Kristy’s American Idol Scrapbook

Ryan Seacreast opens tonight show by putting his arm on David A. and Syesha, but not David C. He called David A. a high school student, Syesha an actress and DC a bartender (before AI). Ryan says the judges’ choices are first. Archie’s song choice by Paula is shown in a video read by his mayor at his hometown welcoming. Paula says she wanted to showcase his vocals and the melody is difficult and it will showcase his timbre. Archie begins “And So it Goes” standing centerstage wearing a black leather jacket and tie. It is all a capella at the beginning, then the violins come in, then the piano. David’s dad shown in the audience. Paula & Randy Like it Simon says its ok not outstanding.

Randy says he chose “If I Ain’t Got You” by Alicia Keys for Syesha because he had a feeling she would like it cause she’s young and hot and he could see her singing this kind of record. She begins centerstage holding a mic, all dressed up in a silver and gold glittered dress with huge gold earings. Piano on stage too. Judges liked it overall. Simon wished she did more with it but that she looked nice

Simon says he chose the song, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face“, for David C because so many girlfriends love it and he wanted to challenge David, unlike Randy. Cookie opens standing at micstand centerstage. Only piano accompanying. He sounds very strong. Starts picking up halfway through the song. Starts to rock it up.Hits a few high notes. Ends on a very high note and holds it. Lots of applause.

Archie says he chose “With You” by Chris Brown [lots of applause] because it’s something he hasn’t done yet. Says it wasn’t easy to learn. Ryan confuses him about starting the performance. And he begins centerstage holding the mic. Archie includes “boo” in the lyrics. Wearing a brown t-shirt and brown pants. He’s very into the performance. Lots of audience interaction. Judges didn’t like it much. But Simon compliments David on not selecting a ballad

Syesha, wearing a short silvery dress, sits with Ryan at stools, she says she chose “Fever” by Peggy Lee. She says there’s a chair involved and she wants to walk around it and work it a bit. Her strong performance was very sultry as she flirted with various band members. The judges were way too hard on Syesha(like last week with Jason Castro). Randy thought she sang amazingly well. Paula said she didn’t understand the song choice as is wasn’t Syesha. Simon Said she would regret the perfomance tommarrow as it was “quite a lame cabaret performance”

Cookie says he went with “Dare You to Move” by Switchfoot, said coming from a bartender it seemed like the appropriate song for the appropriate moment. David begins centerstage playing guitar. Other instruments come in during the second verse. Randy thought is was the perfect song choice but performance wise it wasn’t Cook’s best. A little pitchy. Paula thought it didn’t last long enough. Simon said it was ok but expected & not a very melodic song. Hmmm… I love this song… and I loved Cookie singing it to me too!

David A comes out to perform “Longer” by Dan Fogelberg. Wearing a blue dress shirt, his vocals are strong but eyes are closed. All three judges thought he sang it well Simon thought the song lyrics were gooey. More for a 70 year than a 17 year old.

Syesha performs “Hit Me Up” by Gia Farrell. She begins stage left, wearing a silver top and black pants, moves around the stage, dancing around. Three back up singers. She sounds pretty good considering the song isn’t great. All three judges were let down by her performance. Paula is worried it will not be enough to keep her in the competition…. is there really anything she can do at this point to stay in? LOL

Cookie will end the night by performing “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith. Strings are accompanying him, nothing else. He’s smiling at the camera, skips the first chorus, goes into the bridge. His raspyness is coming out, Sounds good, he goes up into the chorus and hits a high note. Rock elements kick in, still standing at micstand, but electric guitars sound good. Ends on high note. Awesome! Randy: “For me, I love the song, it was ok for me [massive boos] very predictable.” Paula: “This is an amazing song. David…see ya in the finals!” Simon: “One of the great songs of all time. And I have to tell you, David Cook wins the night.“

This should be performance order as well. I don’t at this point know why but David Cook has changed “his song choice” that he announced would be Collective Soul last Friday.(EDIT: Now I know why as he performed it in the Finale… sweet!)

David Archuleta

Syesha Mercado

David Cook

Live Show Recap

Here is the confirmed “Rock N Roll Hall of Fame” song choice list for tonights Top five contestants. This is the performance order. (Tuesday, May 06, 2008 5:30 PM MST)
I will update with performance order as soon as I have a credible source

Show Live Updates: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 6:01 PM MST

After tonight only two weeks left, crucial time for American Idol, no one is safe, nothing is guaranteed. Luke Menard & Rascal Flatts in the audience. Ryan says the judges will critique after EVERY performance.

Vote Number: 1-866-IDOLS-*
Vote Number: 1-866-436-57*
or Text “Vote” to 57*
* = Contestant Number

Contestants have TWO phone numbers you can vote at tonight. BUT keep in mind Texting is only the ONE number… the first one

01 David Cook: “Hungry Like The Wolf“
Wearing a black leather jacket opened with a black shirt and black pants. Sounds Great. Done Duran Duran Style. Randy Said OK choice and an Solid performance, wasn’t amazing for David. Left Paula wanting more. Simon agreed with Randy, says good enough to stay. Me: David could sing me the phone book…
02 Syesha Mercado: “Proud Mary”
Wearing a silver, shiny dress that ends above her knees. Performance is slow and sultry. Picks up, and she goes crazy with her choreography. Randy thought she was in her zone.
Paula thinks she looks nice. Simon thought is was a bad, shrieky version. Me: I liked it. Nothing to special. Showed a little spunk it was cute.
03 Jason Castro: “I Shot The Sheriff“
Says it’s by Bob Marley “go figure” Playing the guitar. Wearing blue jeans and a denim jacket.
All three judges didn’t reall like the performance. I liked it… sounds a bit like Sublime..
04 David Archuleta: “Stand By Me”
Wearing black shirt with white design and black pants. He sounds good, sticking faithfully to the original arrangement. Finishes on a high note and holds it for a bit. Randy: “brought the hot mad vocals” Paula: You’re seasoned Simon: best performance so far Me: I totally agree with Simon!

05 David Cook: “Baba O’Riley“
He’s holding a guitar and starts strumming it. Vocals are pure, not as raspy as the last song. Goes up into high note and gets his rasp back. Band picks up. He sounds outstanding. All the judges loved it … Simon: “Welcome back David Cook.” Me: David is so Yummy. I want more!
06 Syesha Mercado: “A Change is Gonna Come“
Begins standing centerstage holding a mic. She changed her dress and is now in a full-length gold/yellow dress. She was broing but ended strong. Randy: It felt all disconnected to me. Fell flat Paula: Beautiful performance. Simon: “Syesha, I have to be fair. I’m going to agree with Paula” Me: I actually agree with Randy on this one. It didn’t show her personality so well. I usually wait till Wednesday’s show to cry LOL
07 Jason Castro: “Mr. Tambourine Man“
Starts centerstage sitting on stool playing guitar. Sounds miles better than the first one already. Forgets the lyrics. He missed about a
line of the lyrics. Sounds very much like Bob Dylan, actually. Randy: “tell me how did you think that was [Jason: I lost some words in there] Jason’s not in the zone tonight” Paula: “It is what it is. Obviously it didn’t blow us away but you blow me away.” Simon: “Jason, I’d pack your suitcase.” Me: My One year old son loves American Idol and this was his favorite performance of the night he danced and clapped.
Note: It would appear something is bothering Jason tonight, or maybe he does really want to go home.
08 David Archuleta: “Love Me Tender“
Begins sitting on a stool centerstage in front of a piano. Vocals are clear and crisp. Camera just keeps zooming in on him, its a little weird. Only piano accompaniment. Ends in his falsetto. Loud, loud applause. He was wearing a brown dress shirt. Randy: “Dude you got it going on right now the hot vocals of the night!” Paula: “I felt your heart it was fantastic and beautiful.” Simon: “You didn’t beat the competition tonight, you crushed the competition tonight” It was goo but I liked song one better by far.

It’s Tuesday, again! I just love Tuesdays! Tonights show will be 62 minutes(8:00-9:02 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) long as the final four contestants(David Archuleta, Jason Castro, David Cook, and Syesha Mercado) sing 2 songs that shaped Rock n Roll from the “Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame”.

On Wednesday May 7th Top 4 Results show Maroon 5 will perform as will American Idol Alumni Bo Bice (Season 4, Runner-Up)

These song selection are rumors. I will post the official spoiler list with all four contestants later this afternoon (appox. 4 MST). Rehersal running late today

Jason Castro
Joan at EW hint: Jason’s a man on a mission. With one arm that fires, authorities fall, but their counterparts are spared. With the other arm, he jingles his tympan all the way to victory.

“I Shot The Sheriff” and “Mr. Tambourine Man“

Jason’s song choices been backed up by several sources, included a friend of Jason’s who has posted on the blog.

David Archuleta
Added: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 2:33 PM MST

“Stand By Me” by Ben E. King & “Love Me Tender” (Norah Jones version).

pervasive rumor with supposed reliable source, but I can’t vouch for it

Syesha Mercado
Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:41 PM MST
“Proud Mary” by Ike and Tina Turner - according to her sister
She will NOT be singing an Aretha song

David Cook American Idol Songs List