'Idol' Speculation

So here we are, the Top 3 “American Idol” contestants blowing it out in the penultimate performance of the season, and all we can think about here at Idol Speculation is the revelation that contestant David Archuleta’s dad Jeff has been banned from backstage and rehearsals for some unsettling histrionics on the “AI” set.

This isn’t the first time that Jeff (we’ll nickname him “Big Poppa Archuleta”) has been called out for some bad behavior on a show in which his son is competing, as ”Big Poppa Archuleta” was said to be by ”Star Search” (on which David performed a few years ago) judge Naomi Judd the “worst stage dad ever.”

“Stage Dad?!!?” Hmmmmm.

We at Idol Speculation will NOT be the judge of that —  we’ll go by the performances on Tuesday, and here’s how it all went down .

Each of the Top 3 “American Idol” finalists, Archuleta, David Cook and Syesha Mercado, performed three songs tonight (to pad out the hour for commercial revenue– uh, we mean, give us voters at home chance to be SURE about our votes).

First up was Archuleta, who rolled out Billy Joel’s “And So it Goes” and impressed judges Jackson (”you are in the zone!”) and Abdul (”a beautiful performance”), but Cowell tempered the love fest by saying that the performance “wasn’t outstanding.”

Next was Syesha Mercado, a fave of the Idol Speculation bog but who always seems to be on the elimination bubble. Syesha sang contemporary R&B queen Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You” and it was, according to us, nothing short of awesome. Judge Jacskon called the performance “amazing,” and Cowell said that Mercado performed the tune “very well.”

Frontrunner David Cook, who Idol Speculation predicts will be crowned the season 7 “Idol” champ, did not disappoint the judges with his rendering of Roberta Flack’s soul classic “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.”

Cowell, who picked the tune for Cook to sing, was not disappointed in the performance, saying that Cook was “brilliant.”

It was.

Archuleta took his second turn with contemporary R&B star Chris Brown’s “With You.” Idol Speculation thought it was pretty good, better than his first tune, but what did the judges think?

Jackson said he “couldn’t believe” the performance (meaning the singer didn’t sell the tune), Abdul gave her patented “you look beautiful” response (okay, not really — she said “great job” or whatever) and Cowell called the performance “awkward.”  
Can the 17 year old kid with the “stage dad” be feeling the pressure?

Then Syesha was up again for round number two with the sultry Peggy Lee R&B classic “Fever,” and the singer may have blown it right here. Jackson loved it, calling the version an “amazing performance,” but even placid judge Abdul was surprised by the song choice (and not in a good way) and Cowell said the performance was “lame” (ouch!). 

David Cook was up again and sealed the deal with a version of Christian alt-rockers Switchfoot’s “Dare You to Move.” Host Ryan Seacrest should just walk out and give this kid the championship now (it ain’t even close!), but heck, we have the finale next week, and can you imagine how much a 30 second commercial is going for? $$$$$! We gotta keep up the suspense (hey, it’s a TV show, right?), so the judges were kind of lukewarm on Cook.

Judge Jackson called the performance a little (insert predictable Jackson quote here) ”pitchy,” and Cowell called the middle rounds by all three singers just “okay.’

Round Three (snore!)!

Archuleta rolls out late singer/songwriter Dan Fogleberg’s ’70s tearjerker “Longer” and judges Jackson and Abdul dug it (Jackson calls it “hot” — for a ballad?!!?) but Cowell hates the song (c’mon, Simon, you’ve heard this one before!) although the judge concedes that Archuleta should make the finals next week.

Syesha was up next, singing pop tart Gia Farrell’s 2006 hit “Hit Me Up.” Another bomb with the judges (a David vs. David finale, anyone?). Jackson said (and haven’t we heard THIS before) “it was just okay for me,” Abdul didn’t dig the song choice and Cowell said that the singer’s best moment was last week (read between the lines: “It’s been nice knowing you, Syesha.”).

Finally David Cook came out out and sang the cheesy (it IS “American Idol” after all) Dianne Warren-penned Aerosmith/Mark Chesnutt pop-rock/country smash “I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing” (also sung by previous “Idol” contestants Josh Gracin on season two and singer/internet pinup Antonella Barba on season 6).

The whole thing was pretty anti-climactic because Cook is (undoubtedly) already in the finale next week, but the judges had to render a veredict and Jackson called the performance (justifiably!) “predictable,” Abdul told the singer he was in the finals (duh!) and Cowell told Cook he was the best performer of the night.

So, tune into the elimination round tomorrow night to find out who’s going home (will Archuleta’s dad and all that bad press turn off ”AI” voters and send Mercado into the finals next Tuesday?), then visit the Idol Speculation blog to get the analysis on why it all went down the way it did.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 at 7:02 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.