AI 7.6 - Mariah Carey

Even though I'm not quite back to myself, and my computer is still in recovery, I'm back to blogging on schedule. No sense crying over spilt milk and all like that.

Tonight is Mariah Carey night. I'm not a gigantic fan of Mariah and I don't know a lot of her songs. So tonight might be really nice and refreshing for me since I won't be making a lot of comparisons... or it might be a gigantic train wreck if the contestants try to be Mariah. It remains to be seen so let's get on with it.

David Archuleta
When You Believe
9.5
Big surprise... David is singing a socially conscious/inspirational song. Not a bad choice for him, but I really hope that eventually we hear him break out of this mold and just sing something because it's fun. He does a bang-up job of it though. It's ready for his album and will probably be a top download on iTunes this week. Yay for him. His execution was essentially perfect, but I' marking down slightly for a combination of my own boredom and his tapered leg leather pants.


Carly Smithson
Without You
8
Even those who aren't big fans of Carly should agree that she is looking fairly fabulous tonight. Very classy. This is a song I know pretty well because it's been covered by about a zillion people including Mariah. I like the slight melodic changes she made, but it seems she had a couple of weird rhythm issues. It may be that the brief hiccups in the flow of the song were intentional and part of the arrangement, but I found them distracting. Overall though I thought she sang quite well. This wasn't my most favorite Carly performance, but it was solid.

Syesha Mercado
Vanishing
9
This is a song I don't really know so lucky for Syesha I'm at least one armchair judge who won't be comparing her directly to the original. And for the first time in a long time I think Syesha really did well. It's a song that's big, but with a really mellow accompaniment so she isn't overshadowed by the band. She was a little too bright - almost to the point of screechy - on a couple of the high notes, but I think most people will think this was one of Syesha's best nights.

Brook White
Hero
7
Interesting - guitar in the promo, but piano on the stage. And again, I think she might have bobbled the rhythm just a teeny bit. Not enough that it really disrupted the song, but this is one time I don't think she was helped by being her own accompanist. And it gets worse as she goes on with some more obvious mistakes on the changes. Eek. Not Brook's best night, but thankfully not a complete disaster. The judges think she's a tasty little singer-sandwich, but they agree that it was a less-than-perfect performance.


Kristy Lee Cook
Forever
7
Mariah got goosebumps when Kristy sang. It remains to be seen if there was a good reason for it... or a bad one. I have to admit that that the bottom part of her voice has a nice richness that some of the other girls are lacking. And I think Kristy has finally been getting good advice from her vocal coaches over the last few weeks because this was another step-up performance for her. She's getting better and will probably stick around at least another week based on tonight's show.

David Cook
Always Be My Baby
10
Mariah says his version is really pretty and haunting. I wouldn't know... this is another one that I don't really know. But I like it any way around. I fully expected the big bombastic buildup toward the end, but sometimes predictable is good. And then he ends it on an unresolved note that will leave rocker chicks everywhere swooning. Very cool performance. Quite excellent.

Jason Castro
I Don't Want to Cry
9
Nice opening. World beat type drums and a little vocal thingy by Jason set the stage here. He got a teensy bit pitchy on the low notes, but this may be Jason's strongest performance yet. It's a great style choice for him and probably his strongest overall performance to date. He proved that potentially he's got the chops to really make it. Randy hated it, but tonight he's wrong.


Before I get into who was the best or worst of the night, I just want to say that whoever the stylist was tonight did a highly excellent job with the ladies. They were all stunning. I could have done without Archuleta's leather pants, but I guess you can't win 'em all.

Top of the Heap: There were a number of noteworthy performances tonight with the best-of-the-best being David Cook and David Archuleta.

Bottom of the Barrell: I think it's the ladies who need to be nervous tomorrow night. Nobody was really terrible - not the way some weeks have been - but Kristy, Brook and Carly weren't quite up to the standards set by the other contestants. I'd very muh like to see Kristy finally go home, but I have a deep-seated fear (again) that it may be Carly's swan song. Although, it's always possible that the curse of the song titles could come into play causing Syesha to be Vanishing tomorrow night.

I guess I'll have to wait and see.