Wednesday, March 19, 2008

AI Review - 03.18.2008

1. David Archuleta - Still not his best performance, but it's the winner in a weak night. Technically proficient and on point, with a startling maturity. He avoids the foolish tendency of others to embellish and overdo a song. He certainly does best on the power ballads and still has to prove his versatility.

2. David Cook - Might have been first if it wasn't for the ill-conceived vocoder and the increasingly off-putting smugness.

3. Michael Johns - He overreached. "A Day in the Life" is a tough song to sing and he sounded winded by the end. I appreciated his maturity during the criticism. He didn't speak and just took it all in. He also avoided milking the sentimental factor of his song choice and only revealed it when prodded by Ryan. A very mature guy in more ways than one.

4. Carly Smithson - She again demonstrates amazing control in her voice.

5. Syesha Mercado - An overcooked performance that tested the limits of her voice. The emotions were too much on the surface. It sounded pretty, though.

6. Brooke White
- A very disappointing, awkward performance this week after the exquisiteness of last week. The goofy dancing and the desperate attempt to punch up the song's energy level hurt more than helped. The nervous, passive-aggresive attempt at justifying her failings tonight was a little annoying.

7. Ramiele Malubay - She certainly gave it her best, and for the most part she sounded fine. Her forte is in big ballads and her song choice this week showed the failings of her vocals when forced to add energy and fun to her performance.

8. Jason Castro - Dull and amateurish. The goofiness may be endearing but this week it just made it seem like he was unprepared and was just screwing around tonight. He gets bonus points for pointing out the "nails-on-chalkboard" moment during "Hallelujah."

9. Amanda Overmyer - She was singing ahead of the song. She's pretty much a one-trick pony and her personality adds to her unlikability. She could have an interesting voice. As of now she's getting by on the benefits of smoking two packs a day.

10. Chikezie - The first part was dull but sounded fine, then all of a sudden he started singing a different song. He must have gotten carried away after the praise last week, and instead he winds up with a baffling performance.

11. Kristy Lee Cook - She ruined one of my favorite songs. She hit the notes but this was a vacant lifeless performance. What a strange arrangement too.

1 comment:

Davey G said...

Ramiele needs to stop making friends and start focusing on her singing :)