Virginia Is For Families

Was Neil Diamond reading from a script? It sure looked like it to me. He really should get into politics as long as he can take his script writer with him.

Jason Castro sang Forever In Blue Jeans and I was not impressed. But someone else thought it was a solid performance if not memorable.

Solid as in solid waste maybe.

He then sang September Morn and hit a few really bad notes. Someone I know thought that he or she had a “few peaks into something almost brilliant”. Were there fireworks last night? I must have missed them. I went to bed early.

David Cook sang I’m Alive and had the right attitude for the song. But he didn’t sound great last night. I didn’t build the song and he looked like hell. Another off night for the Davidmeister.

He also sang All I Really Need Is You and it was a mixed bag. The softer parts were terrific but the rocking part was again too screamy. His voice had too much grit (pollen maybe?). We continue to wait for a great rejoinder to Billy Jean.

Brooke White sang I’m A Believer and it was light and fun but forgettable and slightly irritating. I’m sure I have seen something like this in one of those campfire scenes in a horror movie right before the devil jumps out of the weeds.

For her second song she did I Am, I Said and it was much better. It was perhaps her finest performance. The judges liked it. I liked it. And America probably liked it. Maybe it saved her from going home this week. Who else might go home instead?

Jason comes to mind.

David A sang Sweet Caroline and found an inventive way to get around the extremely low range. It was an excellent interpretation and his voice is sterling.

He then sang America and got off to a shaky start. But when he hit the bridge it was great and his own ending wrapped up a too short song with all the emotion of a full blown rendition.

And finally Syesha Mercado sang Hello Again. It was a great arrangement and sounded a bit like a contemporary ballad. Her voice sounded great and she had a beautiful smile throughout looking very relaxed and confident. What did Sir Lloyd do to this girl? She is a different performer and hopefully will be in the final three.

Syesha is turning into a wonderful story. I hope she makes it.

She also sang Thank The Lord For The Nighttime and once again looked and sounded great. It was a fabulous song choice and she put a lot of newfound personality into it.

Syesha wins tonight! David A is a close second.

We will see what happens.

Verdict:  Brooke White goes home.

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My new NewsLink Briefs post is up and I hope you will take a look at it.

It was an interesting night and the guys definitely did better overall.

David A sang When You Believe. It was a great song for him to show off his ability to run up and down the scale without being compared with Mariah. He did well and continues to help his cause with his smile and general attitude about the competition.

Carly Smithson sang Without You and she also sounded great. She should keep her eyes open more of the time. They are beautiful. And hopefully she will avoid the bottom three with this performance.

Syesha Mercado started off very nicely but tried to do too much with her song. She was off key in parts. What was the name of the song? I don’t remember.

Brooke White sang Hero and did a good job. We would have liked the band to have helped her out in the last part of the song. But it was not to be and her nervousness was apparent. Brooke looks as if she expects to go home every week. I see her showing no confidence in her performance.

Kristy Lee Cook sang Forever and continues to progress. Parts of it were great although there were some shaky moments. Towards the end she demonstrated that she really can sing.

David Cook sang Always Be My Baby. The lower register in the beginning was pitchy. The ending was good. It was the most original moment of the night and the judges were overwhelmed. We did not think it was as good as his rendition of Billy Jean but it was very good.

Jason Castro sang I Don’t Want To Cry and did it in understated fashion. The falsetto was cool. We missed the guitar on this one. And overall it was very nice.

This week we expect to say goodbye to Syesha. There could be another surprise in store if fans do not vote for their favorite as apparently happened last week.

But it should be a girl who goes home in any case. The guys are taking over this competition.

Verdict:  Kristy Lee Cook goes home.

Ramiele Malubay sang Hearts Alone. She was a little pitchy but did show an amazing amount of power for such a tiny person. And she is sick too. Not an inspiring performance and it may land her in the bottom three.

Jason Castro sang Fragile and looks more comfortable now that his guitar has returned. The accappella went smoothly. He’s cute but uninspiring for the past several weeks as Simon noted.

Syesha Mercado saing If I Were Your Woman and went beyond past performances with a mature, controlled and yet emotional performance. One of the best performances of the night and hopefully she will get a break tomorrow night.

Chikezie Eze sang If Only For One Night. It was a pretty good arrangement and his voice sounds really good. However it may not keep him out of the bottom three as some of the excitement from several weeks ago has gone away.

Brooke White sang Every Breath You Take and stumbled on the start. The arrangement was dull and she may end up in the bottom three tomorrow.

Michael Johns sang We Will Rock You /We Are The Champions and once again did a good job with a Freddy Mercury song. The back up singers didn’t do him any favors as they were off key. But he feels these songs and sounds great.

Carly Smithson sang Total Eclipse of the Heart. Great start and ending but was screaming a bit in the middle. She improved this week and left the passivity behind so she should stick around for another week. She just needs a great arrangement and a passionate attitude. And she needs to take notes when David Cook sings.

David Archuleta sang Make A Noise. We are not familiar with this tune and are not sure if we got the title right. He seems to choose songs with a message but maybe should just find a great arrangement. Not his best performance. He is being passed by several contestants as he seems to be coasting on his initial popularity.

Kristy Lee Cook sang God Bless the USA and turned in her best performance. Maybe she has tapped into the patriotic feelings out there. If so it was a very clever move as Simon noted. Credit goes to this young woman for remaining positive and working hard even though she is in the bottom three every week. She looks great and may be following the Kelly Pickler path to success as a country artist.

David Cook blew us away with his rendition of Billie Jean. He is very original and established himself as the person to beat in the competition. He has lost the cocky attitude and when he sings he is no longer looking down his nose at the audience. But the main thing is that he is an amazing talent and tonight turned in one of the best performances ever on AI.

Many of the contestants need to find good or even great arrangements at this point to stay in the competition. And they are always being urged to get out of their comfort zones. What many of them don’t seem to realize is that you can be in your comfort zone through part of the song and then make an effort to stretch yourself towards the end. Build the song to reveal something as you reach the end. Too many performances this week had a predictability about them. Everybody here can sing but none come close to David Cook as he slowly stretches a song to its outer limits in a satisfying way.

We take back what we said about no one in this class having the ability of Clarkson, Underwood or Sparks. David Cook may surpass them all. We really didn’t like him the first few weeks and his progress to date is amazing. Hopefully he will forget about the guitar and concentrate on movement and imaginative interpretation in the weeks to come. On his present course he can possibly take AI to places it has not been before when he is actually given time to sing an entire song.

We look forward to that with great interest.

Here is a video someone put together of Jordin and Chris Brown. I think it has a lot going for it but I don’t think the drum part helps it much. In fact it probably takes away from what Jordin and Chris are doing. It’s distracting. I actually like Freeze better but once again the drums are pounding away in the background. Great rock tunes are usually pretty simple and so you need to eliminate the clutter most times. The “Oh add this and it will make it better” attitude.

This is actually the song I think has the best chance of catching fire on the album. And the drummer is taking a break. Now You Tell Me.

So we will have to wait a little while longer for Jordin’s first super hit. Although Tatoo was very nice. This is probably the best thing for her at this stage of the game. She doesn’t need the level of attention some of the others in the music industry get all the time. She doesn’t need the craziness. I’m sure it is bad enough as it is.

She needs time to relax with her family and acclimate to all of these changes.

Update:  Jordin is doing very well.  Vote for her at the BET Awards Show HERE

Here is a poem I wrote last summer about Beth and about air. Or lack of it. Because I would die without Beth. And then I would do what many of us would do. Start searching once again for our one true love.

It is that simple.

So this little poem expresses something about love and I was very happy to see the same connection being made in No Air.

My Love

I remember when you said you wanted us to be “friends”

And I said, “I am blessed. You want to be my friend?”

So you decided we could be more than friends.

And I don’t understand how there could ever be a time

When I cannot find you. When you are gone.

It would take the breathe from my body

And I would search for you…

Everywhere.

No Air

Tell Me How im supposed to breathe with no air (ohhhh)
Can’t live can’t breathe with no air (ohhh)
thats how i feel whenever you ain’t there
Its No Air No Air
Got me out here and the water so deep (So deep)
Tell me how you gon be without me (Without Me Yeahhh)
if you ain’t here i just can’t breathe
Its No Air No Air