AI 7.5 - Inspirational Songs

This is Idols Give Back week, so they have everyone singing inspirational songs. They should have called it the David Archuleta week - he always sings inspirational stuff. And with no ado whatsoever, they jump right in.

Michael Johns
Dream On
6
He did a good job last week. And he's kinda ok tonight too. But only ok - I'm so over Mr Johns. He looks so good and sings so mediocre. He just doesn't impress me much.

Syesha Mercado
I Believe
6.5
I want to like Syesha. But like Michael, she is good but not great. Once again, I'm left slightly bored. The performance was OK, barring a really off-pitch high note that all the judges failed to mention.

Jason Castro
Over the Rainbow
8.5
Oh. No. He. Di'in't. Oh yes he did. He sang the ukulele version of this song - one of the dorkiest arrangements of any song ever. In fairness, while I don't love the song (I'm a fan of Judy Garland's original) he did manage to sorta sing the crap out of it. It suited him well.

Kristy Lee Cook
Anyway
9
She chose well. This is a powerful song, but it doesn't take a huge powerful voice to sound really good on it. And this may well be Kristy's best night ever. Girl sang her butt off and is the best of the night so far. Amazing.

David Cook
Innocent
8
I've never heard of this song. It's different. Has some interesting rhythms and stuff. It's a bold choice that none of the other idols could have touched. And David was good, but I didn't love it. I thought it was a little weird.

Carly Smithson
The Show Must Go On
7
Carly sings like a maniac. This was another interesting choice and she has a great voice for it. Unfortunately, she had a few pitch problems that really munged the song for me. And with the fact that she has been in the bottom 3 more than once, I fear that this might be a not-good week for Carly.

David Archuleta
Angels
10
Hey cool - he's at the piano again. I don't know this song either, but it doesn't matter. It's exactly the kind of thing I've come t expect from Archie. He does a great job with it. It's just not fair that a 17-year-old kid can sing like that. He was genuinely excellent and could easily go out and record this song tomorrow.

Brook White
You've Got a Friend
8
It's hard to hear this song by anyone but James Taylor. It was such a signature song for him. But it's a very good choice for Brook. It nicely showcases her particular vocal strengths. It's not her best performance of the season, but it was a lot better than her version of Every Breath You Take.

Top of the heap: No doubt at all tonight. Best singer of the evening was Archuleta. Surprisingly, he was closely followed by (shock. gasp.) Kristy Lee Cook and (slightly less shock. no gasp) Jason Castro.

Bottom of the Barrel: The bottom 3 make me sad because they've all came into this competition with so much potential. Micheal, Syesha and Carly were all just weak tonight. And while I think she was the best of the three, I am afraid it might end up being Carly's turn to go home. She has a great voice, but has consistently failed to connect with the voting audience - even on her best weeks. This wasn't one of her best weeks. I just hope I'm wrong - Carly is in the top three most talented singers in this competition and realy deserves to stay.