David Archuleta's Final Words on Idol

Here are highlights from Idol:7 runnerup David Archuleta's teleconference chat last week:

Photo: Archuleta in Guitar Hero ad; Business Wire

A sense of relief?: Well, since this whole thing has lasted so long, the first audition was in January and we hadn’t been living at home since the beginning of February and that’s how long we’ve been working every week for each performance each week and having to compete in a way, even though I try not to look at it as competing against other people, but more against myself. Each week and as the weeks went on, we had more songs each week to have to learn along with other things. With this final week, it was the busiest of all. It was hard to find time to even rehearse and stuff along with school and everything else going on. So on that Tuesday night I just tried to make sure I didn’t regret anything I did and so I think I did that. It was just such a relief to just feel good about what I did and the fact that that was the last impression I gave on the show. The competition is all over and now it’s time to really focus on music.

School days, school days (how's that ol' song go?) ...: I think school’s really important. It was my main priority before this because I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get anywhere with music, but I was still hoping for something. Even if music does turn out to go somewhere for me, you never know how long it’ll last. So I just want to make sure I have something to back me up on that, because I want to do music all my life. I just don’t know if I’ll be able to make a living off of it for the rest of my life. So I’d like to have to have something else to be able to do. I’m still looking at options and careers that I’d be interested in in the future.

Dr. Archuleta?: Lately what I find is really interesting is that ear and nose throat doctor thing, which I know would take a lot of work and education, but I think it’s just something that really interests me because it’s something that helps people who’ve had the same problems as me with the whole hearing and nose congestion and problems with your voice.

Winning isn't everything: The fact that Cook won, I think he deserved it so much. He just proved it week after week that he deserved to be the American Idol even early in the competition. He’s such a great guy too. My main priority wasn’t to win the competition, but it was just to do my best because you can suck and people can vote, but not for you to win and that wouldn’t feel very good. I think we both gave it all. We just poured it all onto that stage on Tuesday night and we both feel really great about it. I don’t think I could have done anything better or change anything to make me feel any better about what I did. Not winning the competition won’t limit me from trying to create an album and write stuff. To make it to the top two, I don’t think there’s any reason to be disappointed at that. 

Judge's advice? I always really enjoy when they mention the fact that they could feel that I was connecting with the song and that they could feel it too like when Paula would say that and when Randy would say “That was the bomb.”  It didn’t really make sense when he spoke sometimes. When they can tell that I really felt that the song I was singing means a lot to me, but also when they have advice to give too helps a lot, even the smallest of advice.

Dad: Stage father from hell. Or no?: I tried to stay away from the press and my dad also. He understood that I didn’t like to hear anything going on in the news about me good or bad, just because I didn’t want it to distract me or let it go to my head or anything like that. I just wanted to stay myself and how I was at the beginning of the competition before all this happened. I wanted to keep who I was, the normal teenage David. In interviews and stuff it started coming up and it was just kind of strange because there were really weird things. I heard one thing was like he refused to give me water or something like that. That’s the weirdest thing. I mean, I’m 17 and if I want water I’m pretty sure I would just go get it anyway. Another thing was like he made me cry during one of the recording studios or something like that. I can’t remember really. Just weird things like that. I’m old enough to have enough control over myself. Then the next thing is he’s a great guy. There isn’t really anything he’s done that’s bad like the things that have been spoken about.

Dream collaborator?: You know, someone I always thought would be really cool was Alicia Keys just because she is someone that gets so into her songs when she sings and you can just feel her emotions as she sings. She plays piano very well as a songwriter.

{Look for David Cook's posting tomorrow}

Idol Davids on Larry King Live

The two finalists, David Archuleta and winner David Cook have been making the expected interview rounds. Here's what they talked about on CNN's Larry King Live.

AI:7 The End! David Cook Wins!

DAVID COOK WINS THE TITLE: AMERICAN IDOL. (That's David, hugging his mom, after his victory). Here's the recap of the two hour program:

Ready for the bloated two hour extravaganza? The hyperbole starts right away: "If everyone in Canada, Spain, Ireland and Australia voted it still wouldn't match the number of votes received last night -- 97.5 million," Ryan says. One David wins 56 percent of the votes, the other 44 percent.

Given the dwindling ratings (which picked up a bit at the end), I find it hard to swallow Idol's hype.

• The group number, Get Ready, featuring the 12 finalists seemed to have been shot by a drunk cameraperson in the cheap seats. No close ups of the finalists, hard to recognize any of them. I saw Brooke a bit, Archie, Kristy, lost the rest among the dancers and the stomach-churning swooping editing.
• The Davids duet on Spider-Man's Hero was better than anything last nite.
• Bit of shameless promotion for Mike Myers' Love Guru with Myers portraying a guru who counsels big David to shave his face ("Last time I saw hair like that it was in the 90s, I was listening to Alice in Chains on my Discman") and made little David uncomfortable when he noted that he'd soon "have hair in wonderful places."
• Seal-Syesha duet: Blah. Talk about boring 90s.
• Jason reprises Hallelujah. Songwriter Leonard Cohen calls his accountant.
• The Davids get hybrids. Ryan checks to see if Little David has his driving license.
• The 6 girls do Donna Summer. (Surprised prim Mormon Brooke would agree to sing songs like Hot Stuff and Bad Girls. In an interview she said she had trouble finding suitable Neil Diamond songs to sing when he was a mentor because they were all about alcohol or women. Of course, they are not.) Donna Summer comes on to sell her generic new single, Stamp Your Feet, and then is vocally upstaged by Syesha on the Oscar-winning classic Last Dance. That said, maybe producers ought to consider Donna as Paula's replacement next season. At least she had more hits and is still giving clubs fodder with her new stuff and she can probably still put two coherent words together.
• Would someone explain how Michael Johns (singing '60s song The Letter with Carly Smithson) wound up in 8th place and Cook contends for the title?
• Jimmy Kimmell's comedic bit was amusing -- especially the shot directed at Paula who, this season, proved she had become a cardiologist ("I can feel your heart," she told a few contestants) and a pyschic, panning Jason's second performance before he even did it. And then being RIGHT!!
• Bryan Adams sang a new song, Thought I'd Seen Everything. I thought I'd seen everything, too, but I don't remember that gap in his teeth while watching MTV in the 80s.
• The artist-Idol pairings, so far, are working better than in year's past, perhaps because many of these artists already had recordings and performance experience and can hold their own a bit better with the talent. David Cook with ZZ Top on Sharp Dressed Man was credible and Brooke White and Graham Nash pulled off the difficult task of harmonizing live on Teach Your Children.
• The first hour's highlight? Audition reject Reynaldo Lapuz's We're Brothers Forever, with the USC Marching Band! Admit it, you've got that hook in your head more than any song Cook's sung all season!
• We say we want fresher music on Idol but, c'mon, this One Republic banality can't even compete with Bryan Adams' sappy Heaven. No wonder Archuleta's taken to singing with his eyes closed again.
• David Archuleta's grandfather, partying in Salt Lake City, Utah, kinda looks like John McCain. No?
• Jordin Sparks, last year's Idol, is going to throw out her voice again if she keeps forcing it on tunes like she did tonight. Song's got a decent hook, doesn't need all the vocal ornamentations.
• Three years worth of experience since stealing the Idol title from Bo Bice, millions of records sold, industry awards, and Carrie Underwood still hasn't found a personality. And now, with this shrill new country single, Last Name, she's recylced the execrable Before He Cheats in sound and theme.
• The parade of 80s has beens (Donna, ZZ, Bryan) continues with the emergence of George Michael, singing Praying for Time, one of his dreary, preachy ballads instead of something festive for the Idol finale. What a gloomy guss.
• "For the first time I don't really care who wins," Simon says, in praising both Davids and apologizing to Cook for verging on disrespect last night after he rewatched the show.
• David Cook wins by 12 million votes.
• Idol's over for another 7 months, but look for occassional postings on Idol Watch. Music items, etc. And a posting of the exit interviews of our two finalists should be up on Friday. Thanks everyone for another year!
• Photo credits: AP

Idol Poll: Your champ - David or David?

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David vs David: The Finals

With few surprises along the way, producers got their wish: A David-David finale. Will it be pseudo-rocker David Cook or cherub-like David Archuleta and his overbearing stage father Jeff (cuz you know, that's a package deal)? The battle begins...

The show begins with fanfare from Rocky. The contestants decked out in boxing robes. Actually, watching these two fight for the title might be more interesting than watching them sing the boring songs they'll likely be saddled with. "Two men with one name and one desire, to be crowned champion," Ryan reads, continuing the boxing motif. "The strategy for this match is ta keep on doing what I've been doing," Archuleta says, summing up the problem with this season's contestants. Few have stepped up their games, most all of them have stayed within their comfort zones. No wonder it's been boring.

Simon suggests that hating one's opponent is key to win. Little David immediately gushes about Big David who, in turn, showers little Dave with good tidings. The love match betwixt the Davids is a bit sickening, no? It's nearly 8:15 and we still haven't heard one song and there are six to do between them. Even this performance show is painfully padded. Tomorrow's gonna be unbearable (and not just because Carrie Underwood is to sing one of her awful songs).

Clive Davis chose U2's I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For for David C and Elton John's Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me for David A.

First up: Cook on U2. Ordinary and forgettable emo rock version. Idol hasn't found what it's looking for this season. Randy thought it was hot, Paula, who cares what she thinks, Simon thought it was phenomenal. It wasn't. He's become so bored this season, he's become punch-drunk.

Second up: Archie on Elton. Predictable Idol showboat version from a kid who hasn't lived long enough to grasp the emotions in any of the songs he sings so this, like most of the others, winds up an empty performance with a lot of big notes and no resonance. Archie nearly breaks into sobs when Randy gushes that he has peaked and Paula says "the sun will never go down on you." Simon: "Very easy to get overexcited tonight. Tonight's performance, arguably the best you've done so far." Archie looks like he's going to have a stroke when Simon gives round one to Archuleta. Me? Round one to Archie's fine by me, but I'll stick with Elton's original masterpiece.

Contestants' choice: Why is irrelevant Andrew Lloyd Webber taking such a big role on tonight's show?

Cook: Dream Big. Shouldn't we be hearing and seeing performances that give us chills at this stage of the finals? Where's the chills with these two? This generic rock song and Cook's typical forced rock vocal did nothing for me. Simon found it lightweight. Yep. "Didn't feel like a winning moment."

Archie: In This Moment. This isn't the Idol song but it sure sounds like the kind of sappy, saccharine type of ballad producers pick every season. Vocally, it's richer than Cook's, but that's not saying much. Simon loved the "self centered lyric" and gives round two to Archie, giving Archie the lead (and win) if viewers vote Simon's desires. Though not a fan of either man, based solely on tonight's performances, I'd have to hand Archie the win, too. He's beating Cook who doesn't seem to have his heart in it to win.

Contestant's choice: (I thought that was round two?) Cook takes on Collective Soul's The World I Know, Archie plays it safe by re-singing John Lennon's overplayed Imagine, his winning moment from earlier this season. Hate when contestants repeat songs.

Cook: Does he want to win? He's thrown in the towel. Drained all the energy, tempo, feeling and life out of this good Collective Soul '90s hit. Cook's offering the most defeated Final Two performances I can remember in Idol history. I didn't buy the sensitivity Randy found in this performance. David's weeping, that'll buy him some sympathy votes. Simon finds him "one of the nicest, most sincere contestants we've had" which seems inconsistent with his earlier comments when he complained that Cook was pompous or arrogant. But Simon also found it the complete wrong choice, suggesting he re-sing Billie Jean or Hello, his early in the season favorites."For me this whole thing has been a progression, so why do something I've already done," David countered, failing to note he really hasn't progressed a lick all season.

Archie: Did Imagine better a few months ago, but that doesn't matter. Archie played it to win tonight and did so, handily. Whether that will translate to fan votes to beat Cook is hard to predict. But my recent predictions that Cook had this sewn up a few weeks ago are not how I'm feeling tonight. Randy calls Archie "season 7s best singer," Simon says "at the end of the day this show is about finding a star ... and you came out here to win and what we have witnessed is a knockout."

Archuleta's winning American Idol. If this is a true fight to the end, he deserves it. He cares, Cook's distracted and just not very good. He's what he's going to be, a mediocre rock singer, forgettable; Archuleta, when he matures and can deliver songs with real understanding and gravitas is going to be someone to be reckoned with.

Idol Poll: David vs David The Finale - Who Wins?

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Countdown to Top 2: It's David vs. David

Fantasia to perform on tonight's extravaganza. wow. She screamed a song called Bore Me. Her hair is some shade of red. I guess my reaction is not unlike the shot of Simon, staring slack-jawed. I like her post-performance demeanor, tho.

Isn't it curious that despite Idol's dwindling ratings, the vote count keeps rising? This week, 56 million Ryan crowed. Hmm.

Whew! When Ryan brought out David A. first I figured that meant he was safe for sure and that we'd have a David-David finale (which we probably will still have). But we've gone to commercial now, so, who knows? I want a Syesha-Cook finale. At least Robo-Boy showed some real emotion by crying at his homecoming. "It's hard to show emotion," Ryan cracked, not realizing how accurate he was in that observation. One funny line: David can't believe all the people that turned out in Utah to see him and says, "Where did they all park?"

Syesha's story was next, featuring her visit to Sarasota. Rather uneventful for television, except for the mayor's handstand. I should feature her in my Sweat Equity column. The emotional response back in the car made it work tho. She projects a beautiful, charming persona.

What idiot fed Ryan his lines on that card? First Time Ever I Saw Your Face was popularized by Roberta Flack, not Chaka Kahn. Idiot! He corrected the mistake later, but blaming it on the card is no excuse. Ryan's a DJ and involved in the entertainment and music biz. He should have known from the start Flack cut that hit. Meantime, David Cook's story back home, with his brother Andrew, was enjoyable.

And the unsurprising, and depressing result: Syesha, Florida's chance for an Idol, slips away and we're left with a David-David finale. So disappointed. Robo-David flashed his robot expression: "What? Who? Me? You like me? once again. Cook looked, well, there. Syesha leaves with class.

Idol Poll: Who for Top 2?

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Idol Top 3

We start with judges picks:

David A: Paula picks Billy Joel's 1989 track, And So It Goes for its purity and to show off David's voice. On that end, she picked a good song to showcase his vocal tone. He sang it well, as well as a 17 year old could sing this reflective, adult ballad. I would have had David sing it while playing piano or, barring that, have him sing it as he started: a capella. Once those gloomy violins started sawing away in the background it reminded me of the closing scenes of Titanic as the great ship goes down and the band continues to play its chamber music.

Syesha: Randy picks Alicia Keys' If I Ain't Got You. Very elegant, she sang it as well as Alicia's original and looks absolutely beautiful. Stylish and believable. She's the class act on this show.

David C: "Round one goes to Cook and Cowell," Simon said, after the rocker sang his pick, Roberta Flack's First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. This was a surprise for me in that David pulled it off very nicely. He didn't mess up the song by shouting an atonal rock arrangement on it and, instead, sang it straight and pure. In so doing, he did a much more honest, believable version than Leona Lewis', Simon's British fave who sang an impersonal version on her new CD. Round one to Cook, with Syesha on his heels.

The judging however on this first round has been too much about the judge's criticizing the other judges' picks. Don't blame the kid if you don't like the song: I'm talking to you, Randy and Simon.

Contestant's Picks:

David A: Picks Chris Brown's melodically anemic With You and reveals he really can't sing anything faster than a Clay Aiken ballad. This was very stiff, forced, unnatural. Lousy song, too. Randy's right, "singing "my boo'' isn't right for you, not believable." Simon's self-satisfied "a chihuaha trying to be a tiger" crack wasn't far off the mark. You could see how happy Simon was to trot out one of his patented cracks but this show feels so formulaic the crack fell flat -- even tho he was not off the mark.

Syesha: Peggy Lee's Fever. Wants a chair as a prop, to work it!FIU's theater department has trained Syesha well. She's a Broadway star in the making -- and isn't that what Idol is about? The search for a superstar? Nothing wrong with landing on Broadway. Syesha's acting chops were in fine form, she sang it well, and Simon's dismissal of it as bad cabaret and not contemporary falls flat. I'd rather have Syesha's old-fashioned vamping here than Archuleta's stiff contemporary drivel he just gave us.

David C: If anyone's phony in this bunch, it's Cook doing Switchfoot's Dare You to Move. Cook likes to fashion himself a rock singer but he's not. He doesn't have the vocal chops for rock. Daughtry did. Plus, the charisma. David's not very charismatic and he forces his voice when doing rock songs, especially tuneless garbage like this song. He's much better off doing ballads, as proven by the Flack tune. Syesha wins round two handily.

Producer's Picks:
David A: Dan Fogelberg's Longer. Everything David sings in that syrupy voice of his sounds the same as every other. Different words but every song blends into the other with this kid. He's too young to understand the emotions of the material and has no range. Bored me to tears. His performances are as boring as Randy's meager vocabulary comments: "that was hot." Simon found the song gooey and something for a 90-year-old but figures David makes the finals. I sure hope not.

Syesha: Producers must want a David-David finale because, in giving Sy the lousy Hit Me Up from Happy Feet, they failed to give her a "defining moment" as Simon correctly pointed out. This type of contemporary R&B song was made by machines to be sung by machines and doesn't allow for any emotions or feelings. Voters respond to songs that touch them. This was forgettable. She's the most interesting contestant to look at, has the most flair, will find a sizable career post-Idol -- which is more than I see happening for the Davids, but she's doomed on this show.

David C: What's with the depressing Titanic violins dragging down the beginning of Aerosmith's I Don't Want to Miss a Thing? Gosh, no wonder people are bored with this show, these arrangements are so dreary. As for Cook's performance, he gets round three. Not an especially musical voice, but he did this one OK.

Please voters, let's have a Syesha-Cook finale. Can't take 2 hours of Archie's syrupy, emotionless monotone next week. However, the pre-teen text vote onslaught will likely ensure a David vs. David finale. How depressing.

Don't forget to vote on the Idol Poll I posted. Thanks!

Idol producer on Archuleta stage father

Read EW report on Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe's reaction to reports about the banishment of David Archuleta's stage father Jeff from rehearsals. Are these Idol producers forbidden to address the truth head on? They couch everything in platitudes, from the Paula fiasco a few weeks ago when she reviewed Jason Castro before he sang ("She's family!" Ryan said on camera, a meaningless comment). Now this issue. No wonder the ratings are falling.

Read it by clicking here.

Idol Top 4: Who to boot?

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Idol Top 4: Hall of Fame Classics

Tonight's theme, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame classics inexplicably allows for David Cook to perform Duran Duran's Hungry Like the Wolf. Unless this is another Hall of Fame, DD is not in the RRHoF. Cook's also tackling The Who's Baba O'Reilly. David A promises a sap fest with Stand By Me and Love Me Tender. Syesha's doing Proud Mary and A Change Is Gonna Come and Jason, who told EW he's ready to go home, as if we didn't all know that, takes on Mr. Tambourine Man and I Shot the Sheriff.

Hope the people involved with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are watching Idol's introductory tribute, given that they are playing Kiss' Rock and Roll All Nite as backing music and Kiss, shockingly, is not a member of the Hall and should be.

Meantime, tomorrow night Maroon 5 and Bo Bice perform on the bloated results show. Go Bo!

David Cook: Hungry Like the Wolf. Typically charmless, vocally monotonous performance. Boring. Paula's comment about watching David grow is as moronic as everything else she says. A problem with this season is that few of these contestants have grown. They all lack spontaneity. This was the kind of growling, unpleasant David performance we get every week. The only one of the remaining four to show some growth lately has been Syesha.

Speaking of which... Syesha: Proud Mary, "covered over 100 times," Syesha notes. Well, yeah. I like the way she phrased the word "turning" on the ballad part, swallowing it down and giving it back warm and full. The rock part was not particularly memorable, tho. Shrieky. Didn't give ol' Tina Turner any reason to worry over competition when she launches her tour later this year. That said, Syesha's the only one I still care to watch. Likable. Has grace, class.

Jason: "There are a few songs on the list I knew," Jason says, once again revealing his total lack of preparation and lack of respect for this show and its viewers. Bob Marley died so he wouldn't have to hear what this little dweeb's done to his song, I Shot the Sheriff. Randy: "For me that was a really karaoke Bob Marley. Dude, nothing special about it and at this point you have to show you deserve to be in the finals." Paula: "I never saw you perform more to the audience, but I wasn't crazy about the performance or the song." Simon: "Stand back. That was utterly atrocious. That is a song you do not touch, the performing and singing as bad as I ever heard, a first-round audition massacre, I don't know what you're thinking."

David A: "A fun song for me to sing," Robo-Singer said about Stand by Me. Technically, the only skillfull vocal of the evening thus far (and I liked the simple percussive arrangement) but I'm over little David. Tired of seeing his stage dad from hell in the audience, tired of David's same facial expressions every week, and his syrupy sound is not for me. But to be fair, he did a much better job than his competitors tonight.

David C: At least he was honest when he said he "could have done so much more" with his last song, the Duran fiasco. Thing is, he probably couldn't. He just hasn't the personality or range. As for his sleepwalk through the Who, it was as fake as the guitar he hangs around his neck as a prop. Even Madonna puts more effort and gets more out of her guitar when she plays it in concert -- and we all know Madonna is no guitarist. As a rocker, Daughtry would eat this Cook alive. Totally unconvincing.

How lame has Idol become this season? Rascal Flatts is in the house tonight, that's how lame.

Syesha: "Top 4, amazing experience, went home after results show and cried my eyes out," Syesha said, leading into Sam Cooke's A Change Is Gonna Come. She's best in her low notes where she's sultry and seductive. Unfortunately, she had to give Idol one of its money shots with the last high note held forever for effect. Overall, tho, nice enough. "Trying to be something it wasn't," Randy opined. Paula made Syesha cry with her "welcome to your dream" comment. Simon, in a shocker, agreed with Paula. Thing is, he's probably doing reverse pyschology on the viewing public. Sobbing, Syesha said the song meant a lot to her and how its origins in the Civil Rights movement meant so much to her and reflected how she changed a lot. The positive aspect of this is that unlike the Davids and Jason, Syesha has honest emotions, personality and flair. It'll be shame if she's cut this week. We need her.

Jason: Forgets the words to Mr. Tamborine Man, after saying you can't go wrong with the Bobs, and, unlike Brooke in week's past, this comes across as pure arrogance and contempt. Jason doesn't want to be here anymore, hasn't tried in weeks, and when you think of the better talents who have left so that he may remain, it's just offensive. "I'd pack your suitcase," Simon said. Sad thing is he might not have to. Viewers have blown it so spectacularly this season, this little idiot probably will remain.

David A: "Haven't sung a big romantic song on stage before," David A. said before doing his Robo-Singer version of Love Me Tender. Once again, the notes in the right place but totally lacking in spontaneity, believability or soul.

Tops of the night: Syesha, by far. Cook and Castro abysmal. Archie bland.

Going home: I'm going to go on a limb and predict Jason will go. I have to believe, or at least pray, America gets it right and doesn't go the predictable route and eliminate Syesha.

Neil Diamond Night

The five contestants will sing two Neil Diamond songs tonight. We hear that David Archuleta will tackle Sweet Caroline and America. David Cook will do I'm Alive and All I Really Need Is You (what's that one?) and Jason Castro's Forever in Blue Jeans and September Morn. [Syesha, pictured, fared the best.] I was hoping Cook, the most masculine of the three, would do Neil's Solitary Man or Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon (songs Michael Johns would have been excellent on) rather than the '80s tune he picked.

I wish Randy would stop booing Simon during introductions. After seven seasons it's not funny anymore (never was) and just makes him seem like such a moron.

"For me it's the chance to encourage the singer, the performer," Neil Diamond said.

The contestants will be judged after their second song this time. But not on this blog! We'll get right into it!

Jason: This kid's lack of musical knowledge (has he heard of anyone???) is grating. His performance of Forever in Blue Jeans, one of Neil's jauntier late '70s pop numbers, was the equivalent of hospital tapioca: no body, no flavor, utterly forgettable.

David Cook: "David went for two songs most people haven't heard before," Neil said. That's daring. I know this 1982 Heartlight album track, I'm Alive. I still don't think has a natural rock voice, he forces it, it's not fluid, but that said, I liked his rendition of I'm Alive. He saved it from its original slick production and put grit in it. Good job. But I still don't like Cook's attitude.

Brooke: Not a great vocal on I'm a Believer. Love her look (I would have preferred watching this without the sound) and that she did an uptempo for a change. But so far, Cook's leading tonight.

These songs are just better than these performers and Neil is not coaching, he's just being a nice guy. If anyone has experience it's Neil. Start coaching!

David Archuleta: "Uncertain how to end the song," Neil says of David. He got a little coaching at least. Maybe it's that Neil has such a commanding, deep voice, but hearing all these songs tonight by these lesser talents is rather disappointing, these all feel like sodas without the fizz, including David's strained Sweet Caroline. I'm getting kind of tired of the tone of his voice too.

Syesha: Doing Hello Again from The Jazz Singer and Thank the Lord for the Nighttime from his 60s catalog. Did a rather sweet Hello Again, contemporary R&B ballad treatment. Would I buy it or select this version over Neil's on my iPod? No. But given what we've heard tonight, Cook and Syesha so far are the most pleasing. She did a good job. Edges David C, in fact for round one.

Why is Paula reviewing Jason's second song BEFORE he sung it!! Lane, you were right: She would get all confused and not remember the songs. So embarrassing! "This is so hard!"

Jason: The romantic adult ballad September Morn is so far beyond this little boy's reach it's just plain embarrassing. Would anyone ever believe this guy singing this song to a woman? Would anyone believe this kid's ever BEEN with a woman? He sure doesn't sing this song as if he has any conception of what being in a relationship is about.  And afterward, he doesn't even act as if he cares. The time has come to end this joke and vote this kid off. He doesn't belong on a singing competition. Not funny anymore. "This is not the Jason we put into the competition," Simon said after two disastrous weeks.

Cook: All I Really Need Is You. I'll have to check my CDs to find the origin of this song. But it certainly isn't a jewel in Diamond's catalog. Where's the hook, the melody, the tempo? Cook's mediocre voice, smug delivery, certainly didn't save it. Weakest song of the night and only thanks to Jason, not the biggest train wreck. "I feel like I'm already looking at the American Idol," Paula said and Simon pronounced it "brilliant, made it feel that song was written this year." I don't agree.

Brooke: Is Ryan trying to prompt Brooke's dismissal by reminding viewers of Simon's negative comment on the previous song? Not fair. As for I Am, I Said, kudos to Neil for suggesting that she change the "New York" reference to Arizona since that is her homestate. And her smile, after remembering to do so, was rather infectious. Brooke's I Am, I Said certainly lacked the heft of Diamond's powerful original, but it was not bad. As Randy noted, this song is difficult with all the octave changes and melodic shifts. This performance is in the Top 3 tonight. She connected with the song.

David A: "They're coming to America," he sang, and after this cloying, syrupy Archuleta performance, I'd like to move to Canada. He sings every song the same I'm starting to notice. Calculating move, not unlike Kristy Lee doing God Bless the USA a month ago, playing to the masses.

Syesha: Thank the Lord for the Nighttime. Thank the lord for Syesha tonight. The only one to score twice on her selections. She, like Brooke on I Am I Said, connected with the song and also picked a good one with soul. She's not a great singer but she's got a winning personality, lovely smile, and she's a good performer, maybe the best of the remaining bunch. Cook has his fans, but he's got a cocky side I find to be a turnoff. Syesha, lately, has been a pleasure. Simon says she's a good actress/singer but thinks she might be in trouble tonight owing to less than memorable second song. He might be correct in that she could be voted off, given viewers' lack of taste (keeping foolish Jason in, for instance) but if she goes, it's not because she should.

Prediction: The absolute pits, on both songs, Jason. I'd like to think America has its eyes and ears open and can see the total lack of talent here and save us from another week of this drivel from this contestant. But since this is a popularity contest and Syesha wound up in bottom two last week despite a strong performance maybe Simon's right. Shame.