Syesha Mercado, David Cook and David Archuleta make it to top three slots!
Maheen Sabeeh
20-year-old dreadlocked charmer Jason Castro has finally said goodbye. The cute singer from Texas had been struggling for the past three weeks and it came as no surprise to anyone, including Castro himself that his time on American Idol was up.
As the seventh season comes to a close in the next three weeks, it is getting more and more exciting and tougher.
For the last two weeks, American Idol hopefuls had to sing not one but two songs. And while that addition may have worked out for theDavids (Cook and Archuleta) it never worked for Castro.
It was Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame week on American Idol. Jason picked Mr Tambourine Man who we all know as a great number from Bob Dylan. Not only was his rendition completely off but he even fumbled the lyrics, missed cues and made a mess on stage.
Simon Cowell called his performances “utterly atrocious” and one can’t help but agree with him.
And now that Mr Mellow is out, the battlefield is ready for rocker David Cook, female crooner Syesha Mercado and the adorable David Archuleta.
The night in reality belonged to David Archuleta and David Cook
The baby-faced Archuleta opened with Ben E. King’s Stand By Me and made it his own with excellent vocals and building a connection with the audience, a trait he has previously not been able to pull off, probably because of his young age.
And then he followed it up with the subdued and ultra subtle Love Me Tenderly by Elvis Presley. And it was not an easy number to sing. But he was truly outstanding to the point that Simon said afterwards, “You crushed the competition.”
David Cook can pull anything off, even at his lowest moments. And that was true last week. His first number, Hungry Like The Wolf by Duran Duran was top-notch even though the lower notes he hit were not completely right. But he managed to impress nonetheless because he is the one man who has stage presence like no one else on the show. And he is always in his element. And whatever mistakes he made on the first number, one all but forgot them with his rendition of Baba O Riley by The Who.
Syesha Mercado proved why she is still standing as the lone female on this season of American Idol. Her powerful voice is just one thing. The change within her in the last few weeks is perhaps the biggest reason. Gone is the girl who tried to be the “intimate” performer on the show.
Her first song Proud Mary by Tina Turner was playful, bouncy and ultimately theatrical. And she went one step further with A Change is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke and even though Randy Jackson didn’t think much of her, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell loved it and rightly so.
Both David Cook and David Archuleta have to be in top form if they want to beat Syesha because last week she was simply stunning.
And the coming week will prove to be an even bigger challenge. All American Idol hopefuls will have to belt three ditties before votes come in.
