American Idol 7: Top 4 Performance Rankings

[oscardahl]

Tonight's American Idol performance show provided a profound dilemma.  It's one that was discussed briefly earlier in the season, but tonight brought it to the forefront: How do you judge a performance that is technically excellent, yet not your cup of tea, versus a performance that was technically poor, yet in a style you enjoy?  This question has permeated this season of American Idol, especially with contestants like Brooke White and Jason Castro who are, in vocal terms, much more style than substance.  Complicating matters has been David Archuleta, who's been robotic in his excellence – vocally head and shoulders above most of his competition, but full of annoying habits that have kept me and countless others from jumping on the Archie bandwagon.  Granted, since this is music, everything I say is based on a subjective opinion.  There's a difference between saying a singer is bad, and saying you don't like a singer.  I will admit that Archuleta is a very good singer.  That doesn't mean I like him.  But, am I obligated to rank him high on a night where he excelled at what he does (which I don't enjoy) or rank him on a purely personal level?

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[TheEditor]

Yay, Bright Eyes rules! I maintain my anti-Archuleta status because, while the vocals may be good, they still don't in any way shape or form connect to the lyrics. At least someone like Celine infuses some emotion into her songs. Archuleta continues to sap the life from he words. He keeps annoying me ("I'm not that familiar with Elvis"...screw you). For me, DCook's Baba O'Reilly and Syesha's Change is Gonna Come both blew Archuleta out of the water. Also, Castro should really be ranked fifth. Or sixth. Or 1 millionth.

[imreoir]

with all the songs available tonight i thought overall it was a disappointment. the bright spot, for me, was cooks rendition of baba o'rielly it seemed to end to soon and there lies his forte. he is the only one who has sung leaving me wanting to hear the song again. while i admit the kid archeleta can sing i think from week to week you hear same exact song and arrangement with different words plugged in. it was kind of sad that jason lost the words in secind song but it wasnt going to save him anyway. the battle is between the two davids and i prefer cook.

[pharmboy]

Archuleta was predictably good, but he totally stayed within his wheelhouse and played emotional and resonating songs in a Michale Bolton fashion. I have iked his performances in the past, but today was too canned for me.

The two best songs of the night were Proud Mary by Seyesha and Baba O'Reilly by Cook. I thought Cook was the best tonight followed by Seyesha, then Arhuleta with Castro last, Tonight Castro looked like someone in a tryout video, a total deer caught in the headlights. When Paula slams you, then you know you stunk.

[pharmboy]

If Cook was set on doing a song by The WHo, he could have pulled another Hello with the song Getting In TUne.

[seaorca]

I agree with imreoir, I would love to hear David C fo on with Baba O'Reilly for another 5 minutes or so. I thought Davic A's version of "Love Me Tender" was atrocious. I am not a big Elvis fan, but this song needs to be sung by a MATURE MAN. David A sounded like a pipsqueek. Also I have to remind everyone that the song "Proud Mary" was written by John Fogerty and originally performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival. I think they did it best. It does not have to be screached out by a black woman to be good, that is to say ist is NOT a Tina Turner song.

[tvwarrior]

Is it just me, or any song Archie sings just sounds the same, after the fact? I mean, at the time he sings it you are aware of the song and arrangement, his voice, but he is utterly forgettable. The only performance I ever liked from Archie is Imagine.
Having said that, the others are no Idols either. I hoped for Johns to take over but that is not gonna happen. No wonder the ratings are low, two, three seasons in the row they have funny people winning, From all that auditions, can't they get someone with charisma? and when they do, e.g. Johns, he needs to go as he is not American??? WTF?

[Kevin2TheMystic]

Call me crazy, but I actually liked Jason's "I Shot the Sherrif". I thought he was having fun, I thought it was more interesting voacally than he has been in a while, and I think he should go out there into the grassy knoles of America and sing for his friends like so for the rest of his life. The likes of him is not made for American Idol and he knows it and so do we, and it is better that he gets off the show as soon as possible. Moreover, I was sorry for him when he forgot the lyrics.

I was not a fan of Syesha when I first saw her sing some Whitney Houston song back on the top 16 show now I am really a fan of how she is stepping it up, is not not afraid to show her personality, have some fun and show her vulnerability... for me, she is growing on me week after week.
I am in the same boat as the writer here...I did not like David Archuleta at all tonight, and am not his biggest fan, however I have cheered for him once or twice when he has absolutely nailed e.g. Angels.
David C. is s

[Kevin2TheMystic]

What is the deal with my novel/message being cut off? I went on to say that David C. was good but HLTW was probably his worst song choice ever, and BOR ( or Teenage Wasteland for those of us who like our songs named after actually words contained therein ) was pretty darn rockin' but would have liked a litte more rock. This week is a hard one to judge. Jason goes home though, apart from him saying that "I am ready to go home" as well as DialIdol saying so.

[joerj11]

David A stinks.