Elite 8 Inspire on American Idol

I liked Michaels Johns, especially when he hit the high notes. He sound a lot like Steve Tyler for a moment.

Syesha was very good. I think they were a bit harsh on her. Maybe she'll start picking songs from artists that she won't be compared to from now on.

I wasn't too impressed with David Arculetta either. He's good, but he's boring.

Carly she sounded like she was angry, but I like her.

Jason was good, but the praise he got was a little bit much. It wasn't that great.

I still liked my fav Dave Cook, but it was definitely not one of his better performances. I didn't understand the pompous comment Simon made. He's said things to that affect to Dave before. I don't think Dave is pompous or smug or whatnot at all.

Brook did make the song sound sad. It was actually kinda depressing.

Kristy Lee was good. It was one of her better performances.

This week was pretty weak. The only performance that stood out for me was Jason Castro's. The moment he mentioned the song he was going to do, I hoped it would be the version that he did, because that was perfect for him. Of course I didn't know the version from the guy who did it originally, but from Scrubs...

Brook's performance was ok, but I think Orson Scott Card (scroll all the way down) finally figured out what's been bothering me about her:

The conclusion is obvious: Brooke White suffers from horrible stage fright! I've seen it before in other singers. Practicing, or in front of friends, they sing wonderfully; then they get up on the stage and their voices go wacko -- in just the ways that Brooke's voice does.

Unlike many of the other contestants, Brooke White has not been performing in clubs, where she could learn to overcome her stage fright. She is years behind the others in this one area.

Michael John's performance was terrible. He really does seem to be imitating a rock star. Syesha's was technically sound, but boring and emotionless as possible. Kristy Lee Cook really is getting better, she's no longer been the absolute worst performance each night, but her ceiling is still pretty low. David Archuleta's was boring, and also quite bad. His piano playing was so bad, they turned the volume way down in the mix. His voice sounded like he had a head cold and it was a tad monotone. I think it may finally be Carly's time to leave. Her song did nothing for me. I'm finally giving up on her.

And then there is David Cook. Easily his second worst performance next to "Day Tripper" and the vocoder fiasco in Beatle's Week II. The problem wasn't so much that he was bad, but that it was boring and forgettable. He doesn't have the greatest or most interesting voice. His whole shtick, which has worked wonderfully for him, has been to be pseudo-original. Even if he was doing a cover of a cover, he still makes the song his own. He doesn't just sing the original version and be done with it ... until tonight, where he basically sang the original version straight up and did nothing interesting with it. I think he needs to stick to pop songs and make them alternative rock. That's his gold mine. Just doing alternative rock songs reminds us of how boring he actually is.

That's why Jason Castro's performance worked tonight, because he took a Judy Garland song and made it his own. Yes, it was a cover of a cover and not exactly original, but he took a song out of his style and sang it in his style and that's interesting.

The problem with someone like Syesha who keeps singing songs just like the originals is that you get compared to the original, and you are almost always going to be worst. When you change up the song, then you get out from the shadow of the original. Chikezie had this problem as well, except for his one amazing performance of the Beatle's "She's a Woman" which he totally owned.