“Mariah Carey Week” turned out pretty well considering how hard her songs are to sing.The guys did well by focusing on her melodies, with David Cook’s emotional deconstruction of “Always Be My Baby” easily winning the night, as his ailing brother cheered him on. Jason Castro’s reimagining of “I Don’t Wanna Cry” as a Jack Johnson song wasn’t as strong vocally as other performances, but it was far more entertaining.
And as far as David Archuleta, he reinforces the question of how much the judges can actually hear of the performances because the sound in the hall is very different from what we hear at home. This week, it was clear how much they missed because of their over-praise of Archuleta, who did a good job, but sounded like he was having an asthma attack or maybe some problems with allergies. He gasped for air several times, struggling to get through notes and move into the next phrase. Brooke White seemed to have a similar problem, though her breathing was the least of her problems once the nerves set in halfway through her performance and she nearly freaked out, her piano playing going wonky as her vocals faltered.
That will probably be enough to send her home over the still-improving Kristy Lee Cook.
David Cook, “Always Be My Baby”
Jason Castro, “I Don’t Wanna Cry”
Carly Smithson, “Without You”
David Archuleta, “When You Believe”
Syesha Mercado, “Vanishing”
Kristy Lee Cook, “Forever”
Brooke White, “Hero”
BOTTOM THREE: Brooke, Kristy, Syesha
WILL BE CUT: Brooke
SHOULD BE CUT: Kristy
ACTUALLY CUT: ???