Posts Tagged ‘Syesha Mercado’

Justice is Served

Thursday, May 8th, 2008

This Turkey can watch American Idol sober next week! America voted and this time America agreed with the Foul Fowl. Jason Castro, whose act had deteriorated to badder than bad over the past four or five weeks, was mercifully eliminated from the competition, leaving just three good players and two good weeks of spirited, singing ass off performances.

Jason deserved to go, but the path forward now will be less clear. According to Ryan Seacrest, less than one million of 50 million total votes separated the top three vote getters. That portends well for some real competition. That is great!

As long as the little weenie David Archuleta is surprisingly eliminated next week because his pre-teen fan club finally succumbs to carpal tunnel syndrome after spam-voting him to the top for so many weeks, I’ll be happy. I cannot tell you enough how boring I find the kid. Don’t get me wrong: he has a great voice and excellent control of it. What he doesn’t offer is variety and maturity. Maybe in a couple of years when he starts shaving and singing with his eyes open, he’ll be more entertaining.

I don’t know how Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell can go home and live with themselves week after week after lionizing this 17 year-old boy wonder (who looks 13). Clearly, they have an agenda, which they have unswervingly demonstrated from the auditions right on through the competition. Paula Abdul is irrelevant, so her fawning is expected. She’s in her own world, anyway. (What the hell was that black and white dress she was wearing Wednesday night?)

Aw, what the hell. The “judges” are all irrelevant. They have no power over the contestants at this stage, other than jawboning the American voters, who probably aren’t paying much attention. These are people who boo if the “judges” are brutally honest about their heroes. That’s a product of our sanitized society more than anything else, where children are brought up in forced competition- and criticism-free environments, thereby rendering them incapable of accepting even the most constructive criticism when they ultimately receive it. (Yes, we’re fucking up whole generations with this “outcome based” crap or whatever they’re calling it these days, folks!)

Two weeks hence, I’d love to see a final between Syesha Mercado, who has been coming on strong singing her lovely ass off for the past few weeks, and David Cook, who has been consistently good through it all. Alas, that dream final will probably not come to pass. I will wake from my pipe dream, having to reconcile with the reality that the babyfaced kid is in the final, as I always knew in my heart of hearts he would be. If that is to be the case, I have two words for the survivor between Syesha and David Cook: KICK ASS!

Bookmark and Share this Post
[Ask] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Facebook] [Google] [MySpace] [Slashdot] [Technorati] [Windows Live] [Yahoo!] [Email] More »

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in American Idol | No Comments »

Ladies’ Night

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008

While Hillary Clinton was kicking ass in Pennsylvania (go Hillary!), the XX-chromosome crew was making all the noise on American Idol. Two of them, Syesha Mercado and Carly Smithson rocked the house, while the other, Brooke White, went down in flames.

Mercado’s vamp number, for which she was appropriately attired in a clingy, revealing crimson dress made it clear that she would replace the departed Kristy as my eye candy until she is finally eliminated—which means another week or two at most. Speaking of the XX crew, Syesha’s rating had to be on that side of PG-13.

Smithson absolutely nailed her performance of Jesus Christ, Superstar, which I ranked as best of the evening. Carly has had a problem picking songs that can showcase her powerful voice. She was headed for yet another material selection judgment error but she was redirected by none other than Andrew Lloyd Webber, who chose the perfect song for her.

The usually strong David Archuleta was boring. David Cook did the best he could with material that was well outside his comfort zone. Jason Castro was abysmally amateurish.

And so it was that on this night, the women outdid the men. Well, except for Brooke White. Calamity Brooke started singing and then stopped the band because she forgot the lyrics. Restarting her number, she sang it all the way through with her usual emotional involvement, which has never thrilled me. I don’t think that is what this audience is looking for, anyway. It is a popularity contest and, let’s face it, Brooke’s kind of pathos is off-putting at times.

Tonight, I ranked Carly first, then Syesha, then the two Davids (tied), then Jason, and Brooke on the bubble. Jason was weak enough to be eliminated, but I think it will be Brooke (thus guaranteeing that she’ll be around another week).

Bookmark and Share this Post
[Ask] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Facebook] [Google] [MySpace] [Slashdot] [Technorati] [Windows Live] [Yahoo!] [Email] More »

Tags: , ,
Posted in American Idol | 91 Comments »