The whole point is to do the song "as your own," not necessarily in the original style, nor in the style of someone who covered it. The choice isn't "perform this like you are Michael Jackson, or perform it like this other guy who covered it." An original artist would take it and somehow make it original to them, to their best ability. I don't want to hear someone doing a pale copy of Billie Jean just because the song was from 1983. Ans his only other choice wasn't to do the Cornell version of it. He could have done - less sucessfully, I imagine -a "David Cook" version.

I'd plow her and her little chicken legs.

I choose helicopter blade. It's more exciting than she is. That probably goes for the hotel fire, too.

Yeah, she's supposed to be 24 or 25 years old, but she looks 35. Everything she sings sounds the same. That's apparently her style, but there's no energy. The one time I actually saw her move was during that Beatles train wreck a couple of weeks ago. If I want to watch an old woman sit still and sing something slowly, I'll invite Rue McClanahan over to my house again. At least she can tell me funny Estelle Getty stories, and she'll watch R-rated movies with me.

I can understand getting sick of Brooke. She has a niche, and it's not for everyone, particularly AI viewers and Kathy Griffin fans. That's why I've been saying that she has no chance of winning, and that she should probably leave the competition fairly soon.

So many words, so little understanding.

:( :( :(

Also, post more Brooke White pictures plz.

Oh and your execution method was a fine choice. I agree with helicopter blade being pretty rad*

*yep. rad.

I guess my point is that Chris Cornell didn't do the song in 1983. While I understand that the song is from 1983, that version wasn't. The show allows him to do that, and that's fine. It irked me, though. Admittedly, I probably wouldn't complain if I actually liked that newer version.

To me, at least if I apply some kind of warped Pumpy logic to it, if you're supposed to do a song from 1983, you should do something that at least resembles the version that was done in 1983.

Really, I get it. I just don't like it.

But wouldn't that just require them to sing the song as-is, and doesn't that defeat the purpose of the whole competition? It's not about who can do the best imitation. I understand where you're coming from, but that would change the nature of the competition.

I don't know. All the contestants are singing other people's songs. They don't necessarily have to be imitations. I guess my issue is almost turning to semantics. It's like "Here's David Cook imitating a 2006 cover of a 1983 song!" If he's going to imitate a song anyway, why not imitate a 1983 version of something?

Ultimately, though, I just didn't like the song.

HE'S NOT AN EFFEMINATE BLACK MAN

THEN SING SOMETHING ELSE

HE LIKES SINGING BLACK PEOPLE SONGS

I'M GOING TO DO A RAP VERSION OF "HUNGRY EYES"

Make sure it's a 1988 rap version.

Brooke White's mom was the hottest person on AI last night

I thought Carly's mom looked better than Carly does...

Brooke's mom is cute for an old chick. Carly's mom is a straight-up MILF.

Even though I have been reading along, that (Cook's Billie Jean) was the first AI clip I have seen all season. Got to say that was really good.

from Jim's review


except they don't allow real lighters anymore, just these stupid little flashlight things that looks like a lighter.

Reminds me of the old days when someone, in every concert, would bring out a flamethrower.

I wish I could take all of the words Paula uses and wants to say and rescramble them into fluid, complete sentences for her to say live.

-This is just from the Youtube vid posted on Page 18, but EVERY review EVERY week is the same butchered mess of English! To channel my inner black woman, lord have mercy.

Paula: I'm blown away. I can't sit down because I've got to tell you.......... how smart you are. How brave you are, and how willing you are, to stretch the boundaries. And you do it, right to the edge without going over. I think you're brilliant, and I think you can... beat this.

Ok typing that out that didn't seem too bad. Maybe I should type it like how I feel she sends it:

Paula: Im blone away! I cant sit down bcuz I got 2 tell u how smart u r! How brave u r, & how willing u r 2 stretch the boundardies! & u do it rite to the edge w/o going over! I think u r brillant & I think u can beat this!

Ramiele obviously has the power of her people behind her. To not even be bottom 3 after that mess, in a week that was above average, is troubling (to the people who should stick around longer than her).

Meh. It all works out in the wash. It's like Sanjaya last year. Some people just get some vote-happy niche...but niches get overwhelmed eventually when you're dealing with a shrinking group and increasing voting population.

Concur though that Ramiele was the easy choice for dumping, just like last week and, well, the week before really - but that's equating the show with a singing or talent contest as opposed to a popularity contest.

Yeah, but there's no buzz about her at ALL. The best thing anyone's been able to say about her is that she's cute or, if you have a thing for Asian chicks, "hot." And performance-wise, best comment she usually gets is "forgettable." That's why it's somewhat surprising. Sanjaya makes sense because of all the attention he got. But you're right, eventually she'll be gone - just not as early as she should.

Ramiele is "bonable"

Like I said, never underestimate the Filipino voting bloc. My countrymen are going to keep on voting for her regardless of her performance.

Top-5, and maybe even Top-3, that's when the Filipino voting power fades due to it being a sheer numbers game by then.

Looking at the finish in Season 3, I guess I forgot how far Jasmine Trias went - top 3. Wow! That was the year Jennifer Hudson went out at top 7. Maybe Ramiele is good for top 5/6 after all - you may be right. Still, I have to think she needs to wow somebody at some point to get that far. But maybe not.

I just keep thinking of her as Davidson or W. Kentucky. Not sure how she keeps hanging around with the big boys, but it's always fun to watch her try.

Season 3 was an odd year and, in my opinion, the least talented cast.

If I recall correctly, they had a lot of very odd themes that season. Actually, looking it up, they had a three week streak of Barry Manilow, Gloria Estefan, and "Big Band." Those are three pretty specialized types of sounds that don't translate well to all artists and, I would guess, screwed over some of the contestants, as they were generally boring themes and didn't match some of the singers very well. For example, Jennifer Hudson went out after singing a Barry Manilow song that I have never heard of before ("Weekend in New England").

Looking at the wikipedia page, that was a wierd run for her (Jennifer Hudson). She was in the bottom 2 for 2 out of 3 weeks, then got the highest vote total for a week (didn't know they released that), then after that was in the top 3 for votes, and then was eliminated.

They've given out varying info about votes over the years - never specific order or anything, but they have given us top 2 or 3 and bottom 2 or 3, at times. This is part of the reason I half-jokingly believe in a TPTB conspiracy to sway voting patterns. I don't think they mess with anything to affects the outcome (i.e., claiming one person was voted out when someone else actually got the least amount of votes), but I don't put it past them to mix up the bottom 3 for their own purposes.

Like last week when Carly was in the bottom 3, one of the blogs that watches this kind of stuff closely made the point that at no time did Ryan link the voting with who made the bottom 3. I believe Amanda got booted, but I'm willing to doubt whether Carly was one of the 3 lowest vote-getters. And of course the outcome this week was obvious - even with lukewarm judges' receptions, she was not in the bottom 3.

I'm not trying to argue here, but I've seen this idea come up in the past, and I still don't get it. If they're not talking about number of votes, what could they possibly mean by "bottom three"? If they are manipulating things and playing word games, so be it. Clearly, they want us to infer that the "bottom three" got the least amount of votes. I'm just trying to figure out how they can say "bottom three" and mean something besides that. A little help here?

Well as long as they don't say something like "these three got the lowest votes", they can mean anything. Bottom 3 according to the Producer? Probably... even if the implication is lowest 3 votes.

Exactly.

Here's some awesome news. Finally, a musical guest I won't skip past.


The Clark Brothers are the musical guests for next week’s Top 9 Results Show. They were the winners of the Next Great American Band. If you guys haven’t heard them yet, you are in for a treat. These boys are fierce. The brothers album, Walk This Way, drops in June.

I was really hoping we could be rid of Castro.

who

Clark W. Grizwald.

Are they related to the Naked Brothers Band?

Do not mock the Clark Brothers. Run a youtube search on "Clark Brothers" and "Gimme Shelter"

if they're not naked, why bother

I posted one of their videos in this thread after Archuleta sang Imagine to demonstrate what I thought to be a true heartfelt performance, in comparison to his kind of performance.

The more Archuletta kept saying he loves that song the more it made me LOL.

Each time he talks the more I keep thinking he's a really weird dude.

Don't bother with the Naked Brothers Band, they're not really naked either.

No kidding. I'm not exaggerating when I say that song is one of the most vile things I've ever heard. The lyrics, the bizarre ballady/up-tempo mix, the synth-driven (especially the original, now that I've heard it) 80s throwaway music...it sounds like a spoof song written by the South Park guys (like the Montage song), except it's completely serious. I think his love of that song says more about why I can't like him than I could possibly express in words.

Yeah, at least the Clark Brothers aren't misleading.

The really are covered in Clark bars?

Apparently there are stories going around that his dad has been a real piece of work during rehearsals, and (assuming that is true) it seems to me that Archuleta has a bad case of Stage Parent. Over-sheltered, over-protected, and over-pressured is no way to go through life, son.

This is from last week on TMZ:

Jeff Archuleta -- Stage Dad From Hell
Posted Mar 19th 2008 4:00PM by TMZ Staff
David Archuleta's dad, Jeff, is a piece of work.

Sources close to "Star Search" tell TMZ that when David was a contestant back in the day, Jeff's behavior was so bad, he was eventually barred from the lot! The guards actually had a picture of Jeff's mug hanging in the guard shack in case he tried sneaking in.

We're also told the father of the year harassed Tiffany Evans, his "Star Search" rival, lurking outside her practices, even trying to coerce her into drinking milk before a show to ruin her voice. She didn't listen (obviously) and went on to win.

Sources also tell us Daddy Dearest sometimes screamed at his son and has even withheld water during rehearsals, even bringing his son to tears.

As far as "Idol" goes, we hear papa's wrath is still in full blossom. That might explain why Jeff, who normally sits in the audience, was replaced by other family members last week.

dola...

David Archuleta reminds me of every home schooled kid I grew up with: nice enough, genuinely friendly, seems like a genuinely good kid, but completely socially inept and enormously dorky.

This isn't a bad thing, mind you. Dorky tends to be a side-effect of being allowed to immerse oneself deeply into a topic of interest. For Archuleta, that topic is musical performance. But mind-bogglingly dorky nonetheless.

His dad needs to take his fucking hat off when he is indoors.

You're worried about his hat?

You wear a merkin to work and you're stressed about his hat?

he has a thing for skulls

via YT: "No Videos found for 'clark brothers gimme shelter'"

Highly disappointing. I was just about to gloss over this Clark Brothers discussion (never heard of them) but Ksyrup callin em fierce and then you name-dropping Gimme Shelter, and I was all about checking it out. Too bad I can't find anything!

No, I didn't call them fierce - that was the blog I copied that info from. I haven't used the term "fierce" since singing along to Glamour Boys in 1990.

They do kick all kinds of ass, though, even though bluegrass ain't my cup of tea. They have a chance to be bluegrass-accessible kinda like Nickel Creek (with a gospel angle).

There are tons of Clark Brothers vids on YT, though.

Next week is Dolly Parton week or something?

oh dear

They (The Clark Brothers) appear to be some of the most sincerely passionate musicians I've ever seen perform.

Subby beats up truckers at the Golden Corral over this at least three times weekly.

Gimme Shelter:

Damn, that is a lot of buffet food. At least he works it off with the brawling.

Okay, I'll admit that clip kicked ass. Serious, serious ass.

Is that the dude from Goo Goo Dolls?

I can't see the clip at work, but the lead singer of the Goo Goo Dolls was one of the judges on the show.

KSyrup - you're the man. I need to go back and look at all of the YT clips now. I always loved them, but seeing them again just makes me realize just how much I love them.

Keep in mind what they do IS right up my alley - let alone how well they do it.

Dola: IMO that wasn't even one of their top 2 or 3 performances I don't think BTW.

Well, idano - hard to rank them.

Trying to search for my favorite and I can't figure it out.

Seriously - just do a YT search - they're badass.

I like them, and I don't really like that kind of stuff. However, I do like Nickel Creek because they are more "progressive blluegrass" than straight-up bluegrass/country. The only thing I'm a bit concerned about with The Clark Brothers is their original stuff...a couple of the originals they did on the show were a little too..."typically country," I guess is the best way to explain it. I think Reznik even said as much about some of the lyrics being a bit too obvious and not as esoteric as he (and I) would like, but being too down-home/shlocky, which is one of my big hang-ups with country. Their vocals and instrumentation don't scare me away, but their songs could.

Tonight's spoilers, from TMZ. A fake list has already been up at Entertainment Weekly (woops), and with this being April 1st, you never know...

I was hoping Archuleta would do "9 to 5". Seriously, this song list is going to be pretty rough and involve large "liberties" for tonight to be watchable. For a group that constantly complains about "being current", having 60s, 70s and Dolly Parton in 3 of your few shows seems a little questionable. I'm waiting for the Benedictine monks night when Simon rips David Cook for not making "Os Iusti" a current pop hit.

I KNEW it!


According to The Pulse of Radio, Chris Cornell's version of the Michael Jackson smash "Billie Jean" has gotten a huge boost after "American Idol" contestant David Cook did an almost "note-for-note" version of Cornell's recording last week. The track, which appeared on Cornell's 2007 solo album, "Carry On", saw a 300% sales jump in the past week and is currently Number 12 on iTunes' Top Alternative chart.

The former AUDIOSLAVE and SOUNDGARDEN frontman has been getting a lot of attention ever since the performance. He told Billboard, "You can clearly see that the judges are giving this guy credit for it on national television. My fans were like, 'Wait a minute! That's Chris Cornell's moment."

Cornell is happy about it, saying, "Don't get me wrong. He sang it great. But it was literally a note-for-note take on what I came up with. At the end of the day, it's all good. It's a good thing for me. There was a moment when I was sitting there writing this new arrangement thinking, 'Is this a good idea or a bad idea?' Watching the response from the judges was really gratifying. They were signing off on it right there." Cornell says he always gets a great response from the crowd when he plays it live.

Host Ryan Seacrest introduced Cook's performance as "Chris Cornell's version of 'Billie Jean'."

Cornell is working on his next solo album with producer Timbaland, and says "it's going fantastic."

Michael Johns wins for rocking the ascot. game. set. match.

Thoughts on tonight's performances:

Michael Johns - I don't agree with Simon that this was his best performance, but I liked it the best of the night. Excellent control throughout the song.

David Cook - His first original arrangement and I enjoyed it. Very solid vocally.

David Archuleta - Excellent vocal control except for 1 note early.

Brooke - I could see buying a CD of hers.

Carly - A strong vocal, but there is something about her that I just didn't like.

Kristy - She looked great and this is clearly her best genre. I almost think they picked a Dolly week to keep her around. A solid vocal performance.

Syesha - There was something I just didn't like about the performance.

Jason - Boring.

Ramiele - I like her, but I think that was a poor song choice for her.

Syesha was really bad - her voice was all over the place. And that last note she held...that was unforgiveable. One of the judges should have given her a ton of shit for that. That went from "glory note" to "egomaniac" to "Naked Gun absurd" the longer she held it.

Archuleta was finally pretty good, but all this proves is he can't sing anything but ballads. Add a bit of tempo to any song, and he falls apart. Even Michael Bolton had a "rock song" phase, but this kid is 17 going on 45.

Brooke missed a few notes tonight. She and Castro are getting a bit redundant. As much as I love her, I think she's had enough of the show and vice versa.

BTW, I love how David Cook came out and mentioned every band whose cover he aped. Even that Doxology band that called him out a few weeks back!

I've been down on him this season, but I actually thought that Castro's song was very good this time.

You knew what?

The recap for the Round of Nine is posted at the Football Frontier.

http://www.solecismic.com/frontierblog/?p=243

Overall: A fright night of forgettable tunes as Dolly Parton proved those who still can probably should not coach. Country week is always ripe for misadventure, and this was no exception.

1. David C - For those still picking on his "arrangements", he's stated atleast 3 weeks going that he has went online to find them. Combine that with Seacrest basically announcing the originator (ie, Chris Cornell's Billie Jean) and I am a little flabergasted by this issue re-emerging each week. Daughtry did highway robbery on everyone he stole, yet Cook has gone out of his way each week and people still try and pick on him for not being upfront. Any rate, a pretty solid original take.
2. Michael - Another solid job, but he making number 2 shows how mediocre this episode was (although that wasn't a huge surprise given it was Dolly Parton week).
3. David A - I didn't want to punch him in the face, so that's a start. Nice performance and he finally gave up the Melindo Doolittle "You like me? You really like me!" awk-shucks look after a compliment. I think they're setting him up to be the comeback kid.
4. Carly - Another solid performance, but she does rub me the wrong way. Congrats for Simon for finally calling out her outfits. Hey, Carly and Seacrest, we don't want to look at her arm tatoo of the virgin Mary on every performance. Maybe try a set of sleaves once a month, what do you say?
5. Brooke - Safe, solid and sedating. Not much else to say.
6. Kristy - Another best possible performance and she wasn't in the top 5. Gives you an idea of her ceiling in this competition.
7. Jason - Meh, he's a male version of Brooke with less talent. He needs another homerun to stay relevant.
8. Syesha - I needed a bodyguard for that last note. If you redo a Whitney song in the same manner and completely fudge numerous notes (including the money note), there's not much positive to hope for.
9. Ramiele - She shouldn't be here and it was obvious yet again three notes into the song. Even a homerun by her (which tonight was certainly not) isn't enough for her to break the top 6.

Overall, pretty bland night - but AI should have anticipated that with the guest. It would be nice if AI could finally have a theme not based before 1985. Based on the music hosts/themes, they should change the show to ACI or Adult Contemporary Idol. Still waiting on Christopher Cross week - that has to be coming soon.

They should have a boy-band theme week. Something a little more current as the heyday for most of the competitors at their ages would be the *nsync, backstreet, o-town era, but plenty of others to expand on that... new kids, boyz 2 men, new edition - hell, go girl groups as well.

solves the problem of getting a theme taht is more "current" than most of their themes and would be interesting to see the take some of the competitors took on some of the songs.

ok i thougth about it a little more and i guess they have had some theme weeks that are more "current" like the gwen stefani theme last year, a song from the current charts week and the mariah carey week this year too.

however, i still stand by the idea they should have a boy-band week.

He just knew, ya know?

I knew he was going to get a huge bump in sales from that. I think I posted something to that effect after Cook's performance (although that might have been at another board, I can't keep my posting straight).

You know what I think it is? I think people are far more internet savvy about things like this 2 years later. Youtube is huge compared to then, bands are all over the net (even no-name bands like Doxology), and I think part of it is also backlash from AI trying to cover up stuff. I agree, he's been upfront and the show has, too. I thought last night was a bit much in terms of trying to placate people, but he's trying to win votes, so I guess he needs to do it.

But I think it's just that there wasn't this degree of "internet sleuthing" even 2 years ago, and people are so used to uncovering "AHA!" moments about AI contestants - especially this year - that this is just one more thing that people are in a frenzy to "discover" and talk about, even though it's pretty much a non-issue at this point.

According to DialIdol, tonight's elimination should be fairly obvious. There's a decent bit of separation between last and the next group.

Linky/spoiler?

Each week, the DialIdol results can be found here:

hxxp://dialidol.com/asp/predictions/Predictions.asp

American Idol sixth-season runner-up Blake Lewis didn't pull any punches in his recent criticism of fellow finalist Sanjaya Malakar.

"I was never a fan of Sanjaya," said Lewis during an interview with Jacksonville, FL radio station WAPE-FM. "I didn't think he should have been on the show at all. At all. Period. It's just bad for television -- terrible television."

Not surprisingly, Lewis said he isn't the only former sixth-season finalist who felt that way about Malakar.

"Everyone there was like, 'Why is this little kid who's just annoying on this television show?'" said Lewis. "It's television. It's television... But it takes the validation out of people who have been working their ass off for years."

While Lewis said he was never concerned Malakar would end up winning Idol's sixth-season crown, he was apparently peeved that the contestant known more for his coifs than his vocal abilities made it as far as he did.

"I got pissed every week because my buddies that are super-talented are going home and he's [still there]," vented Lewis. "America's very ignorant in some things and voted for Sanjaya to stay on American Idol. That's ridiculous."

Malakar auditioned for Idol's sixth season in Seattle with his older sister Shyamali, whom Lewis said Sanjaya has to thank for getting his Hollywood Round ticket.

"See, the thing is, people don't know he got cut and the only reason why he made it is because his sister made it through," explained Lewis. "Then his sister got cut in Hollywood Week."

In addition, Lewis offered a conspiracy theory of sorts on how Malakar eventually made it through to the Top 24.

"So he had already gotten cut. They're like, 'You suck. You shouldn't be on the show,'" explained Lewis. "Then the producer [Nigel Lythgoe] put him back on."

I guess I missed the news about David Cook going to the hospital last night. He's OK now, apparently.

What was wrong with him?

David Cook hospitalized after 'American Idol' performance but 'fine'


By Christopher Rocchio, 04/02/2008

David Cook wowed the audience and then gave them a scare, as the American Idol seventh-season finalist was reportedly taken to the hospital following last night's live performance episode broadcast.

The 25-year-old from Blue Spings, MO who currently resides in Tulsa, OK was hospitalized after last night's live show when he experienced a heart palpitations, a source confirmed to People. Cook was subsequently treated for high blood pressure and released back to the Idol apartments.

"[He's] doing fine," the source told People.

Cook wasn't feeling well throughout the day, TMZ.com reported, adding his condition worsened following his rendition of Dolly Parton's "Little Sparrow" during the live performance episode broadcast.

He was examined by Idol medics, who determined his blood pressure was "far too high," according to TMZ.com. While he was urged to leave for the hospital during the broadcast, he reportedly decided to wait until it was finished filming.

He was then "noticeably absent" when the Top 9 seventh-season finalists were taken into the bleachers to sit with fans and watch a live performance of sixth-season champ Jordin Sparks and R&B star Chris Brown sing their new single "New Air," which was taped for a later broadcast, People reported.

The reason for Cook's absence, according to TMZ.com, was because he was being taken to the hospital -- sans ambulance -- where he was treated by a private doctor, who gave him medication to lower his blood pressure.

An Idol executive told TMZ.com that Cook was "completely stressed out" because his cancer-stricken brother suffered a setback within the last week.

In addition, Cook apparently collapsed prior to a performance earlier in the season and said he was unable to perform before subsequently taking the stage at the last minute, TMZ.com reported.

Interesting..

That just beat every performance I've ever seen on the AI stage.

I'm not exactly a fan of those guys, but they are definitely entertaining. My wife had never seen them before and it was fun to watch her reaction to them. She basically said what I was thinking, which is "that audience has no idea how to react to that."

I pretty much agree. If those guys had stood on the stage and suddenly exploded into goo flung all over the place, I think the audience would've reacted pretty much the same way that they did.

Basically a huge wtf!

Agreed. I'm glad they did well.

Not a surprise that Brooke is in the bottom 3. Maybe it's finally Ramiele's time, but I think it's either Brooke or KLC going home.

Come on Ramiele = gone

So ez

Also Brooke makes me feel all tingly.

Dolly needs to be voted off...

gravity

Looks like the Dialidol numbers were on the money.

DialIdol nailed that one. She was last by a good bit.