When I heard that this week’s theme would be “inspirational songs”, I had to wrinkle my nose and roll my eyes. Inspirational songs don’t do much to inspire me; if anything, they make me more cynical. But my eyes were definitely not rolling when Jason Castro came onstage with a ukelele and sang a rendition of Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” that completely wowed me off my seat. It wasn’t just a mere copy of Israel’s version though; Jason did his own thing, which was really amazing to watch. We’ve had people playing guitar on AI before but I don’t believe anyone has ever sung with a ukelele. Maybe this is me just being a Jason fangirl but his performance was my favorite.
My second favorite was David Archuleta’s version of Angels by Robbie Williams. This was one of the best song choices made that night - never mind that Jessica Simpson tried to cover it and failed! I love how David made the song’s vocals completely his own, and it didn’t sound as preachy and Jesus-freakish as I thought it would.
Waiting with bated breath for the results tomorrow!
