I should be working on my last take-home exam… ever. Which means I’m procrastinating and watching American Idol. Which really sucks this season. I just cannot get excited about any of the final four. They just really aren’t very good–and not being very good for American Idol is pretty sad, the bar isn’t that high.
David Cook irritates me. I think he’s a poseur, not really a rocker. And man, did he suck tonight. His version of Hungry Like the Wolf was, well, like a really bad karaoke version. And don’t get me started on Baba O’Riley. He butchered it. My wife remarked that she though he did it just so he could sing “teenage wasteland” over and over, trying to seem cool. I think he just must secretly hate The Who. I mean, why else would anyone do that to them?
Seyesha belongs on Broadway. She’d be great in a theatrical production. She is not good doing Tina Turner. That felt like a bad revue from the Ike and Tina story or something. And oh, I’m sorry, she had no business singing anything by Sam Cooke. Her version of A Change Is Gonna Come was awful. Randy knew it. You do not need to do pointless runs in a Sam Cooke song. It can’t just be an age thing, I’m younger than the generation that would have grown up with Sam Cooke, but c’mon, it’s like she never listed to him!
David Archuleta is probably going to win this thing, but I’ve grown to really dislike him as well. At first, I thought he was just a stand-up kid with a good voice. Now I think he’s a stepford kid or something. Does he ever show real emotion? It’s almost like he’s a plastic kid. Creepy. It doesn’t help that he did Stand By Me, which I *hate*… it has to be one of the most overrated songs ever. And Love Me Tender was pretty lame as well. He’s definitely the most consistent–the most consistently over-thought and over-produced, but considering the level of the competition, I’d say he stands a good shot.
Poor Jason Castro… unlike Archuleta, I genuinely like this dork. It’s probably because he _is_ a dork, and he just can’t hide it. But he really did himself in tonight. If he wanted to do a Marley song, there are so many he cold have chosen that he would have had to butcher to fit into the show’s format.
Instead, he sucked it up with I Shot the Sheriff. And then, he forgot the words to Mr. Tambourine Man. Dude, you’re in the finals… that’s kind of a rookie mistake.
Anyway, it’s been a pretty bad season. I heard a rumor that it might be the last? I think, if these four are representative of the “best” talent they have to offer, it’s time to end it.