The Set List

'American Idol' Down To A Dozen (warning: spoilers)

America almost got it right, clearing out three of the four singers whose substandard performances made them easy and obvious targets.
The one surprise among the eliminated class was Asia’h Epperson, who sang well enough to continue but was apparently penalized for violating the No Whitney rule. Once again, though, "American Idol" shows that when it comes to non-white performers, it's tough for two performers to remain in the competition if they share physical characteristics. This year, Epperson and Syesha Mercado were 20-ish, thin, light-skinned and attractive. It will be interesting if, once the whittling is one a week, a blonde female departs early if for no other reason than voters aligning with the one they view as either most like them or the one they want as a friend. Coincidentally, blondes Kristy Lee Cook and Brooke White, plus Chikezie, enter the top 12 with the weakest wind in their sails. 
First week of the mixed-gender shows will be spent with the Lennon-McCartney catalog, a first for "Idol." This could be seriously dangerous territory.
Consider: Only one of these singers, Michael Johns, was alive when John Lennon was murdered. Wings had broken up before they were born. And it's quite possible, even likely, that the younger kids' parents were toddlers when "Help!" and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"  were changing the world.
While it seems obvious that Amanda Overmyer will go for "Come Together" or "I Should've Known Better," and White will find an acoustic number off "Rubber Soul," the rest of the lot might well be doing a cover of a cover. Stevie Wonder's "We Can Work It Out"? Joe Cocker's "She Came In Through the Bathroom Window"? The "I Am Sam" or "Across the Universe" soundtracks? It's not likely any of them will make the world rethink "Hey Jude" the way Wilson Pickett did or tackle "Here, There and Everywhere" in a style similar to Emmylou Harris' take.
Likewise, these kids probably do not know which of these tunes have cultural weight and which are fair game for interpretation.
On paper, "Ticket to Ride" might appear no different than "In My Life" which might be no different than "Penny Lane." But remove the guitar riff from "Ride," change the melody of "Life" or miss a note on "Penny Lane" and you are toast to millions of Beatles fans.
The safe route is to sing somethign mid-tempo, "Eight Days a Week" or "I've Just Seen a Face." Something tells me, though, that David Archuleta will begin preparing tonight in his bed, singing "all my troubles seems so far away..."
The final 12 are: David Cook,  Jason Castro, Brooke White, Syesha Mercado,David Hernandez, Ramiele Malubay,  Chikezie, Archuleta,Johns, Cook, Smithson and Overmyer.
Cut were Kady Malloy, Luke Menard, Epperson and Danny Noriega.

The Clash DVD Collection Grows By Two

  Odd as it sounds, PBS will be broadcasting an hourlong version of "The Clash Live: Revolution Rock" during its pledge drives this month. Epic/Legacy will release the DVD on April 15.
A new documentary by Don Letts, whose mantra has been "when other punks picked up guitars, I picked up a camera,""Revolution Rock" comprises live performances from every era of the Clash - I have only watched about 30 minutes of it and they've only played on tune from the second album ("Tommy Gun"). There are also live-in-the-studio clips,footage from "Rude Boy," two 1981 TV interviews, and  performances "This Is Radio Clash" and "The Magnificent Seven" on the "Tomorrow" show.   
On June 3,  the label will release on DVD Julien Temple's fine documentary "Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten." Pic captures Strummer leading the Clash, the 101ers, the Latino Rockabilly War and his final group, the Mescaleros. 

'American Idol' Women Revive Memories of Paula And Randy's Glory Days

In between Randy and Paula expounding on their '80s credits - hair styles and video choreography for Abdul, bass and combing Steve Perry's hair for Mr. Jackson -  Simon Cowell rested on his latest crutch to explain the troubles of Carly Smithson, saying she - like others before her - had yet to choose the right song for her talents. Her problem goes much deeper than that, and that may be one of the most troubling  aspects of "American Idol 7": These performers lack the whole ball of wax - vocal ability, charisma, range, taste and personality - and the judges are really struggling to put their fingers on it.
Smithson has the pipes, there's no denying that, which means part of her problem is the material. Not exactly. The song she chose - on '80s night, mind you - was "I Drove All Night." Technically it is an '80 song as Roy Orbison recorded it in 1987 and Cyndi Lauper recorded it in 1989. (Orbison's version actually was release posthumously in the 1990s).
In Orbison's hands, it's a hard charging neo-rockabilly number, the sort that Bruce Springsteen returns to now and again, and like everything Orbison sang, it was rich and rounded with an exposed element of determination. Nothing about his recording has an expiration stamp - no vocoders, electronic drums or extraneous synthesizers. But that's not the version she performed.
Smithson opted to do the lightweight  Celine Dion semi-house beat version, which hit five years ago on the heel of it being a mainstay in a car commercial. The visuals of those ads were pretty cool and even featured in her Las Vegas show. And most people, including the judges, if they knew the song, they heard Dion's version in their head. Hers was a dance track as she is not the story-teller Orbison was, which makes Cowell's other key comment to Smithson - "you're a million times better than that song" - a misguided piece of advice.
Smithson was performing the cover of a cover  and that is what rarely works on this show unless the performer has reworked the tune to make it at least superficially appear unique. Once again, Smithson exuded no personality; the tattooed arm, bad teeth and stiff performing style are antithetical to the Dion and Orbison models; and unlike at least three of her competitors, there's little sense that she has any playfulness or stylistic range.
Those qualities have been key to past winners and runners up, especially Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken and Fantasia. They gave audiences multiple reasons to like them in addition to performing solidly week after week, which should lead to Smithson's earlier than expected dismissal.
The contestants this season, beyond Ramiele, do not  grasp how to play to the strengths of their vocals and simultaneously work the camera.
Brooke White's  move - reduce Pat Benatar's "Love is a Battlefield" to an unplugged version -  was a smart one even if it stripped the song of  all dynamics.  Amanda Overmyer and Syesha Mercado opted to do straight Karaoke but they picked the 100%-correct songs - Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself for Loving You" (Overmyer) and the Whitney Houston hit "Saving All My Love For You" (Mercado).
Kady Malloy - is she a cute dullard or a dull cutie, not sure - trashed "Who Wants to Live Forever," running from flat notes to a scream in an emotionless rendition of the Queen tune.
What's that? Queen did that song? Yup. But who on Earth knows it?
A theory: Apparently, after Live Aid reminded everyone about the greatness of  Bruce Springsteen and Peter Gabriel and Bowie and Mick and Tina and even Tracy Chapman, someone in the Malloy household decided it was Freddie Mercury who was going to feed the world. And support Freddie the Malloys did, buying up used copies of "Jazz" and "Hot Space" and wondering when will we get more Queen. More Queen! Now! 
Their prayers were answered when Freddie and the boys released "A Kind of Magic," which included songs from a film  I am guessing was played on endless loops during Kady's childhood, "Highlander." She must have believed that "How Will I Know" was this enormous hit and wondered why "Wayne's World" would use "Bohemian Rhapsody" instead of a "Highlander" track and figures that every stadium that plays "We Will Rock You" will burst into  "One Vision" any minute now.
Kady, you're at the end of the line. And take the equally dull Kristy Lee Cook with you. (Any '80s night is always a reminder of why I own so many jazz and blues albums).
On a side note, notice how the male and female front-runners slipped a notch for singing Phil Collins songs. Is that a question of talent, or taste?

'American Idol' Reveals That Everybody Loves Leonard Cohen...Or At Least One Of His Songs

The boys readjusted the scales Tuesday in the final gender-based elimination round, making viewers reconsider the talents of David Cook and Jason Castro for the better and Michael Johns and David Archuletta for the worse.
The theme was '80s night and the question posed to contestants was name your most embarrassing moment - and little did Danny Noriega realize he would have a new answer for that query after he finished performing a dreadful, campy rendition of "Tainted Love."  He finished that atrocity and should have immediately started campaigning harder than Hillary to secure the votes of flamboyant hand signalers who speak in text messaging abbreviations and just adore purple streaks in the hair. That seems to be his target audience. Or maybe it's people with a permanent look of disdain etched on their faces, or people whose strongest personal attribute is the shininess of their hair. Truly one of the most obnoxious contestants this show has ever booked, and he is revealing himself to be an unwatchable non-talent.
On the positive side, Cook retreated to the irrelevant side of 80s pop-R&B, took a Pete Wentz approach (musical, not just the hair) to Lionel Richie's "Hello" and not only impressed the judges but crafted an original version of a song that would seem to have no relevance in his emo-loving world. Definitely, his strongest - and most convincing -  vocal performance in the contest.
Castro was an even more pleasant surprise, dipping into the Leonard Cohen songbook for "Hallelujah," an obscurity from 1984 that Jeff Buckley turned into an hymn for the disenfranchised a decade later.  It took chutzpah to do a number like that: a) it's a remarkably difficult song to sing, requiring vocal control, range and a spot-on alignment with the acoustic guitar accompaniment; b) it's sloooowww  and nothing irks the judges more than a dirge; and c) considering the lack of knowledge about the bona fide hits of Heart, Connie Francis and the Spiral Staircase, he had to figure this might be the first time Randy, Paula and Simon are hearing this tune  with a cult following. Perhaps the biggest surprise was that Jackson and Cowell were not only familiar with "Hallelujah's"  providence, they're big fans.
On the negative side, the so-far flawless David Archuleta hit some off-key notes and sang with little confidence Tuesday. His song selection of Phil Collins' "Another Day in Paradise" revealed an absence of taste and knowledge; he brought no character to the tune.
Faring worse was Aussie Michael Johns, who Randy Jackson imagines has been singing  the greatest hits of INXS while holding a hairbrush and looking into the mirror since he was 6 or 7. But he was not singing an INXS song, he was singing a Simple Minds song. A Scottish band, not an Australian one. Doesn't matter, though - his perf here would have seen him tossed before Mig on "Rock Star." "Don't You Forget About Me" earned praise from Jackson and Abdul; Cowell had the smarter take: Johns is immensely talented but has yet to connect with the right song.
David Hernandez, the stripper from AZ, turned in a confident performance and his suddenly exposed (ha ha) past should not block him from entry into the top 12. Chikezie sounded good enough on "She Fills Me Up," but he's a bit thorny and may not be generating many votes for his onscreen personality.
But if America gets it right, Luke Menard will be joining Noriega on the bus out of Hollywood Thursday night. Who in their right mind sings "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" unless they are playing a prank on someone or reminding them of how awful their musical taste used to be? It's simple: George Michael music, A-OK; Wham, never! Luke, do you see anyone clamoring for Andrew Ridgeley records? Should your "most embarrassing" story concerned the collection of oversized white "Choose Life" T-shirts in the back of your closet?
Maybe Mr. Ridgeley is at home right now, wondering how to get Luke's phone number so they  could reunite as Wham of the 21st Century. Brian Dunkelman could be their emcee. State fairs and amusement parks - here they come.

Hollywood's Hotel Cafe Hits The Road With Jim Bianco In The Driver's Seat

Hollywood’s haven for singer-songwriters, the dimly lit and intimate Hotel Cafe, is expanding its brand from live music to recordings with the release this week of Jim Bianco’s “Sing.”
The disc, distributed by Rykodisc, hits stores just weeks after a remote edition of the venue operated during the Sundance Film Festival and just days before the third edition of the Hotel Café Tour hits the road. The 16-concert tour, which features Bianco and other Café regulars such as Ingrid Michaelson, Cary Brothers and Sara Bareilles, opens March 6 in San Diego and runs through April 12 at L.A.’s Music Box at Henry Fonda Theater.
The entourage will also perform March 9 at the Café itself and has a major showcase lined up for SXSW in Austin next week. Shows on the tours have been anything goes affairs with musicians alternating lineups, jamming together for finales and keeping the evenings wide open, much like the Hotel Café has been during its seven years of existence – and one remodeling 
“We all needed a scene, a place to go” says Bianco, who moved to L.A. from New York eight years ago and found a local club scene very set in its ways. “It was very unintentional, but great that it worked out this way.”
Bianco has been a mainstay at the Café and on the tour, appearing on all three and remaining enthused by the collaborative nature of the shows. The venue, meanwhile, has become something of a workshop for him: he has tried out theatrical ideas involving catwalks, found new musicians to work with and even written songs on the a piano tucked away in the venue’s front room.
“At least a part of every song on the album was conceived on the piano at the Hotel Café,” Bianco says, apparently surprising himself as he comes to that realization as he connects the dots between his first two discs and the new one. “The heart opens a little more on ‘Sing.’ “The last record had lots of sex. This has some loss, some love and some sex.”
Sex, or at least the libido, produces some of Bianco’s best lines. “Sing’s” “Painkiller,” for example, offers a lecherous twist: “Your skirt blew up high enough that I could see your skin/It appeared as though I was owed a favor by the wind." Love and commitment is there,too: "To hell with the devil/ I'm selling my soul to you.”
Intriguingly, Bianco is hardly a standard HC character: He’s more rambunctious and less in touch with his inner-Laurel Canyon than his peers. His songs have elements from European cabaret, South American dances, Chicago blues and wrong-side-of-the-tracks authors. And he does not possess what anyone would call a mellifluous voice.
Since everyone listening to Bianco is familiar with the raspy tone of Tom Waits, he gets that comparison. Some of that owes to the lyrical content, but his voice never even threatens to go as deep as Waits; it’s not a failed impersonation. His vocals, to my ears, are actually much closer to Fats Waller with a hint of gravel; it’s the hacking voice of a hangover, one that be tolerated. It suits the control clatter behind him just fine.
“I’ve always been a huge fan of (people) with weird voices – Tom Waits, Muddy Waters, Billie Holiday. I have yet to truly find mine but the more I do, the more comfortable with it I become.”
Bianco held his record release party Tuesday at the Hotel Café and performs today (March 5) at 7 p.m. at Amoeba Records in Hollywood.

Jazz At Lincoln Center Celebrates Two Legendary Albums

Celebrations of the 50th anniversaries of two landmark jazz albums, John Coltrane's “Giant Steps” and Miles Davis' “Kind of Blue” are among the thousands of events planned for the 2008-09 Jazz at Lincoln Center season.

That's part the news. JALC has come up with yet another extraordinary schedule to fill their halls, three of the finest venues in this country for listening. This schedule, along with Jets home games, often determines my visits to New York.

The calendar is being circled for Nov. 20-22 (Music of Monk and Danilo Perez Plays Monk); Jan. 9 and 10 for Roy Hargrove and Cedar Walton; March 6 and 7 for the SFJAZZ Collective performing works by Horace Silver; and Kenny Barron making his Allen Room debut March 19 and 21.
The real potential for a mind-blower is the band featuring Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Kenny Garrett, Christian McBride and Vinnie Colaiuta on April 23-25.

The full performance schedule is after the jump 

Music Documentaries Fill L.A. Festival

For the seventh year, AFI will hold its Music Documentary Series throughout L.A. running April 2 to May 7.
On the slate are five new films: Scott Hicks's film on Philip Glass, "Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts," which opens the fest April 2 at Arclight Hollywood; Stephen Walker's piece on senior citizens performing punk and soul tunes in "Young@Heart" (April 7, Arclight Sherman Oaks); David Hausen's untitled doc on the Red Hot Chili Peppers (April 9, Arclight Hollywood); "Joy Division" by Grant Gee (April 23, Arclight Hollywood); and Andy Garcia's pic on the Cuban bassist and bandleader Cachao, "Cachao: Uno Mas" (April 30, Arclight Hollywood).
All films are followed by Q&As.
Also on the schedule: "Help! (April 14, Sherman Oaks); "Peter Tosh: Stepping Razor: Red X" (April 16, Hollywood); "Neil Young: Heart of Gold" (April 21,Sherman Oaks);"Purple Rain" (April 28,Sherman Oaks); and D.A. Pennebaker's "Don't Look Back" (May 7,Skirball Cultural center)

Pitchfork Enters The Video Biz

Pitchfork will beta launch a 24-hour music video channel on April 7.
Pitchfork.tv is being billed as the first music video channel dedicated to documenting independent music as it happens.
Pitchfork intends to offer original mini-documentaries, secret rooftop and basement sessions, full concerts, exclusive interviews and a carefully curated selection of music videos.
Channel will also screen full-length feature films, vintage concerts and music DVDs free of charge. Each week will see a different feature film highlighted. Among the titles mentioned are the Pixies' 2004 reunion tour film "LoudQuietLoud" and Todd Phillips' GG Allin documentary "Hated."
Content will be available on-demand.

Place Your "American Idol" Bets: Archuletta and Ramiele Are The Favorites

Not that anyone can place their bets, but between determining the likelihood of the Kansas Jayhawks winning the NCAA men's tournament (5-1) or the S.F. Giants winning the NL pennant (40-1), the chief bookie at the Wynn in Las Vegas has made David Archuleta the odds-on favorite to win "American Idol."
Archuleta, listed at 4-1 in the Wynn's "entertainment purposes only" odds, will be in a final two with Ramiele Malubay (6-1), according to Johnny Avello, director of the Race & Sports Book at Wynn Las Vegas Resort & Country Club.
Next to go - or at least the competition's biggest longshot - is Luke Menard. He's at 100-1 and if he holds on for another week it will be surprising.
Carly Smithson, who Paula Abdul would seemingly bet all of her "Forever Your Girl" royalties on, is listed at 11 to 1.  Michael Johns and Syesha Mercado are at 7-1 and 8-1 respectively. Avello has the Cooks lined up for back-to-back dismissals: Kristy Lee at 40-1 and David at 30-1.  The others: Jason Castro (10-1); David Hernandez (15-1); Kady Malloy (18-1); Danny Noriega (20-1); Asia'h Epperson (22-1); Amanda Overmyer (25-1); Chikezie Eze (60-1); and Brooke White (75-1).  Not a surprise in the bunch there, but who can say what will happen when they encounter Bo Bice-Lynyrd Skynyrd night.

Yaz Briefly Join The Reunion Circuit

Yaz - Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet, aka the finest synthpop band ever - are reuniting  for six shows to help promote a four-CD box set that will be released in May.
Clarke and Moyet, reuniting for the first time in 25 years, will start “The Reconnected Tour” at the Paramount Theater in Oakland, Calif., on July 7 and close out July 16 and 17 at New York City’s Terminal 5. L.A. shows are July 10 and 12 at the Orpheum. Band will also play the Chicago Theater on July14.
Box set "In Your Room" will include remasters and 5.1 mixes of both Yaz albums ("Upstairs At Eric’s" and "You And Me Both"), b-sides and remixes plus a DVD featuring a new short film containing  interviews with Clarke and Moyet and the videos for “Don’t Go,” “The Other Side Of Love,” “Nobody’s Diary," “Situation (1990)” and “Only You (1999).”

NME Brings Awards to U.S.

The NME Awards are coming to the U.S.
NME will present the awards April 23 at the El Rey in Los Angeles. Categories voted on by visitors to nme.com include best band, album, track and live band. Other categories, including the famous Godlike Genius Award, are chosen by NME’s editorial team.
First round of voting starts today on NME.COM. This will result in a shortlist, which will then be voted on starting March 24. 
The U.S. NME Awards are a joint venture between the Brit music magazine NME and promoter Goldenvoice. Show will feature live performances as well.
The NME Awards is also sponsoring a tour headlined by  Kate Nash that runs April 15,in Atlanta, through May 13 in San Francisco.

Adding Transparency To The Critical Process: Esa Pekka Salonen, Albert Ayler and Preservation

When announcing his final season as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa Pekka Salonen was about his taste in pop music, which has been well documented during his time on the podium though remains relatively unchanged. His taste has led to numerous bookings involving alternative rock bands and the L.A Phil, most recently Grizzly Bear.
"My knowledge of pop music is not very deep," he said, more as fact than apology. "The greatest, the freshest, are the ones we don't know about yet, those under the radar. The pop artists I can relate to -- Bjork, Radiohead, Sigur Ros - are not the leading innovators today.
"It would be biologically wrong to be an innovator (at this age. We start gravitating toward preserving."
It was interesting that he didn't necessarily specify if that was how he felt as an artist or a fan, whether the taste of a professional or an amateur differ or even if the way one feels about pop music translates to other realms as well.
Salonen has been  a programming innovator during his 16 season in L.A. and his compositions are nearly all extraordinarily affecting. So I'm not truly ready to put him strictly in the collector category - he still shows signs of being a hunter.
But in a varied week for myself - listening to Salonen speak, hearing Bill Cosby defend Herbie Hancock's significant Grammy win at the Playboy Jazz Fest announcement, seeing Bette Midler perform in Las Vegas, and watching Kasper Collin's insightful documentary on the free jazz   giant Albert Ayler - I started to realize how we all fall into a role of collector and defender.  Missy Higgins gave a wonderful performance last week that cast a fine light on her impressive songwriting, but I have faith that there's enough of a machine behind her to cultivate an audience.
Ayler, known for dramatic honks and squeaks on the tenor saxophone in the 1960s, is revealed as an artist of the highest degree, the rare musician whose playing reflected his soul. "My Name is Albert Ayler" reveals the unique manner with which he expressed himself and the humanity that went into his improvisations. It's a gorgeous portrait; as a fan, it's heartwarming to know a powerful document like this exists.
Ayler, obviously, is a preservation act, but at the same time there is tremendous room for increased exposure, and proselytizing for a man who has been dead for more than 37 years feels as natural as trying to promote a young musician early in their carer, like Nik Bartsch, Freddie Stevenson, Jens Lekman and Ben Allison.
Took in two shows last week (Higgins and Midler) to get the year's total to 16 (84 show and 263 acts to go to meet my goal).
On the stereo:
Home: Lizz Wright "The Orchard"; Joe Ely & Joel Guzman "Live Cactus" (advance); 
DeVotchKa "A Mad and Faithful Telling"
Car: Ray Davies "Workingman's Cafe"; John Lennon "Rock 'n' Roll"; Kathleen Edwards "Asking for Flowers"; Gary Louris "Vagabonds"; Grateful Dead "Road Trips Vol. 1 No. 2"

   

Set List: Bette Midler, Las Vegas, 2008

Bette Midler officially opened her first Las Vegas residency Friday night at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. The full review is here.  "The Showgirl Must Go On," with about 100 performances per year on tap, finds Midler performing the following:
The Showgirl Must Go On /  In the Mood / The Rose / Do You Want To Dance / From a Distance / My Kind of Town / Dolores Delago disco parody medley / It's Now or Never / (Interlude) Also Sprach Zarathustra / Medley: Viva Las Vegas>Luck Be a Lady>Blue Hawaii>My Way>My Kind of Town / Hello in There / When a Man Loves a Woman / Pretty Legs and  Big Knockers / Glory of Love / Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy / Wind Beneath My Wings

Merle Haggard Plays Steam Engine In Environmental Tour

Merle Haggard and entertainment businessman Bob Wolf will announce in Nashville Monday the creation of the Green Train, a multi-concert informational train tour that will travel coast to coast.
The Green Train is scheduled to start in Portland, Ore., this summer and will pass through every geographic region in the nation during a six-week whistle stop tour. It will culminate with a volunteer outreach day in Washington, D.C. in August. Haggard and friends will ride aboard the Green Train this summer to promote global awareness.
“Merle and I felt it was important to try and unite our country through a message of common sense, simple conservation and education that carries on through our generations to come,” Wolf said. “We decided a whistle-stop train with a circus-style atmosphere should be the vessel carrying our message, along with a concert tour allowing a younger generation of entertainers to honor the stage with America’s legendary icons in a ‘pass the baton’ kind of ceremony to the next ‘breed of legends.’"

'American Idol' Women Stumble Through the '70s

Clams is a term musicians use to refer to bad notes, the moment when a performer strays off-key. On Wednesday, the final 10 women were served on a  musical half-shell.
Not one warbler displayed personality or command of a tune; song selections were abysmal; and when the only number that seemed OK was an old Olivia Newton John hit, suddenly one felt the need to have their taste buds checked.
It's always easy to slam the first contestant, but the danger is in not knowing if that will be the highlight of the night. Carly Smithson, whose real talent may be in  Flowbee and Robocut  infomercials should this singing thing not work out, gave a thoroughly unoriginal, bar band reading of Heart's "Crazy on You." But at least it was in key.
Oddly, she was probably the only one who could say that about her entire performance.
Sysesha Mercado did a gender switch on Billy Paul's "Me and Mrs. Jones" that was, in the harsh words of Simon Cowell, not a clever choice. Syseha seemed scared of Mr. Jones; Billy Paul had Mrs . Jones right where he wanted her.
Brooke White pulled out the old six-string to perform Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" and was quite strong on the first verse but vocally fell apart once she hit the chorus. Why the judges the loved it was beyond me.
Ramiele did the perfect middle of the pack tune, the Thelma Houston disco hit "Don't Leave Me This Way." The judges tore her a new one - a bit unfairly. The girl did  a dull tune and did mostly OK with it.
Kristy Lee Cook pulled a partial decade violation, doing the Linda Ronstadt version of the 1963 tune "You're No Good," which was exquisitely recorded by Betty Everett and Dee Dee Warwick. In the filmed segment, Cook proved once again she's the  horse whisperer of the competition. That doesn't mean she should waddle around the stage like she just dismounted Seattle Slew. This girl thinks she's at an audition for Felix "Red River" Unger and the Saddle Sores. (Obscure "Odd Couple" reference for you young 'uns. Genius show - 10 years and it never jumped the shark).
Believing Pepe Le Pew  is an up and coming French designer is not a good thing. Amanda Overmyer was all skunk -  "Carry On My Wayward Son" was odorous in the '70s and it still is today. I am very worried that we have seen the last of her.
"Hopelessly Devoted to You." It's sort of like "I Just Called to Say I Love You." If somebody calls you with that sentiment it's nice, but ultimately you have to say "why are you singing that crappy song?" Well, why are you, Alaina?
The producers do her no favors by weekly showing  the three faces of Alaina. There's the cute goofy kid that we see in filmed segs; there's the singer who loves the camera and the camera loves back; and then there's the gloomy kid who is not quite sure whether she is to blame for an off performance. Her expression looks like a kid getting a lecture from her parents after she told them she crashed the family car and defended herself - to no avail - by saying at least she didn't get pregnant in the back seat like that tramp Jennifer did.  She needs a "judges look," something that says I'm proud and yet I understand that you want to help me. Not "um... whatever."
Alexandrea Lushington. You sang Chicago's  "If You Leave Me Now." Randy said safe choice. Simon said he thought you struggled.  If I voted, you'd be safe, but I have to wonder what makes you think that song fits your voice.
Kady Malloy sang Heart's "Magic Man," a song apparently never played in England because every DJ in America was wearing out the grooves on every copy available in the States.  Egads, Simon, get a cheat sheet. The buttons on her dress said Barbra, her vocals screamed barbed wire. Time to go.
And saving the valiant effort for last, Asia'h mangled Eric Carmen's "All By Myself" in the earlygoing and then recovered. Still, she violated a key "Idol" rule: No Celine, no Whitney. You can't win.
Clearly, while the world was devouring the Wilson sisters, Simon was busy with a French class project that involved translating Celine Dion lyrics to proper English. He just knows a little too much about her.