Recently in '08 season Category

Here's the rumored song list for tonight's Idol show. Since Dolly Parton is the guest mentor, the contestants are singing her songs. It'll be interesting to see what Jason Castro does with "I WIll Always Love You" and whether Ramiele will be able to pull off "9 to 5."

David Cook: "You Know I Love You"
Kristy Lee Cook: "Two Doors Down"
Michael Johns: "Islands in the Stream"
Carly Smithson: "Jolene"
David Archuleta: "Travelin Thru"
Ramiele Malubay: "9 to 5 "
Brooke White: "Coat of Many Colors"
Syesha Mercado: "Eagle When She Flies"
Jason Castro: "I Will Always Love You"

Ryan Seacrest was doing some damage control for the whole "BIllie Jean"/Chris Cornell/David Cook issue on his radio morning show today.

Here's the story. David Cook sang Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" Tuesday night. But he sang the Chris Cornell version of it. When Ryan Seacrest introduced David Cook, he said it was Chris Cornell's version. But Ryan was also surrounded by a mob of screaming girls, and he judges apparently didn't hear "Chris Cornell." After David's performance, the judges threw heaps of praise on him, and it seemed like the slower, rock version of "Billie Jean" was David's original idea. It wasn't.

Bloggers, Youtube viewers and Chris Cornell fans quickly pointed out that David wasn't doing his own version, but Cornell's.

Today: On his morning show, Ryan was heavy on the spin control. Over and over, he told listeners it was Chris Cornell's version of "Billie Jean." Chris Cornell called in and said he's performed that song many times live and that it's in his studio album as well. When Chris first told people he was going to sing "Billie Jean," a lot of people thought it was crazy. After hearing his slow rock version, they love it. Chris praised David's performance and singing, adding that he hit every note in the runs in the same way that he does it.

Ryan speculated that the judges didn't hear his intro for David Cook on Tuesday night. But, both Ryan and Chris were surprised that Randy, whom Ryan called an encyclopedia of the music industry, didn't mention or know that David sang Cornell's version.

This song-and-dance show with Ryan and Chris went on for several minutes. We get it. Chris Cornell is great. David Cook wasn't all that original. American Idol judges may have goofed. It wasn't Ryan's fault. David Cook did Chris Cornell proud.

New news: Chris Cornell announced that Timabland is producing his third solo album. Timbaland also called into the morning show saying that the album is the best work he's done in his career, better than Nelly and Justin. Cornell said he hasn't been this excited about an album in years.

Diol Idol predicts the three contestants safest contestants are: David Cook, David Archuleta and Carly Smithson.

Everyone else is in the nebulous yellow cautionary area. Here's their order from safest to least safe:
Michael Johns
Kristy Lee Cook
Brooke White
Syesha Mercado
Ramiele Malubay
Jason Castro
Chikezie Eze

Here's Chris Cornell's version of "Billie Jean," which I think is more rich and soulful than David Cook's. Of course, David Cook is an amateur, right?


And here's David Cook's version


And here's the original by Michael Jackson.

At this point in the season, I'm not at all excited about the show or any of its contestants. So I'll keep this short.

Ramiele Malubay
“Alone” by Heart
She almost pulled it off.

Jason Castro
“Fragile” by Sting
He's fun to watch on a reality show, but would you buy tickets to his concert?

Syesha Mercado
“If I Were Your Woman” by Whitney Houston
She sounds great, but I don't think she has a large fan base.

Chikezie
“If Only for One Night” by Luther Vandross
What has this show become? An medley of tunes from the easy listening radio station? He also sounds just like Ruben.

Brooke White
“Every Breath You Take” by The Police
Why is she singing a stalker song? The piano was nice, but at some point she should have walked away from it. It limited her from really shining in the big notes.

Michael Johns
“We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions” by Queen
Michael Johns can only sing Queen. You know he's sung these two songs several hundred times in his life. Michael's range needs some improvement.

Carly Smithson
“Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler
Electrifying and scary.

David Archuleta
"You're the Voice" by John Farnham
Why can't this kid sing a contemporary song? All of his performances are 20 years too old for him. He did well, as usual.

Kristy Lee Cook
“God Bless the USA” by Lee Greenwood
Hating Kristy's performance would be unpatriotic. It wasn't on par with some of the other contestants this season, but it was Kristy's personal best. Doesn't say much.

David Cook
“Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson
David is probably the smartest contestant on the show. It was a great performance. That said, it wasn't original. Chris Cornell did it -- and better.

From best to worst:
David Cook
Michael Johns
Carly
Syesha (though no one will remember it)
Brooke
David Archuleta
Chikezie
Kristy
Jason Castro
Ramiele

If you haven't had enough torture, here's some more Danny Noriega.

Danny was invited to go on the morning Good Day LA show, not just by satellite, but in the studio. I bet the producer wishes they could take this back. This definitely shows why he didn't make it into the top 12. No individual personality, no class during elimination and what type of vocabulary is this? 

 

 

When one think's of 80s songs now, it usually is mostly pop or new wave. But I think the contestants did a good job of mixing it up a little on Tuesday and Wednesday night.

What did you think of 80s night? Did the Idol contestants sing your favorite songs?

What theme would you want the contestants to cover in the future? Movies, One-hit wonders....?

 

To be honest, I have not been enticed by Idol enough to watch all the time, since the first season. The only Idol winners that I actually like to listen to are Kelly and Carrie. The guy winners were flops, I think. When's the last time you heard from Studdard?

So I thought I would it give it another try with this season. I also want to be the voice of the people who don't like it much either but can't help but have to watch highlights while watching the news, or catch quick glimpses while channel surfing since there isn't much else to watch at that time on regular television. So far this is what I think: