Tonight, our top three contestants sang three songs each - one chosen by the judges, one chosen by the contestant, and one chosen by the producers of the show. I thought the producers’ song choices were simply terrible - they were boring, and they didn’t quite play up to their strengths as singers.
David Archuleta
David A. sang “And So It Goes” (judges’ choice), “With You” (his choice), and “Longer” (producers’ choice). He sang the first verse of the first song a-capella, which I thought was quite lovely, and while Paula and Randy thought so as well, Simon found the performance a bit predictable. David A’s version of With You proves that he’s really better off at singing ballads - watching him dance was awkward and it looked like he was trying way too hard to remember the lyrics. Finally, the last song wasn’t much to listen to and seemed more appropriate for a seniors’ citizen gathering or something. Randy thought it was “hot” though.
Syesha Mercado
On Syesha’s plate tonight was “If I Ain’t Got You” (judges’ choice), “Fever” (her choice), and “Hit Me Up” (producers’ choice). I thought Syesha would be more of a Janet Jackson kind of chick but I loved her performance of “If I Ain’t Got You” - she really tried to make the song her own. She should have chosen a better song than “Fever”, which has been covered to death by every pop singer, but it looks like she had fun and she sounded great when she took the melody up an octave during the second verse. “Hit Me Up” was a rather odd song choice and Syesha did her best with the song, but the song itself was boring despite being up tempo.
David Cook
Tonight, David Cook sang “First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” (judges’ choice), “Dare You To Move” (his choice), and “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing” (producers’ choice). His version of “First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” was a bit formulaic, which started out slow and eventually became a rock sort of anthem. I was hoping he’d do something like what he did for “Music of the Night”, but I guess that wasn’t going to happen. David Cook’s second song choice was okay, but I think he could have picked a better rock song (or not rock song). Same formula was applied and the judges were not very impressed. Although I like “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing”, this song as been sang way too many times on the show already and again, David didn’t do anything different from his usual style.
I could be wrong but I have a feeling that we might not be seeing David Cook next week. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow!
Here are the videos of today’s performances:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
