StoneRose Valley My Thoughts, Expressions, and Passions

I had a lot to say; rather like venting I suppose. Not so much anymore…guess that’s what time gives you.

I’ve been thinking of a movie quote quite a lot today.
I watched “Breach” with my brothers earlier this week. It’s based on a true story, so this characters words may have been spoken by a real, genuine, person back in 2001. At one point in the film, Eric O’Neill, mentioning a discussion he’d had with his wife in which she asked him why his boss was such a pain to be around, tells Hanssen “I had all these answers for her. ‘He’s misunderstood.’ ‘He’s trying to fix the bureau and no one will listen.’ ‘He was born in the wrong century.’ ‘His father’s a jerk.’ I got a whole list.
But you know something Sir, at the end of the day it’s all cr-p. You ARE who you are. The why doesn’t mean a thing does it?”

Yeah, we all have these excuses for why we act as we do. Or to rationalize away why someone we love can just make us feel like dirt all the time. Often we try to rationalize that because we don’t want to face the truth and hurt that that someone, when it comes right down to it, really doesn’t care enough to make a change.

Hey, but leave off everyone else here. Forget about those people who you can’t explain. Think about yourself. Do you have excuses for your behavior? Do others make excuses for you?

“It is not what we say or feel that makes us who we are. It is what we do; or fail to do.”
Marianne Dashwood, in Andrew Davies adaption of Sense & Sensibility

I can’t help feeling that there is something more, that I have a chance for something greater. To rise above the petty why. Not to allow myself to define myself; to make excuses for why I do what I do. Not by my feelings, my words, my status in life. Not by what others around me say or do, and why they do it.  No, but defined by what I choose to do, or that which I fail in.

Because, in the end, the why doesn’t mean a thing, does it?

Posted under Life Thoughts, Living, Polls, Quotes, Uncategorized

Well, wanted to let ya’ll know that I will not be blogging live tonight during the results show. I have been so overwhelmed by what is going on in my life (mostly finishing up this semester of school) that the idea of having to keep up with the live posts is exhausting. I’m also in the process of determining whether the live posts are even worth it. I don’t really get to think about the show and share all my thoughts and expressions about it when posting live…so I’m thinking about returning to last years no-live-blog, at least on the results show. I’d love to hear any feedback you have on this choice! If I don’t hear anything, I’ll assume you don’t care (likely!) and will lean on my own better (hehe) judgement.

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Now, after the results show; here are my thoughts.
Frankie’s appearance was pretty hilarious!

The top eight performed…whatever it was. I didn’t like Matt’s part in the song; but loved Allison. Excepting her, overall, honestly, it was forgettable.
Loved the behind the scenes of the ford Magic Show video. Especially Scott’s imitation of Simon.  The video, featuring the song “Circus” turned out quite well….I’m just getting bored with the whole magic show theme that they come up with every season.

Based on performance, I would have put Scott, Lil, Kris in the bottom three. I expected to see Scott, Kris, and Anoop instead. I was wrong there. Was rather surprised–no, very surprised to see Kris safe.
I could just about slap Ryan for being so mean to Matt. And although I thought deserved, I was surprised to see Lil in the bottom three. Maybe it will be a wake up call for her; she just really needs to make wiser song choices.
I think Scott, based on the performances last night, should have gone, so I can’t say I’m upset. But he is an amazing young man. He mentioned in his farewell video that he hopes he “can be an inspiration to a lot of people”, and I think he has. Paula called him, and I totally agree, “an inspiration to the entire world through his commitment and talent, and one classy gentleman”. And his quick sense of humor each week will be missed.

As far as the guest artists went…

Not a fan of Flo Rida; never been a fan of rap, punk, or hip-hop. Also didn’t like the suggestive dancing. So no surprise that my TV found itself changing the channel during his performance.
Cute and bizarre Kellie Pickler made her way back to the A-I stage. But as I watched, I was quite sorrowful; it didn’t look or sound like Kellie. She reminded me greatly of Dolly Parton. I think the old Kellie I knew and loved is gone. Probably for good.
So nothing remarkable about this week. Except for the fact that the judges very nearly used their save on Scott. Unfortunately for him, nearly wasn’t enough. But maybe he can be comforted by the fact that he came further than anyone else so far.

Posted under American Idol, Entertainment, Expressions, Life Thoughts, Links, Music, Polls, Quotes, Uncategorized, Verses, Video's

Who’s leaving tonight? That’s the big question facing us every night after the performances. Going into the results show, I expect to see Megan, Michael, and Scott in the bottom three. As usual, I’m blogging live with the show.

They’re performing a medley of Motown hits tonight; featuring “You’re All I Need”, “My Guy”, and “Ain’t No Mountain”. The choreography is pretty neat.

The Ford music video is “Pocketful of Sunshine”…I liked this one alot. But not as much as “We Will Rock You”; was still good though.

Reuben Studdard is guest performing tonight….is he live? I have to ask ’cause so many this season are prerecording their performances this season. Randy Travis and Carrie Underwood, Kenye West, and the upcoming performance of David Cook (YEAH!) next week. I think this one is live….The performance was nice, I suppose, but I’ve never been a fan of Reuben. Nice guy, though.

Now to the results.
Dim the lights.
Here we go.
Adam is first. Of course after last nights performance he is safe!
Matt is next…and in the bottom three. Totally disagree with this! And DialIdol predicted him completely safe! Sorry DI…you’re falling down on your touch.
Kris next…Ryan misleads with his comments, making us all think Kris is in the bottom. But Kris is safe!
So is Lil. Placing Michael in the bottom three with Matt.

Smokey Robinson and Joss Stone perform…getting me thinking about Reuben’s performance minutes before…Reuben lacked our contestants on the stage…making me believe that it too was prerecorded. Why do so many of them do this?
Nice performance by the legend and Joss.

Who else will join Michael and Matt? My guess has gotta be Megan.

Allison is next…She put out a steller performance last night and is safe.
Anoop is also safe.
Danny Gokey won’t be in the bottom three for quite a few more weeks.

We’re down to Scott and Megan. ‘Cheap hotel performance’ or ‘Train-wreck’?
I’m astonished to see Megan, once again, safe!

Ryan is sending Scott back. I’m really mad at this. Matt totally doesn’t deserve to be standing where he is now. But Michael has to be leaving now.

Stevie Wonder is once again gracing the A-I stage. I like Stevie Wonder, but…I really can’t enjoy this with Matt sitting where he is. Ok, I was able to say I enjoyed that by the end. Great performance by Stevie!

The results after the commercial break…as always.
Are we going to have another totally wrong night like last week with Alexis? What is happening to this show?!

Dim the lights.
Here we go.

I am truly sorry to see Michael Sarver go, but believe that Matt really deserves to remain in the competition.
I think Michael sounds better tonight than last night. Is getting over the flu? This guy is truly a favorite character! What a genuine, nice guy! He is not saved, but it looked like he came close! Will miss this guy. I hope someone picks him up for a record deal.

Posted under American Idol, Entertainment, Links, Music, Uncategorized, Video's

My first reaction of the night-what is Paula wearing?! Hmmm.

So anyway, we have the contestants singing motown this week. Their mentors were Smokey Robinson and…(what’s his name? I completely forget!) Berry Gordan.

The one’s that could do really well, IMO, are Lil Rounds and Danny Gokey. I also think that Kris Allen, Matt Giraud, and possibly Anoop. We’ll see how they do.

‘Kicking it off’, according to Ryan, is Matt Giraud with “Let’s Get It On”. He’s sticking to what he does best, once again on the ivory keys. Wait-I spoke too fast. He’s thrown us a twist by leaving his customary seat and is now touring the stage. I have to admit, not my favorite of his performances. But I believe he did a fine job with the song.

Randy thought Matt “set this off to the tone tonight!” and loved his run at the end of the song, commenting on Matt’s strong falsetto; “You’re challenging [the other guys] for the front spot”.
Kara liked the departure from the piano, and also Matt’s vocal interpretations, calling it a “solid performance”.
Paula commented on how comfortable Matt seemed behind piano as well as out from it. “You showed a cool, sexy vibe. You’re tasteful, classy, spot on, and respectful of the melody. It’s like wearing a great pair of worn jeans”.
Simon thought the piano departure corny, but said that Matt’s voice “absolutely suits that type of song. You are one of the front runners in this competition”.

Kris Allen, unfortunately, is performing second tonight. He is performing “How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You”; Smokey said Kris ‘blew [him] away’, also commenting on how talented Kris is to sing and play guitar like that. Kris started the song off accapella; I really like his interpretation. I would buy this song from Itunes definitely! Towards the middle/end of the song, I really loved the husky tone to his voice. Something we don’t hear often from him.

Kara loved that Kris “didn’t do James Taylor or Marvin Gay, you did Kris. You made your mark on that song. You did everything right on that performance!”
Paula thought it was really nice seeing Kris “come into [his] own”, calling his personality ‘infectious’; and marveling that the “note at the end was brilliant. You keep growing and growing every week!”
Simon said that Kris is having a good competition so far. But wants to see Kris “start believing in [himself]“. This I don’t get, Simon thinks you have to be conceited to be a star? His advice to Kris: “Start acting like me”. No way! Kris’ response: “I’ll take everything else, but the conceit? No.” And Ryan backed him. Kudos, Kris, for showing some back bone and standing up for who you are and what you believe!
Randy declared that Kris has “hit your zone; You ain’t doing nothing wrong!”

Scott MacIntyre is singing “You Can’t Hurry Love”. Once again, he appears behind his piano; and I think he made a fabulous choice in remaining there! He has put his own twist on the song as well; and I really like it. I’m not sure his vocals are right on all the time, the sound a bit weak at times, but this is a million times better than last week.

Paula loved having the back-up singers around the piano; as well as “the beginning, with the chord changes in the rabatto(?) section”.
Simon thought the “piano was terrible, the back up singers were a mess. This was the wrong song for you. I thought it was cheap. And I think you’re better than that. You are choosing the wrong songs”. I have to agree with Simon in that Scott could pick much better songs for himself, and I think he is better than what we’ve seen so far.
Randy doesn’t agree with Simon often, but did tonight, calling it “a very hotel performance”. He told Scott to start taking some risks; “You’re a better singer than that, take bigger challenges”.
Kara disagrees with the guys on this one, saying “I love the up-tempo”. But she cautioned Scott; “When you take liberties like you did with the melody, you have to nail it. You had good ideas, the execution just wasn’t perfect”.
And at the end of it all, Paula pulls out a box of crayons for Simon. Hmm. Those two are a mess always!

Megan Joy is singing “For Once In My Life”. Smokey was right in that it does sound like she totally made this her own through her unique voice.

Randy said “the song was a trainwreck”, calling it “bizarre”. His advice was to have slowed it “back a little. It was too rushed and hectic”.
Kara agreed with Randy. She recommended ‘My Guy’, calling it more like Megan. “You didn’t dominate the song, the song was dominating you”.
Paula complimented Megan on her appearance, calling her “stunningly beautiful. The camera loves you”; but she agreed that the song wasn’t right for Megan. “I don’t feel you found your pocket”.
Simon was abrupt: “The good news is you look good. The bad news is that it was horrible. A horrible arrangement; atrocious song, the vocals were all over the place”.

Anoop Desai chose “Ooh, Baby, Baby”, and my initial thought is-’really?’. But I was surprised. It was better than I thought it would be given the song choice, but not as good as I’d hoped for Anoop tonight. It turned out a little bland to me.

Kara said that was one of the most beautiful songs ever written and probably one of the hardest to sing. “Overall”, she said, “that song is very hard to do you and you did a pretty good job. You’re showing us that you can sing; you have a skill set”; but asked to see Anoop become “a little more creative with the melodies”.
Paula loves Anoops’ new-found confidence but wants to see more. “Your delivery was spot on, not only that but sweet”.
Simon called it a “great vocal”; but said Anoop looked half asleep. “You gotta find that balance, that showmanship. But you’ve had two good weeks in a row”.
Randy liked seeing the “serious Anoop-dog”, next week wants him to “turn it back up. Was nice to hear you croon and swoon; but get back and bring it next week!”

In the sixth performance spot is Michael Sarver, singing “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg”. Can Michael bring it? Can he, as Smokey said, lay it all out on the line? My verdict: YES! Michael brought it tonight; solid, and fun performance!

Paula: “for me this was a tough performance; it felt old Las Vegas loungy for me”. She told him “you really need to dominate and drive that song, not the reverse”.
Simon actually couldn’t wait for it to end. “You were screaming and shouting that song”. Simon went a step further, telling Michael “you have no chance of winning this competition based on that performance. In the real world it just really isn’t good enough. That was below half”.
Randy said the song was just a little too big for Michael tonight. “You were trying to do too much with it”. Remember folks, both Michael and Megan have had the flu…
Kara was the only one, in my opinion, that gave Michael any constructive criticism; saying “at this point it’s not about singing, it’s about artistry. That’s what we need from you. And that’s what I didn’t feel this week”.

Lil Rounds picked “Heat Wave”…Honestly, this is nowhere near what I expected from Lil this week.

Randy mentioned her crazy vocals, but said “the front was a little bit torture, not the right song for you. Felt like you were rushing a bit. Not the best performance from you”.
Kara said Lil looked great. “You were the diva that everyone was waiting to hear. I don’t think this was the right song. If you had melodies that breathe more you could have interpreted more; you have the voice for that”.
Paula disagreed with the above two. “It’s what you do vocally that feels fresh and takes a classic song and makes it new”.
Simon thought Lil was giving an “authentic tribute to the sound of Motown. But the song didn’t give you a moment. It was too fast. You could have had a moment”. He reminded us that Lil is “one of the best singers we have in this competition”; and said he’s waiting for her to blow everyone away again like she did in the first week…but said she can’t do it with that song.

We have three contestants left; Adam, Allison, and Danny. What will they bring?

Adam Lambert is next, singing “Tracks Of My Tears”. I’m really surprised by this choice. Is he going to change it like he did with “Ring of Fire”? Is he trying to look like Elvis? I do have to say that I’m SO glad that he chose to tone everything down this week and show us his pure vocals. I admit freely that Adam has amazing talent in his voice. I don’t think he’s miles ahead of the other contestants, but he does have one of the best voices here. Adam is getting a standing ovation from Paula, Kara, and Smokey! Nice job, Adam!

Kara called it one of the best performances of the night; loving his artistry!
Paula said he was completely in his own league. And loved the clean look, “you look classy. You are exciting.”
Simon disagreed with Kara; saying it was THE best performance of the night! He said Adam summed up originality, choosing the right song, and being a relevant recording artist, as the judges had talked about earlier. Adam was lauded with emerging as a star tonight. Good for you, Adam!
Randy said Adam has the range to do anything; he loved the “tender moments; the falsetto”, and said Adam used everything in his arsenal.

My favorite, Danny Gokey, is up, singing “Get Ready”. I think this was a great choice! He’s been working on the dancing…I love the energy he’s showing. Not his best vocal performance, but still quite good. I enjoyed the ambience in his voice.

Paula called Danny undeniable and identifiable, saying he brings a “first class performance every week”.
Simon thought it clumsy and amateur.
Randy said it wasn’t the best performance from Danny, but loved the energy and feel of it.
Kara loved the energy as well, saying she “thought it was good, not great”, but declared herself “still a big fan!”

Allison Iraheta closes the night with “Papa Was A Rolling Stone”. Allison is bringing everything up to claim the top female spot in this competition, and she’s doing a tremendous job of it! She didn’t work the stage much, but she brought it with the vocals. Awesome!

Randy called Allison “one of the dopest singers in this whole season. Blazing hot!”
Kara was blown away, saying it was “amazing! You sing like you’ve been singing for 400 years!”
Paula said she was awesome; “You belong in the competition. Beautiful!”
Simon called her “a survivor. One of your best performances. Well done!”

Hearing everything back once more, I would place Megan, Michael, and Scott in the bottom three. And actually, in Megan’s re-run, she sounded a little off pitch. Based on the three individual performances, I wouldn’t hesitate in calling them the bottom, and would actually call Megan off.

Outstanding performances tonight were from Adam, Allison, and Kris; with Danny coming in close behind.

So, what do you think?

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Posted under American Idol, Entertainment, Music, Polls, Quotes, Uncategorized, Video's

The twist that we were promised…well, we are getting ready to hear what it is. The new rule is that the judges can save one contestant from elimination just once. It has to be unanimous, and once they use it, they cannot use it again.

Here is the top Thirteen singing a melody of top hits. Was very impressed with Scott; nearly forgot that he can’t see hardly. He did very well negotiating his way around the stage. Danny’s dancing…that was really weird. And that said in all love, ’cause he’s my favorite this year.

The Ford commercial was lots of fun! Way over the top, but great! Gave everyone watching here with me a laugh!

Michael Sarver is up first. He is pronounced safe.
Allison Iraheta is next. Allison is also safe. She looks very relieved.
Jasmine Murray is third; and is in the bottom group.
Matt Giraud wanted to go ahead and join Jasmine; but was stopped by Michael, Allison, and Ryan. He is safe.

Kris is standing now. He was called both interesting and cool, and clumsy.
Megan is standing also. Kris is safe; Megan joins Jasmine. But is pronounced safe.

Will the judges save Jasmine? We get to hear Jasmine sing again. I really love Jasmine’s voice. Nearly feel like crying at the thought of her leaving. Her performance was quite good…but I think she would have really wowed next year or the year after.

Now we get to hear Kanye West. I’m not too excited at this prospect; but that’s just ’cause I’m not a fan of rap. OK; that might be considered great by some…but for me it was ridiculous. I won’t say anything more for fear of insulting someone else’s taste….

Another round of the eliminations.
Scott is here…and safe.
Alexis stands. Of course, she is safe!
We know Danny is safe. Why even make him and Adam stand?! lol
Unlike everyone else; I believe this guy is completely safe. But Anoop is sent to the middle of the stage.
Adam is safe…no surprise.

That leaves us Jorge Nunez and Lil Rounds. Jorge was called corny, yet the judges loved his voice. Lil was called a force to be reckoned with. Lil is safe.

Jorge and Anoop are left in the center of the stage. We’ll probably not hear who until after Kelly Clarkson sings.
And yes; I was right–as well as Ryan’s traditional ‘after the break’.

With this being season eight…and eight weeks till the the finals–wait! We have more than eight weeks till the finals! What was I thinking?! But anyway, we will be hearing from a former idol (contestant) each week as we go along. There are some that I don’t care to see again…but Kelly is not in that group. She’s here performing “My Life Would Suck Without You”, her recent radio hit. And her new album just came out yesterday; for all you Kelly fans! I really like seeing her return to some of the same kind of music we heard from her first album, instead of the really dark, depressing songs she’s done in most of her last two albums. So nice to hear her again; this is the performance of the night for me.

Back to Jorge and Anoop who have both been waiting (probably with a lot of trepidation) through what was a very enjoyable performance…just maybe not from their impatient seats.
What did I tell you? Anoop is fine…But we get to hear Jorge once more while the judges decide if they want to use their save on him.

Congratulations to Jasmine and Jorge for what they’ve accomplished in the last few months. They are both so talented.

As for the new judges save rule…I think this is great! Of course, they weren’t going to use it so soon in the competition…unless it had been Danny, Adam, Alexis, or Lil…maybe then they would have. But I’m glad they inserted this rule. Bittersweet night for me, saying goodbye to Jasmine. And Jorge is such a fun guy! Will miss his personality.

Posted under American Idol, Entertainment, Music, Quotes, Uncategorized, Video's

Here are the video’s of this weeks highlights for me.

Danny Gokey was great!

Jasmine Murray was much better than she got credit for!

I actually found that I like Matt Giraud tonight. Funny.

And of course my pet-favorite Kris Allen!

Posted under American Idol, Entertainment, Links, Music, Quotes, Uncategorized, Verses, Video's

American Idol Gallery Widget

I wondered when they’d make this available on wordpress…so, what do you think?

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“I am a strange mixture of incredible inner strength and great insecurity, of a desire to laugh and an intense and often overly serious view of the world, of occasional bravery and great, awkward shyness. As a child I learned to be sweet, which perhaps is good in a child, but it’s something that developed into an act. I learned to appear nice, to say and do the right thing. I was too afraid of…being real. I could analyze this in detail; multiple reasons and multiple and complex streams of thought and behavior converge here. But as Jane Austen would say, it was affected behavior. As the apostle Paul would say, I have often been “a clanging cymbal” (I Corinthians 13:1), worthless without genuine love……..If God were to pull back the covers to show me myself in the stark light of absolute Truth, I’m sure I would be overwhelmed with hopelessness. Praise God He does not let us see ourselves as we truly are, at least not all at once. I hope that my friends and family-and gentle proddings from God-will move me in the right direction, that I will, in spite of my hopeless pride, be open to some kind of reproof, that I’ll be able to discern which corrections to heed and what of my own self-condemnation is completely unnecessary. I’m tired of being human, with all the necessary imperfections that implies. If nothing else, I’ve learned to laugh at my own occasional ridiculousness, which gives me hope.”

“A Walk With Jane Austen” By Lori Smith

As I was reading through her book, I came across the above excerpt by Lori….and thought ‘wow, that certainly describes me.’ I have trouble understanding myself, so it’s no wonder that hardly anyone else can. I seem to be, as Lori puts it, ‘a strange mixture’ of opposites. I too struggle with pride, and affected behavior. But, like Lori, I am slowly learning “to laugh at my own occasional ridiculousness”, and that “gives me hope”.

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I was shocked at last night’s outcome on A-I. While I was happy (or tried to be, at least) for Brooke and Jason, Syesha nor Carly deserved to be where they were. I’m still upset over Carly leaving…but what can you do? She is a great vocalist, and will go far; I for one will buy her albums.
I thought Carly went out with a great attitude; very proud of her and her accomplishments; and did I mention I’m still upset?!

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Well, I wrote out a nice, detailed account of the whole night; only to find that it is now deleted and gone. sigh. I’m too tired to cry about it; but you will have to settle for less than originally intended.

But I will say this; I am officially at war with my TV. It frequently will blank out, or it will drown out the voices with bursts of static. I don’t mind this normally, as I don’t watch much TV (at least, not with the seven channels we get), but I like to see and hear the contestants on my A-I!

I was surprised to see Kristy Lee Cook go last week, as I’ve thought she’s improved steadily each week. Though, I must say, I was very happy to see my Carly ranked the highest among the girls!

Andrew Lloyd Webber worked with the group last night; and I’ve been so excited ever since I found that out weeks ago! This man has some incredible works to his name.

Syesha Mercado started off with “One Rock & Roll Too Many”; and for the first time in a LONG time, this girl picked the right song! I was so proud of her! Syesha belongs on Broadway. She shouldn’t be leaving us tonight, but she might be in the bottom three; just because she doesn’t seem to have as strong a fan base as most of the others.

Randy said something about it being her element (I can’t tell exactly what all he said, as I was having a battle with the TV and only caught slight phrases here and there in between the static roar of the demonic creation!) and that she looked great up there.

Paula told Syesha that she is “really good at this”.

Simon thought it “one of your strongest performances”.

Jason Castro sang “Memories” and my first thought was “Oh, no!”; the second was “this might be neat to hear from a soft-spoken guy for a change”…..I was right on both counts. It was neat to hear it from a different source, but didn’t turn out for the best. There was greatness underlying it, but there it is: it was only underlying it. It wasn’t there. He could be wonderful, but he isn’t. He’s just charming, and I think it’s time for him to go. I’m not sure he will though….he seems to have a pretty strong fan base.

Randy said it was “a little bit of a train-wreck”.

Paula said it “further identifies your uniqueness”.

Simon asked Jason if it had been “the longest two minutes of your life?” and that it was probably his. He also thought Jason sounded “like a young man who is being forced by his parents to sing at a wedding he really doesn’t want to attend”. I think I have to agree with Simon; it wasn’t very good. Though I have heard that Jason was sick; but then both Davids’ have performed while under health problems, and came up to par; Jason didn’t.

Brooke White sang “You Must Love Me”; I thought it touching, and really felt the emotional connection behind it. She did mess up the beginning and started over again; but I thought she handled it well. But all that said, Brooke most likely will be leaving us tonight.

Randy said it “wasn’t great”, but admired that Brooke listened to A.W. “You have to believe what you’re singing”.

Paula was not happy with the performance; reminding Brooke that “you must never start and stop”. But commended her on not over-acting, saying it was “just you”, and commenting on her “emotional strength”.

Simon called it “so dramatic”; told Brooke she “was so tense. You’ll be very disappointed when you watch this back”. But did admit that, had he forgotten the lyrics, he would have done exactly as Brooke.

David Archuletta sang “Think Of Me”; and he did quite a nice job of it. He definitely had the WOW factor, and I rather liked the pop arrangement.

Randy declared him (are you ready? And not the first time) “THE BOMB! This boy’s the one to beat!”.

Paula said it was “absolutely perfect; you took a risk, and were quite able to turn it into a pop ballad”.

Simon thought it “pleasant” but “one of your weakest”. He also said that David would absolutely be through to next week.

Carly Smithson sang “Jesus Christ, Superstar”. For me, personally, I find the lyrics a bit offensive, so it was rather difficult to listen to her vocals. I do think she performed well, sang well; possibly the range was a little too high; I thought the backup vocals were bad. And I did love the way she looked.

Randy said it was “not your best, but definitely good”.

Paula thought “the range was maybe too high, but I loved it”.

Simon said it was “a little bit shouty in the middle”; and that it was “actually one of my favorite performances tonight”. Way to go, Carly!

David Cook ended the night on “Music of the Night”. Again, here; my first thought was, “Oh, no. David’s going to flunk this one!” But I should have had more faith in his abilities. I LOVED it! He conveyed the song so well. I loved seeing this softer side to his vocals. He really can sing anything!

Randy agreed with me, saying “you can sing anything. Amazing vocal performance. Molting hot!” I guess he thought it good, huh?

Paula told David he had “a beautiful instrument” in his voice, and called the performance “Fantastic”.

Simon said it was “not the sound I like; too rounded off”, but that David “made the most of it”.

David C. and David A. are the one’s to beat here! Looking forward to a finale of Davids’!

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