American Idol 7 - Boys2

70's night

It seems weird to me that we're already into theme nights when we aren't down to the top 12 yet. Did they do that last year? I don't remember. Anyway... gotta love the '70s. And on to the show....

Michael Johns
"You Can Go Your Own Way"
He's cute. He has a nice voice. But his pitch is all over the place. He's sharp and oversinging on the chorus. The overall performance is okay, but he has to improve quickly or he won't be around to get over the oversinging.

Jason Castro
"I just Want to Be Your Everything"
I really like Jason. He's cute and genuinely bashful without letting it make him freeze up on stage. However, the whole brittle, unsupported voice thing has to go. He needs to learn to use his voice more effectively. Right now he has pitch problems and vocal dropouts. Also, I'm not sure he knows how to sing with the band - when he was alone with guitar everything sounded OK, but once the band kicked in he was kinda all over the place. I completely agree with Randy and Paula on this one - he needs to get rid of the guitar, take some ownership, and step up. If not, he'll be gone soon.

Luke Menard
"Killer Queen"
Can I call him McSteamy? He rather reminds me of the charming cad of a plastic surgeon from Gray's Anatomy. Whatever. I thought it was an interesting song choice. Not necessarily good, but interesting. He sang well, but I wonder if he might lose some target audience with the song. I think I mostly agree with Simon - the song is almost too stylized and unique to work as a cover. I'm not sure Luke is a big enough personality to pull it off.

Robbie Carrico
"Hot Blooded"
Robbie's problem? He's no Bo Bice. I like him, but the performance was good, not great. The vocal needed to be "dirtier" (not the performance - just the vocal. Get your mind out of the gutter...). His singing is almost too pretty. Too controlled. I think he said it best himself: every week you have to up the ante. Well, it's time for Robbie to up the ante.

Danny Noriega
"Superstar"
Don't you remember when this song was owned by Ruben? It still is. This was boring and the performance was a little sickening. In fairness, Danny has a decent voice. He just needs to quit the attitude. It's not appealing.

David Hernandez
"Papa Was a Rolling Stone"
Not bad. He has a very good voice and did pretty well. I don't know if I believe him on the song - the lyric doesn't exactly fit his clean-cut look. But overall it sounded good.

Jason Yeager
"Without Love"
Hey Jason - the Osmonds called. They want their look back. *shudder* And he's so karaoke. It's all a bit goofy. His voice isn't horrible, but he's more like a creepy lounge singer than a mainstream pop superstar. I think Jason's 15 minutes are up.

Chikezie
"I Believe"
H needs to put some thought into wardrobe. Last week he had the orange suit. This week he looks like a college student or a mall rat. I'm not against the casual look - but he needs to use his look to help define who he is. I don't think a powder blue polo shirt helped. But, the vocal was so much better than last week. He's definitely coming back again. Overall, good job.

David Cook
"All Right Now"
Guitarring it - as a lefty. Interesting. Decent song. Good vocal. But I just don't know if he stands out much. I like him, but I don't like him enough to think he's going to win this thing.

David Archuleta
"Imagine"
A completely different take on this song. This was a great choice for him, and a great arrangement. Not too much like the original that you find yourself making comparisons. I like that it was just David and acoustic guitar. And you know what? It was amazing! I think David looks like the one to beat this year. He is absolutely fantastic.

Top Honors: Definitely David. The kid is professional, interesting, has great pitch, a unique vocal quality, looks good, and is just appealing.

Pack Your Bags: I think Jason Osmond-Yeager is definitely toast this week. I'm not sure on who else... I'd love for Danny to go but he won't. It might be shy Jason Castro. I hate to say that, but it might be. Or it might be Michael Johns who just wasn't on tonight. And I'm also thinking that Robbie or David Cook might need to start worrying about how the voting public perceives them. Simon isn't wrong.


That's it for tonight. I'm looking forward to what the girls are going to do - lots of great chick songs from the '70s.