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American Idol 7: Idol Ideals for the Top 7by Tyler Sandersfeld -- 04/14/2008
View Printable version of this article Rats! Just when I was starting to like the guy, Michael Johns had to sing Aerosmith for Idol Gives Back while wearing a hideous ascot. Didn’t he learn anything from Constantine Maroulis and the eyeliner? The lesson is if you’re trying to be a rocker, certain fashion choices are out of bounds unless you’re going for a “look.” And if you are, you need to keep that look at all times, not just pull it out once. Also, we learned that terrible song choices can be rectified with cheesy glory notes. And since Syesha also did it, Michael’s got cancelled out. This week, the seven Idols will sing the songs of Mariah Carey. With that, I’m outta here. Bye! ... Okay, okay. I’ll write up my weekly strategies. It’s just that I’m not exactly the biggest Mariah Carey fan in the world. It doesn’t help that I grew up without MTV or any radio station that played her music. Sure, I was still vaguely aware of her existence, but apart from her hits from “The Emancipation of Mimi” and that one song she did with Boyz II Men (I think it did marginally well on the charts), I know less about her than I do about the Beatles. I know, I’m embarrassed to be alive. 
That said, I’m not totally unaware of her unmatchable voice. It’s what helped her land a Billboard Hot 100 number one every single year in the ‘90s, after all. It’s also something that no remaining singer should try to imitate. They do, and they’re gone. Of course, I’ve been saying the same thing about Syesha’s song choices, and she’s still around. So maybe the most original performer will be the most endangered, but if that’s the case, I may just lose my faith in the people who vote on this show. Unless that original version is complete and utter doody. Since Mariah will be mentoring the Idols this week, the contestants should not hesitate to ask for advice from the master songstress if they can. It would be a complete waste of time and vocal energy if they used their time with Mariah for nothing but singing and Paula-esque praising. I really should have said this for Dolly Parton week, but since I didn’t, I will now. Oh, and one more piece of advice for everyone – NO SUPER HIGH NOTES! If you know you can pull it off 110%, then you can go for it. Anything less, and just don’t bother embarrassing yourself. So what should each individual do this week? As always, I’ll begin with who will always be America’s baby, and finish with who needs one sweet performance stat. David Archuleta: Let’s see. Mariah is well-known for cheesy ballads, and some even have strong messages. David’s basically walking into a candy store again. In fact, I fully expect him to go for “Hero,” and America will eat it up. Just as long as his voice doesn’t give out, I don’t need to say any more. David Cook: With Michael out of the picture, David doesn’t need to worry about splitting the rocker vote anymore. He’ll just need to worry about that clunker of a performance last week. Luckily, he had a strong catalog of past performances to keep him safe this week, and he’ll have to add to it this week. It seems to me that he performs better on rockier versions of songs you wouldn’t expect a rocker to sing, as opposed to cop outs like “Innocent.” With this being Mariah Carey week, David should do well, oddly enough. Kristy Lee Cook: Kristy Lee is number three? Kristy Lee is the highest female? Am I insane? Yeah, probably, but that doesn’t change the fact. Kristy Lee still has her problems, mostly the thinness of her voice and a tendency to go off-key, but her vocals are really starting to improve. Not only that, but she has proven to be this year’s top strategist, picking near perfect songs every week. I don’t doubt that Kristy Lee will pick a good song, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask Mariah how she can project better. 
Jason Castro: Jason’s last performance definitely polarized the crew here at Foxes on Idol. Some loved it, while others thought it would send him home. Sorry, guys, but he’s still here. However, Jason’s voice is definitely not one you can call “strong,” and Mariah’s voice is one of the strongest in pop history. Reworking a song into Jason’s laid back style and making it believable at the same time will require some effort. It also wouldn’t hurt Jason to work on his projection, much like Kristy Lee. Carly Smithson: I don’t think there was much of an “import” split between Carly and Michael, but if there was, that will help her. Any little bit could count, after all. Other than that, I’m having trouble finding a certain problem area with Carly that she needs to improve. Perhaps she’s becoming a little too predictable and forgettable for me to find something truly wrong. If that’s the case, then Carly will have to change it up and show it up this week. Syesha Mercado: Syesha seems to be the polar opposite of Kristy Lee. In Syesha’s case, her voice has been keeping her around despite her horrid song choices. She goes down the predictable Whitney route one week, then she tackles Fantasia’s winner’s single last week. Then again, I have considered the possibility that predictable song choices could work in some cases. In any case, I don’t know of any Mariah songs that could be considered predictable for Syesha. What I can predict, however, is that Syesha will be tempted to sound like a Mariah clone. As Simon’s been alluding to recently, Syesha needs to define herself as a unique singer if she wants to survive, let alone win. Brooke White: As much as I like Brooke, she’s probably not going to have an easy time this week. Since she went last this past week, she stands a high chance of going first this week. Also, she and Jason are the last two with similar musical styles, and with Jason much more popular (on various Internet polls, at least), the votes will bleed over to him, especially if he stumbles David Cook style. As well, Brooke’s not one to hit every note perfectly, unlike Mariah. If anyone needs a Q&A session with Mariah, it’s Brooke. She’ll need as much practice as possible to make a Mariah song work for her. That’ll do it for Ideals this week. I’ll be back after we find out if the boy-girl elimination pattern continues. See ya then! If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent articles on Foxes On Idol:
Tyler can be reached at tejayes@yahoo.com. What do you like? What do you hate? I mean, besides Michael’s elimination. Be sure to sign up for the RealityNewsOnline/FoxesOnIdol e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on both sites! Also make sure to check out RealityNewsOnline for recaps and articles covering other reality TV shows. For even more news about reality TV, be sure to check SirLinksALot: American Idol and Reality TV Fever! View Printable version of this article
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