Maybe because I would really rather have been watching the season finale of The Biggest Loser (which is what I'm going to do after I finish this post)? 

Let's cut to the chase....

So David Archuleta started us off. If I thought for a moment that the kid had any sort of sense of humor, I might think he was trying to be funny when he sang "When You Believe" as it is a duet that Mariah recorded with the other diva Whitney Houston. But no, the kid doesn't have that kind of spunk. In fact, he doesn't have an ounce of any type of creativity whatsoever. I know he can sing. But I also know that I am over his ballad-style singing and I think he's kind of like a piece of American cheese. (I'm not sure where that came from. Maybe Simon's burger analogy prompted it). Really, I am completely over David Archuleta. Not that it matters because he's got tens of millions of viewers voting for him. 

I didn't think Carly Smithson was as bad as Simon made her out to be when she sang "Without You". I'll give it to the judges, Carly needs to bring it home. She needs to belt the hell out of song for once. So I was routing for her up until the time she told Ryan that she enjoyed herself during the performance in response to the judges not-so-great comments. I am calling bullshit on that, Carly. That is it in a nutshell - you were NOT enjoying yourself. You held back and were reserved. You looked like your were afraid of your own shadow. Where, pray tell, is the fun in that?

Syesha Mercado sang "Vanishing" and I only know that because I wrote it down. I've never heard that song before and I don't ever need to hear it again. Did you notice that awkward moment when Syesha walked in to meet Mariah and they didn't hug? They both kind of just smiled and scrunched up their shoulders and exchanged pleasantries. So awkward. Especially coming on the heels of Mariah meeting Carly where she not only embraced Carly, but told her how much she's been looking forward to meeting her. Maybe Mariah feels threatened by the diva wannabe? Um, doubtful. Syesha sang the song well. But I bet she'll still have a spot in the bottom three. 

With Brooke. Brooke sang "There's a Hero" and it wasn't her moment to shine. She certainly doesn't have the Mariah range and her nerves got the best of her and it showed. She seemed to get faster and faster as the song went on like she was in a rush for it to be over. So was I. And while Brooke is very genuine, I'm getting sick of her chatting-with-the-judges schtick. She needs to sing and then zip it. Note to contestants: Listen to the constructive criticism and don't say another word. Not a "I had fun with it", not a "I have always wanted to sing that song", and not a "I was trying to push myself on this one." The contestants sing, the judges give feedback. End of story. 

Kristy Lee Cook sang "Forever" and apparently got too big for her britches after last week's avoidance of the bottom 3. I don't hold her responsible for Michael Johns' departure per se, but yes, a part of me resents her for still being here. My favorite line of the night was when she said, "I gave Mariah chills" and Simon came back with, "Well, you didn't give me chills." Touche. She'll be back on one of those stools tomorrow night. 

I fell totally head over heels in love with David Cook tonight. I've been a fan for awhile, but tonight it blossomed into true love. He sang "Always Be My Baby" and it was incredible. Simon said that David Archuleta is the guy to beat? I think not. David Cook is the man. Did you know that was his brother sitting in the front row next to that jackass Teri Hatcher from Desperate Housewives? This is the brother who has brain cancer. Apparently his doctor told him he couldn't fly on a commercial jet on account of his condition, so his community rallied and got him a private jet complete with nurse and medic so that he could see his brother perform. And both David and his brother were so cool about it. They didn't want any special attention and they didn't want to be called out because they know that other people are fighting this same fight. Talk about being humble and real. I think that's why David got so emotional after singing tonight. You can read about David and his brother at www.tribstar.com (and then search for David Cook because I don't know how to get fancy schmancy and set up links.)

And Jason finished out the night with his version of "I Don't Want to Cry". I don't know how it compared to Mariah's version because I don't know the song, but I liked Jason's cool version. The dude is beyond cool. 

So tomorrow night we will be treated to Mariah. I wonder if Randy will take the stage as well? And who will be in the bottom 3? Not sure who - but rest assured they will all be females....

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Carly wore sleeves tonight! What an improvement. Too bad about the hideous necklace, though, paired with really long earrings. She needs a stylist. I thought she was really good, but Jason was my fav tonight.

Anonymous said...

How about Carly's old lady tights? I really love David Cook but his boots freak me out. They're like two feet long. He's a "L". The no hug thing was incredibly awkward.

Anonymous said...

I enjoy your blog, but how do you not know Mariah Carey's songs? Most of them were number one hits!

And Carly did herself a favor by wearing sleeves tonight. You could tell she was trying real hard not to get that angry look on her face when she sings.

And yes, David Cook is the man.

Anonymous said...

David Cook made Lionel cool a few weeks back and now he made Mariah cool as well?! That's crazy talk. He should win on sheer creativity alone. But, he won't. He'll probably lose to David A and his sad, sad ballads.

Does anyone else feels weird whenever they show Carly's hubby with all his face tats? He scares me.

-Uncle Ryan

Idolmama said...

I agree, Archie is downright b-o-r-i-n-g compared to the electricity that is David Cook and even to Jason...that was obvious on the playback...I nearly cried with DC, can't imagine what it must have felt like to look out and see his bro...those were tears of relief, joy, sadness and fear, I'm sure. Truly a cool guy. I heart DC, too!
p.s. hyperlinks are easy in Blogger! You can do it! :)

sincou said...

Dreadlocks? Is he for real? That alone should be grounds for disqualification