American Idol Final 10 Recap

Ok, I had to sprinkle in the baseball notes to keep the man card active on the blogs. It's starting to bend into three different pieces, but the card is still intact. BARELY. It will probably disintegrate at the conclusion of this post.

Since, I'm already going to you know where, lets proceed how the final 10 of Idol will be reduced to nine.

Two overall points before the individual breakdown:
1. Songs from the year you were born doesn't scream out must see or originality, but thank you for moving off the Beatles. And I love the Fab Four. Problem is the contestants didn't.
2. There is a new Idol to beat. It's not even close. Read below.

Ramiele: Heart "Alone"
Thoughts: I thought the night began with a big stinkbomb. Ok, yes Ramiele has decent vocals which are more noticible as the heel size shrinks. But, when you do a song that produced Carrie Underwood's win in Season 4, and pale in comparison, it's a bad move. This song totally ate Ramiele up.
Standing: Ramiele's escaped Bottom 3 treatment despite two lackluster performances thus far. I'll be shocked if she's not in the Bottom 3 this week. And considering Amanda recieved the Kiss of Death by going first, an elimination could be in order.

Jason: Sting "Fragile"
Thoughts: I like the Police, but had never heard this song before tonight. I came off thinking the song needs immediate I-Pod treatment. Notice I said song and not Jason's performance.
Standing: He's moving into Amanda territory for me. Has an original quality to him, but not very remarkable overall. And you saw where that got the Rock N Roll Nurse last week.

Syesha: Stephanie Mills "If I Were Your Woman"
Thoughts: Syesha is definately the diva remaining in the field. Unfortunately, while her voice is good, it's not Jordan Sparks good. Tonight was a perfect example. Probably the best vocal performance Syesha is capabale of, but still fell short of greatness.
Standing: The judges lauded it and said Syesha is now a dark horse. I suspect she's safe this week, but I don't see her as someone to beat.

Chikeze: Luther Vandross "If Only For One Night"
Thoughts: It was a little too old fashioned and corny for my taste. What's ridiculous though is Chikeze got ripped for being too "ecletic" last week, and when he goes back to his roots, it earns a panning. That would make sense if this were Sanjiya, but Chikeze has talent.
Standing: Like most of the other early entries, a less than stellar effort early on is a recipe for a disaster. I don't think the water under Chikeze is boiling as much as it is for a couple others though.

Brooke: The Police "Every Breath You Take"
Thoughts: Could not agree with Randy and Simon more. The first half, featuring only Brooke and the piano was excellent. Once the band came in, it became totally ordinary.
Standing: Still, unless I'm underestimating the Syesha fan club, she's the most popular chick in the bunch. But its looking more and more like a guy is winning it this year.

Michael: Queen "We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions"
Thoughts: It's about freaking time!! And I don't think Mr. Johns has been as bad as the judges. But here was a performance that while total intimation, showed off the powerful voice, and Michael's personality.
Standing: He'll be back next week, and in better standing. The question is, can Michael knock a non-Queen song out of the park?

Carly: Bonnie Tyler "Total Eclipse of the Heart"
Thoughts: I have no clue what Randy and Simon were listening to. I thought Carly was not only dead-on with a very difficult song to sing, but she outdid the original at the end. As good as her "Come Together" from Week one.
Standing: Carly should be the one to beat amongst the ladies. Amazingly, she's coming off bottom 3 honors. However, I chalk that up to an awful song choice. She's fine this week.

David A: John Farnam "You're the Voice"
Thoughts: Ok, it's clear to me that the major thing David has going for him is the teenage girl vote. This was a grossly miscalculated song choice, compounded by the fact that David has virtually zero personality on stage, and while his voice can be great, lacks the range of at least 2-3 other contestants.
Standing: He's not getting voted off yet. But when we have already seen Carly land in the Bottom 3, I would not be shocked at all to see David Archuletta there tomorrow.

Kristy Lee: Lee Greenwood "God Bless the USA"
Thoughts: I can tell the bloggers are already throwing up amongst themselves. But considering that Kristy Lee is squeaking by-obviously due to the country vote-this was a pretty smart move, no matter how lame the performance was.
Standing: And it was certainly not the worst of the night. That along with her second to last standing in the song order could actually translate into a non-Bottom 3 finish.

David Cook: Michael Jackson "Billie Jean"
Thoughts: And I use David's full name here. Why? Because in less than three months, David Cook will be the next American Idol. WOW! Don't mean to go crazy with the superlatives, but that was one of the best performances in Idol history. And as far as creatives, it actually outdid Blake Lewis's beatboxing "You Give Love a Bad Name," which single-handedly got him a runner-up finish.
Standing: In all seriousness, even if you don't want to hand D.C. the crown, how can you not tag him the one to beat?

Conclusion: David Cook has taken the reigns from little David. And Michael Johns, and according to some people(not me) Syesha have submitted themselves as dark horses. As for the bottom 3, I've got Ramiele and Jason making their debuts there. And I'm gonna show some major guts, and predict that Archuletta's fan club is not as big as we think, and he will be a big surprise in the Bottom 3.
That said, David won't be voted off this week. And I suspect Ramiele has enough of a following to survive another week. Which means, adios Jason.