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American Idol 2008 Season 7: Top 8 Finalists Performances
By Jeff | April 9, 2008
This week was inspirational week on Season 7 of American Idol. The remaining top eight finalists performed in order to make it another week. One more will get eliminated before the week is over. It’s my job to predict who it will be. I’ve been “inspired” that a male contestant will win as all the females have taken themselves out of contention in my opinion. Of course, in saying that, there have been exactly two girls and two guys eliminated.
On the other hand, twice we have seen an all female bottom three and I would not be surprised a bit if the two Davids and Michael Johns were the last ones competing for the Final Two show.
Anyway, Tuesday April 8th, 2008, we saw each of the remaining eight finalists perform a song of inspiration. As odd as it may sound, inspiration night was a tad bit “uninspiring”. Dolly Parton week was awesome. Even if you don’t like Dolly Parton, at least she helped us rid ourselves of Ramiele and that was a great thing. A great thing indeed.
Let’s take a look at each performance along with my personal thoughts. First, here is a quick rundown of how I ranked the performances of the nine finalists.
- David Archuleta - “Angels” by Robbie Williams
- Kristy Lee Cook - “Anyway” by Martina McBride
- Jason Castro - “Over The Rainbow” by Judy Garland
- Michael Johns - “Dream On” by Aerosmith
- Brooke White - “You’ve Got a Friend” by James Taylor
- Syesha Mercado - “I Believe” by Fantasia
- David Cook - “Innocent” by Our Lady Peace
- Carly Smithson - “The Show Must Go On” by Queen
No one else has stepped up to change my opinion that only David Cook, David Archuleta, and Michael Johns deserve to win 2008 American Idol Season 7. The order in which the other contestants exit is only important to me because I’m trying to beat my good friend Jason at predicting it more accurately. We are currently tied so we’ll see who he picks to see if I can regain my lead. Let’s check out a video of the performances and review my thoughts for each contestant.
David Archuleta - “Angels” by Robbie Williams
David A. returns to the top spot with his solid performance at the piano. Allowing the contestants to use live instruments in their performances was definitely a great decision. It allows fans to see how talented the contestants really are as well as giving them the ability to see what it may be like to witness a live concert by the performer. Ah, David A… he just makes all the ladies scream, “We love you David!” Give me a break. You don’t even know him. LOL… at least Paula only said a few words because of all the girlies screaming. I’ll take the annoying sound of girlies screaming over incoherent ramblings of Paula any day.
Kristy Lee Cook - “Anyway” by Martina McBride
Wow! I’m dumbfounded. I pretty much had Kristy leaving this week for sure. Then she does this. I’m not a big country music fan, but I can’t deny a solid performance. I’m speechless. It’s a good thing I didn’t delve into the psychic industry because I would be broke. This was by far, and I mean by real far, Kristy’s best performance. I mean, we have David doing horrible and Kristy making into the top 3 for the first time. I don’t know what else to say but it appears Kristy will actually avoid the bottom 3 this week.
Jason Castro - “Over The Rainbow” by Judy Garland
I told my wife that I thought this was an odd song choice for Jason. I wasn’t feeling it during the live performance. However, luckily for Jason, I record the American Idol shows and when I replayed it in order to get my thoughts together, it kind of grew on me. I kept him at four on my list based on overall performance only. He seemed to sing it perfectly. The Ukelele was a cool sound actually. Jason actually moved up a spot from fourth to third after the replay. Not sure why I had Michael over Jason at first, but just like an NFL replay - the important thing is that I got it right in the end. I can’t say that I would actually buy a Jason Castro CD, but it’s obvious what his niche in the music industry is. Jason secures a top 3 performer spot.
Michael Johns - “Dream On” by Aerosmith
Michael did pretty good. It was a good start to the show. One of a few good starts during this season of American Idol 2008. Still, I did hear the pitch problems that Randy was talking about. There were some notes in that seemed just a little out of place so I’m assuming those are the ones. Paula is an idiot. I don’t know how she can honestly think that her Chihuahua comment was actually a compliment. Stupid. Nonetheless, Michael remains an honest contender and ultimately land in the top half of performers this week. I initially picked him third over Jason based upon the performance aspect. I quickly changed my mind after replaying the show and listening to the performances again. However, I wouldn’t argue with anyone that flip flopped them.
Brooke White - “You’ve Got a Friend” by James Taylor
Brooke probably chose the right song again. A simple happy-go-lucky friend song. Brooke didn’t do anything special with it. Her “sound” didn’t really seem to influence the song much. It was forgettable, but it wasn’t horrible. That could be an elimination trap for her, but with a few of the bottom performers this week I doubt she will make the bottom three. Even if she does, I think Brooke avoids elimination with another middle of the road performance. With a string of mediocre performances, I’m beginning to think that we have already seen the best that Brooke has to offer. Last week, you should have noticed that I removed Brooke from actual winning contention. She was the only girl on my list that now only includes three guys. Safe performance from Brooke.
Syesha Mercado - “I Believe” by Fantasia
I immediately thought bottom three pretty early on in the performance. Then I found out the song was from one Fantasia sang after winning American Idol. Syesha committed two of my biggest mistakes in back to back weeks. Last week, she attempted a song made famous by Whitney Houston and couldn’t really compete with Whitney. This week Syesha sings a song from a previous American Idol winner. To me, that’s a big no-no. I don’t care if it’s the greatest song ever in the history of civilization. I wouldn’t sing a song from a previous Idol winner. The performance was boring really. I never really connected or believed she was trying to inspire. It doesn’t matter really. Syesha has absolutely no chance of winning. I’ll stick with my prediction of bottom three.
David Cook - “Innocent” by Our Lady Peace
What the?!?! Ouch! How the mighty have fallen! David Cook disappointed me this week. I hated the song. I hated the way he sung it. I hated pretty much everything about it. Well, most of it. There were parts that were really good. The chorus was awful. I liked the fact that he thought of his entire performance and had it well planned out. However, the entire plan didn’t work out that well and the “Give Back” written on his hand was a bit cheesy and over the top for my taste. I like David’s confidence but I agree with Simon in that he seemed over-confident. Even Archuleta visited my bottom 3 and he was un-phased and I think the same will happen with David. Let’s just hope this is a brief wake-up call and David Cook will rock it out again all the way to victory.
Carly Smithson - “The Show Must Go On” by Queen
Carly is my worst performer for one main reason: song selection. The song sucked. At least the way she performed it sucked. Her make-up transformation was been extremely positive as she was working the sexy eyes a bit. The outfit was better than in the past, but I couldn’t help but think her top (that appeared to be tucked in) was a work-out leotard from the late 80s. Carly is in serious jeopardy of elimination in my opinion. We’ll see how I work it out in my head later. Her tattoos aren’t going to help either with mainstream America.
Elimination Prediction
So there you have my ThinkBox thoughts. This was a forgettable Idol night. Other than Kristy Lee Cook surprising me with a fantastic performance, this is not a night that I will remember past Friday of this week. Some of the song selections seemed uninspired. what can you do? You watch the show then forget about it. Fox can’t give us that time back and they sure aren’t going to monetarily compensate us for that lost time. What am I even talking about?
Now that Ramiele is gone, I thought this week would probably be an easy prediction. Well, that was before Kristy Lee Cook made it into my top performers list. I’ll be honest. I had Kristy gone this week immediately after Ramiele was eliminated. She has been in the bottom 3 for more times than I can count and definitely more than any other contestant. She even has her own chair now. Well, this week my favorite contestant gave a bottom three performance. David Cook let me down big time and even though he turned me into a huge fan, I feel I must maintain intregrity in my picks. If it weren’t for an akward performance from Carly, he would have been my worst performer.
Not to worry, David Cook fans. I’ve had David Archuleta as a low performer and he has yet to crack the bottom three and I think the same will happen with Cook. I definitely believe his past performances and strong fan support will keep him out of the bottom three and safe from elimination. Anyway, that makes my bottom three out to be Carly, Syesha, and Brooke. David Cook deserves to be there, but based upon his awesome previous performances he doesn’t deserve to be there. We’ll see if he avoids the bottom three with a weak performance like David A. did a few weeks ago.
Carly Smithson
After a quick look at my proposed bottom three, it really didn’t take me long to predict that Carly Smithson will be eliminated this week. Her song choice was suspect at best. Her performance was sub par compared to the remaining contestants. Carly has visited the bottom three before and I mentioned after it happened that her days were numbered. Well, it appears that they are numbered to 1. Today will be Carly’s last time on the American Idol stage this season (at least solo - I guess the eliminated contestants could come back for some kind of encore or something). Her tattoos are a little annoying to be honest. She has dressed terrible during several performances and I don’t see any kind of real story that America can hold onto. Her struggles are pretty strong and everyone loves a feel-good-down-and-out-but-rises-to-victory kind of story, but I don’t think it’s good enough to save her.
Ultimately, Carly can really blame this week’s elimination on one thing: song selection. This week’s song choice did not work for whatever reason. whether you call it a mistake, an error in judgment, or whatever, I call it Carly’s Exit Song.
The Remaining Finalists
- Brooke White, 24, Van Nuys, CA
- Carly Smithson, San Diego, CA
- David Archuleta, 17, Murray, UT
- David Cook, 25, Tulsa, OK
- Jason Castro, 20, Rockwall, TX
- Kristy Lee Cook, 24, Selma, OR
- Michael Johns, 29, Los Angeles, CA
- Syesha Mercado, 21, Miami, FL
Top 12 Eliminated Contestants
- David Hernandez, 24, Glendale, AZ (3/12/08)
- Amanda Overmyer, 23, Mulberry, IN (3/19/08)
- Chikezie Eze, 22, Inglewood, CA (3/26/08)
- Ramiele Malubay, 20, Miramar, FL (4/02/08)
For a quick recap from a slightly different perspective, swing by American Idol 2008 - Top 8 Performances and see what Jason had to say about the performances.
American Idol Pick Off 2008: Jeff 8-8 Jason 8-8
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Topics: american idol audition, american idol contestants cut, american idol girls, american idol guys, american idol judges, american idol season 7 |