AMERICAN IDOL 7: TOP 9 ANALYSIS

It’s Dolly Parton night, which made for one of the more mediocre evenings of “American Idol” I’ve seen. Of course, I might just be disappointed because no one was smart enough to take on “But You Know I Love You.” Let’s see what we’ve got…

BROOKE WHITE – “Jolene”

O.K., I admit that I thought this would be the perfect song for Carly tonight, but somehow Brooke ended up with it. Brooke shows she has a good voice for country music, and sings the song with force. But as usual, Brooke picks a song that showcases an emotion she doesn’t possess. In this case, it’s desperation.  Afterward, Brooke thanks the judges every chance she gets, echoing the scene in “Animal House” where the pledges are spanked and still ask, “Thank you sir. May I have another?” As many of the other contestants also go overboard thanking the judges for their sometimes harsh opinions, I have to ask, did they all go to charm school this week or do they just want to escape Chikeze’s fate?

DAVID COOK – “Little Sparrow”

Here’s where we see how good David Cook is. No tricks with the arrangement, just plain good singing of a catchy song. David beats Jason Castro at his own game, giving a Sting-like vocal. I’ll be interested in finding out what David has to say when “Idol” is over. Is he really this humble and happy when he gets a good critique from the judges or is he just very smart at playing the game?

RAMIELE MALUBAY – “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind”

One of Ramiele’s better performances. While not a great song, it gives her something fun to play with, unlike the boring, more stately ballads she usually does.

JASON CASTRO – “Travellin’ Thru”

He shows a little bit more of a pulse this week, but he’s still the opposite of dynamic. What’s funny is this is probably the type of music he’ll be doing when he eventually records an album.

CARLY SMITHSON – “Here You Come Again”

Somehow it’s hard to see her becoming a MOR balladeer with all those tattoos. Still, the best performance of the night so far if only because the rest have been so undistinguished. Things go downhill during the judges’ portion, as Carly feels like she has to point out she’s smiling, and Paula thinks she has to shout over Simon to leave things on an up note.

DAVID ARCHULETA – “Smokey Mountain Memories”

I wasn’t as excited about this as the judges, mainly because there’s nothing Southern about him, so I didn’t think he was able to deliver the lyrics that well. All the great ballads Dolly wrote and this is the one he chose?

KRISTY LEE COOK – “Coat Of Many Colors”

Kristy shows a good emotional connection with the song, and then ruins it by bookending her performance with totally obnoxious comments. First in the opening package, she says she’d rather impress Dolly than her mother, Sure, Dolly’s great but mom’s mom and belittling her mother won’t win over the “Idol” faithful. Then in response to Simon’s comments, she cynically thanks him, just dripping smarm. Does she want to go home?

SYESHA MERCADO – “I Will Always Love You”

Poor Syesha! She looked great and sang great (well, maybe she lost it a bit in the middle, but what about that ending?), and it’s all for naught as she chooses the one song most identified with Whitney Houston. If she had done the very same performance with a less well known song (did someone say “But You Know I Love You”?), she might have finally broken through as a contender.

MICHAEL JOHNS – “It’s All Wrong, But It’s All Right”

I thought this was a bit lyrically repetitious, but at least the song was about something real and down to earth (unlike some of his previous misses like “Across The Universe”). Michael could make it as a bluesy Bob Seger/Bryan Adams rocker, but he has to keep choosing songs about everyday concerns.

Finally on a personal note, to everyone who’s been asking why I haven’t been posting much, right now a lot of the big movie junkets are happening in New York, plus I got rather involved in re-watching the first three seasons of “Lost” on DVD the past week. I’m all through now, so I’ll spend a little more of my brain power on thinking of things to write about.

YOU’VE GOT QUESTIONS…

…And we’ve got answers!

Constant reader Sophie has sent in some questions about “American Idol,” so let’s get to them. Here’s Sophie:

1.  Do the “American Idol” contestants bring their own clothes or are they provied a wardrobe? If so, is there a stylist to pick stuff out for them?

For Hollywood week and all the way to the Top 12, the contestants are responsible for providing their own wardrobes. Once they make the Top 12, they receive a small budget each week to buy clothes for their performances. With a stylist in tow, they’ll hit local malls like the Beverly Center or visit hip shops on Melrose Avenue.

2.  What is the song selection process like? Do they have a coach to help them or are they completely on their own?

As the judges often say, song selection is everything. The contestants usually start looking for songs a week in advance, and often have their song for the following week chosen by results show day. Of course, not every song they choose can be cleared (which means the owners of the song will allow its use on the show), so the contestants sometimes have to go back to the drawing board. Blake Lewis likes to tell the story of how he only got Maroon 5’s “This Love” cleared towards the end of his run on “Idol” because he was finally able to contact one of the members of the band that he knew.

The contestants work choosing and rehearsing their songs with a rehearsal pianist and one of two vocal coaches, either Debra Byrd (previously known as a member of Lady Flash, Barry Manilow’s trio of backup vocalists) or Dorian Holley. While the staff can suggest songs for each contestant, the singers are never told what songs to choose. Clay Aiken used to tell Byrd (as she likes to be known), “If the song I chose is terrible, wink with your left eye.” Byrd says she wouldn’t move an eyeball, especially considering how good Clay was at picking songs for himself.

3.  What if two contestants want to sing the same song?  Is this discouraged or against the rules?

While the contestants are discouraged against singing the same songs, it has happened. I remember Clay Aiken and Josh Gracin both singing “To Love Somebody” during Bee Gees night of Season Two.

Of course, it helps to be the first one to claim a song. Diana DeGarmo says that since she had to go to school for a few hours each day, by the time she got to the rehearsal room, often the song she most wanted to sing was already taken.

4.  How does rehearsal go? Do they share the band or the stage or are they allotted a certain time to use these resources?

Once the songs are chosen and rehearsed with the vocal coaches on Thursdays, the arrangers get to work and have sheet music ready for the full band to rehearse with the contestants on Mondays. Each contestant gets the same amount of time to work with the band.

5.  Where do the contestants live? Do they have to share a room with anyone else?

During the first season, Kelly Clarkson & co. all lived together in a mansion, but these days the contestants share two bedroom apartments in an apartment building.

6.  What do the contestants do with their free time? Are they sequestered or do they get to do whatever they want?

Free Time? Bwa-ha-ha! In addition to all the rehearsals and shopping trips outlined above, there’s also hours each week devoted to filming the advertisements for Ford, as well as recording a version of each contestant’s song for Itunes. Some weeks the Idols also attend movie premieres or other events that are shown on the show. There is also time spent with the celebrity mentors (although there are fewer of them this season). That’s why every single contestant I’ve ever talked to says their number one tip for “Idol” contestants is to get lots of rest.

7.  Why do they make the loser of the week sing right after they are told they were voted out? That’s torture.

No, that’s television. Although at least this season they aren’t having them sing right after they’ve found out they’re off the show. The bottom three are each singing their song from the previous night, probably in a desire to fill up that hour results show!