American Idol Top 10: The Genius Theme

Well now we're back, and Amanda-less. So sad. But we have to move on. This week's theme is "the year you were born," which means lots of terrible songs we grew up with. At least they will not kill Beatles songs. Grade scale remains standard - A, B, C, D, F.

1. Ramiele Malubay (1988 - Alone) - Oh my god, what is she wearing? Tina Turner couldn't make that late 80's gear look good. All she needs is a neon colored fanny pack. As for the singing, lots of glory notes in the power ballad and Ramiele as usual just doesn't hit them well. Her start was kind of raspy too. Randy is right on, the song was way too big for her. I don't care if she was sick, you have to overcome in this competition. She's cute enough to probably survive this week, but not much longer.
GRADE: D

2. Jason Castro (1987 - Fragile) - And we're right back to the crutch of Mr. Acoustic Idol. At least Castro didn't bring back the electric toy guitar or the 80's clothes to the stage. The performance was solid, but very soft and possibly too boring. The song choice was definitely right up his alley. The guitar playing was not fantastic, just basic strumming by the sounds of it. We'll say he passes.
GRADE: C

3. Syesha Mercado (1987 - If I Were Your Woman) - I swear, if she does the baby cry or KKK does Britney one more time...they should truly be co-VFTW. Happy to see the "high-class" dress and flat hair went away after one week, back to the fuzziness. Kelley thought she missed on the glory notes, but I disagree. It sounded great to me, and she may actually get off my chopping block this week. Classic moment 1 of the week: Paula calling the only black girl in the competition a Dark Horse. Nice. No doubt about it, she's back next week.
GRADE: A

4. Chikeize (1985 - If Only For One Night) - So Chikeize throws caution to the wind and goes back to what got him on the trouble a month ago. At least the harmonica stayed home this week, as too much of a quirky thing would be bad. I hate the pattern on the bottom of his suit jacket, it's too over the top for this song. His song choice was mediocre and the performance was solid yet forgettable. We know what Chikeize can do, and maybe he should find a way to mesh a ballad with some of his sparkling personality. Just did not do it tonight.
GRADE: D+

5. Brooke White (1983 - Every Breath You Take) - Missed the second note and started over, HUGE MISSTEP for this competition despite what Randy says. What a wank-wank story about being so gifted at music that she plays piano by ear. Good for you, Ms. Nothing Special. The song choice was interesting, her outfit was great considering the sunshine goodwill dress from last week, and the performance was typical Brooke. That song did not show off her vocal range at all, which makes me question my comparison earlier to Alicia Keys. The judges saying it was better than last week is no surprise since she punted like many last week.
GRADE: C

6. Michael Johns (1978 - We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions) - For the guy who did Bohemian Rhapsody to make the Top 24, this song choice is no surprise. He's actually lucky that he is so old and can pick from one of the greatest Queen albums of all time. Definitely not Freddie Mercury material here, but a pretty good rock performance. I don't think the song choice could get better than that honestly, and the performance was good enough to warrant top marks.
GRADE: A

7. Carly Smithson (1983 - Eclipse of the Heart) - First, I really like the black dress this week, as it fits Carly much better than some of her other outfits. Perfect song choice for someone who likes to belt out and oversing, and her performance was good except for the ridiculous glory note at the end. And before I forget, WTF is Paula Abdul wearing on her forearms? Biker gloves with jewelry accents? But anyways, the performance was good for that song. She needs to do a little better than that in the final weeks, but despite a bottom 3 appearance last week, Carly should be here well into May.
GRADE: B

8. David Archuleta (1990 - You're The Voice) - And now for the New Kids on the Block era, it's the Archulator. Nothing special about his outfit tonight, except for the little Mexican dance number with his sister clip. The song choice was mediocre and the judges as usual loved him despite not knowing the song. The performance was cruise ship worthy, despite his good singing. No way the tone-deaf tween tards are going to let him go, but it's really hit or miss. Of course, I will say the Archulator was at a huge disadvantage picking from the bare cupboard that was 1990. Cheesy.
GRADE: D

9. KKK Kristy Lee Cook (1984 - God Bless The U.S.A.) - Ahh, the queen of suckiness has garnered the crown of VFTW, rightfully so. No surprise that country-girl grabs the biggest Lee Greenwood ballad in history as a song choice. Between VFTW votes and silly patriotic votes, she might survive the week. The performance actually was not terrible, which hurts me fingers severely to type. She and Ramiele just are still outclassed by the rest of them. I thought The Archulator was cheesy, but I cannot believe this cheesiness. Wow. I just don't have words for it.
GRADE: C [which really is as good as it's going to get for her]

10. David Cook (1982 - Billie Jean) - My new top favorite picks a song from the greatest pop album of the 1980's, and does the Chris Cornell version (no surprise). He finally sheds the absolute punting of the final spot on the show from the past 3 weeks with a solid performance. There's just enough big notes in the song to show off vocally while doing a relatively safe performance. His song choices are unexpected and top notch, and perhaps this favorite will stick around longer than Amanda did. I could do without the scruffy soul patch, but whatever.
GRADE: A

Top 3: Syesha Mercado, Michael Johns, David Cook
Bottom 3: KKK Kristy Lee Cook, Chikeize, Ramiele Malubay
Going Home: Chikeize

No FAIL grade this week, although I probably could have given one out. This just seemed so much better on the whole than the raping of Beatles songs from last week. We'll see tomorrow if I reclaim my good picking of two weeks ago.