The "American Idol" guys sang songs from the ‘70s on Tuesday's show, and it was one of those nights where the judges seemed to grade on a curve.
Much was expected from those who had succeeded last week, which meant that Michael Johns and Jason Castro had to be content with lukewarm praise even though they were still among the top performers. On the other hand, David Hernandez and Danny Noriega were lauded for their efforts because they were a lot better than they were a week ago.
The result was David Archuleta emerging as the clear leader. As Simon said after the teenager's performance, he's the one to beat. Though it's early, Archuleta already has the judges raving and the girls in the audience squealing.
It wasn’t a great night for Simon, who threw his first prima-donna hissy fit of the season when he snapped at David Cook. Cowell said Cook lacked charisma, which prompted a seemingly innocent response. "Fortunately, I don't have to win you over with my charisma. I have to win these people over," Cook said, gesturing to the audience.
The crowd cheered, but the judges seethed. "David," Simon said testily, "I think I know by now the rules of the competition. I understand that you and I have a conversation, the public chooses. This is what is called an opinion."
Later, Ryan Seacrest asked if Simon was annoyed, and the judge said, "I'm just slightly irritated at the pointing out what the rules of the show are. I know what the rules of the show are."
Teenager shines
Archuleta is the youngest male still here, and younger guys tend to struggle as the competition wears on. But he has the poise onstage of a longtime performer, and the confidence of someone who's been doing this for a long time.
That was evident in the judges’ reaction to his version of John Lennon's "Imagine." Paula gushed, "I want to squish you, squeeze your head off and dangle you from my rearview mirror."
Other contestants have equal or greater professional experience, but nobody looks more like a pro on stage right now than Johns. His cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way" made most of the competition look like amateurs.
Still, the judges weren't impressed, and Simon and Randy thought he coasted through it.
Similarly, Castro was taken down a bit from the lofty perch he was on a week ago as the judges nitpicked some criticism. Castro again brought out his guitar to strum along to his vocals for "I Just Want to Be Your Everything," but the judges all would like to see less strumming and more singing from the 20-year-old.
Big-time performances
The rest of the singers had a smaller margin for error, since the guys in general were mediocre a week ago. Several took advantage of their second chance to give more poised, less jittery performances.
Hernandez has gotten nothing but snark from Simon since the latter stages of Hollywood week, but he finally forced the Brit to say something nice about him after Hernandez's strong rendition of "Papa Was a Rolling Stone."
rightfalse
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7383887/
2false520550
Simon says
Sometimes the best part of “American Idol” is the latest sly comment from acerbic judge Simon Cowell. Here are some of our favorites from this season.
falsefalse
Interactive
falsefalsefalsefalsetrueH6falsetrue1"This may surprise you, but in my opinion that was the best vocal of the night so far," Simon said. "I like the fact that when you are given some criticism, rather than sulking, you take it as a challenge."
Randy, as usual, was more effusive. "Now THIS is the David Hernandez that we fell in love with," he said.
Noriega talked in his introductory video about his brief, one-show gig as part of a punk band. Repenting for that mistake, he chose to go the opposite direction by singing "Superstar" by the very unpunk Carpenters. The girls in the audience, or at least the one by the microphones, went nuts, but he didn't do much to help them along by choosing a very slow and ponderous arrangement.
Randy thought the song could have been sped up, and that he was thinking too much. "Just let it go man, and sing. Don't think about what you can do to it."
Paula and Simon agreed, but Simon called him unique and said he looked good on camera. At this point, that's probably enough.
Up until the moment he caused Simon to lose it, Cook was having a great night as well. He broke out the guitar for "All Right Now," and the Rod Stewart cover was the best of those trying to be rockers. He looked comfortable holding the instrument, though it was a better performance than it was a vocal.
"To me, you're our real rocker of the guys this year," Randy said. And even Simon liked the performance. What he objected to was the fact that in the introductory video Cook made a big deal about liking to do crosswords.
On the other hand, Robbie Carrico used the time to talk about drag-racing cars, which made it a shame that this wasn't ‘60s week, so he couldn't break out a little "Dead Man's Curve." Instead, he went with "Hot Blooded," which was a mess at the start, but better at the end. The judges were all lukewarm on this one, with all rating it just "OK."
Trio in danger
Chikezie was a lot better than he was a week ago, which is a good thing because he was nearly sent packing at that point. The single-named singer had some fun with "I Believe to My Soul," pointing at Simon for the "you better remember my name" lyric.
The judges were impressed, and Simon called it "a million times better than last week." But because he was called out a week ago as being in danger, he can't rest easy.
Luke Menard looked like a pop star — Ryan called him "Dawson's Cree" after Menard performed. He showed the mannerisms and confidence of a star, singing Queen's "Killer Queen," and anyone who chooses to take on Freddie Mercury has to be a confident guy.
The degree of difficulty impressed the judges, but all said it was theatrical and it may not have been memorable enough to keep him around.
Far less memorable was Jason Yeager, who sang "Long Train Runnin’." It wasn't a great effort vocally and didn't have much showmanship. "The simple truth is last week was boring, this week was just awkward and ordinary," Simon said. "The ending – I don't know what you were doing well. It's like you were drunk at party."
Sadly for Yeager, that probably means he'll be one of the two men sent packing on Thursday's results show.