I’m not the biggest fan of Mariah Carey. I listened to her casette tape to death when I was in grade school, of course, but even then I found her overuse of high notes and trills a tad too much. Still, she’s got great producers and songwriters who wrote her timeless hits - why else do some radio stations still play her stuff from the 90’s today?
For once, my favorite performance of the evening wasn’t Jason Castro’s - which is not to say that he didn’t make me swoon when he sang “I Don’t Want To Cry”. There aren’t many Mariah Carey songs that really suits his style but I love that he added a little reggae twist to it. The song itself is mediocre (songwriting-wise) but damn, Jason Castro can make any crappy song sound good to my fangirl ears.
Still, the performance that rocked my panties off was David Cook’s “Always Be My Baby”. That was pretty much the song I played to death during my grade school years and he made a damn unique rendition of it - I definitely was not expecting the James Bond theme at the start. David Cook placed a real sharp edge to the song and I found it brilliant. Even Randy agreed with a standing ovation and said that of all the contestants, David Cook is ready to make an album. Simon also said that it was original, daring, and a true sign of a potential artist.
Clearly the women were at a disadvantage this evening because anything they do will be a direct comparison to Mariah herself. I really hope Kristy Lee Cook gets eliminated now, because the whole country girl in the big city act is so 2007. Not to mention that her version of “Forever” was just too damn countrified, pitchy, and whiny (Simon’s description).
Mike said
April 16 2008 @ 01:15 pm
Your comment that Mariah has “got great songwriters and producers who wrote her timeless hits” is completely wrong. Since her debut album in 1990, Mariah WROTE and PROUDCED most of her songs except the remakes like Without You, I’ll There.