I don't know who on Vox watches American Idol, but I do(tivoed, with quite a bit of ffwd) and shockingly enough, I really liked a few of the Dolly Parton song performances. I didn't know if I would be feeling her music mixing with these contestants, and while some of them were predictably boring, some knocked it out of the park. Of course, at this point I'm watching the performances with a slant towards or against those I have already formed an opinion. But, I like to think of myself as a couch-talent-evaluator, and even if I'm not a fan of a particular contestant, I know a good performance when I see one. Here's my take on what I saw, in order of shouldstickaroundforanotherweekness.
1. a. David Lee Archuleta - I've cooled on him lately for a couple of reasons, but last night, he absolutely sang the crap out of an awesome song that I hadn't heard before. Yes he still has very little stage presence, lacks any pop music style, and I have my doubts whether he could make it big time, but what he does have is a very strong pure voice that very rarely misses a note. He's also looks like Mickey Mouse when he grins.
1. b. Michael Lee Johns - A month ago I thought he had the best chance to win the whole thing. He went through a few weeks of just being Ok, while some others(David Lee Cook) performed well over the same span and may well have passed him in popularity. This week he did a good job singing the song, but more than that, the whole arrangement was awesome. This is the last clip I'll post. It was molten lava hot as Randy would say.
3-6 In no particular order because I thought all three were pretty good
David Lee Cook - Not too too impressed with the song, but he is consistantly good, much to my dismay as he seems to consider himself royalty. (But I hope he's well after his trip to the hospital last night)
Brooke Lee White - I'm on and off her bandwagon quite a bit, but last night I thought she was pretty darn good. Simon said the whole thing didn't work, to me she seemed like someone who had been doing it for years.
Jason Lee Castro - Normally I don't dig his style, but last night, I kind of enjoyed his performance. I was even compelled to vote for him, I tried for five minutes and then realized that I didn't enjoy it enough to try any longer.
Syesha Lee Mercado - She may be in the final three tonight, but I liked it.
7-9 Also in no particular order although it may not match the actual bottom three tonight
Carly Lee Smithson - I'm pretty sure she won't actually be in the bottom three tonight, but she is in my personal bottom three. She has a good voice and maybe it's just merely personal preference, but I don't sit through her songs and think, "WOW!". All of the "powerful" moments during her songs tend to be screamed rather than sang and that does absolutely nothing for me. And her husband scares the living crap out of me.
Ramiele Lee Malubay - Probably will go tonight, consistantly average.
Kristy Cook - She's pretty hot, and especially so last night, but she's just not on the same level as most of the folks that are left. I wouldn't mind if she stuck around a couple of more weeks though :) HOT
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