By:
The Dude on the Right
I love Neil Diamond. I’ve seen him in
1996,
1998,
2001, and
2005. I’ve taken some nice photos of the man, I’ve done some
cartoon
drawings of the man (scroll down for it), and I have even taken my Mom to his
concert back in 2001 which would have been a better experience for her (but maybe
not so much of a story), had I splurged on a limo. He is a singer, he is a
songwriter, but hopefully for our last five folks in this contest it will be his
performing skills that he can impress on them. We’ll have to see how that
goes as the show goes on, so let’s just get to it, and here’s how I thought the
five folks did…
ROUND 1
Jason Castro
– Sings – "Forever in Blue Jeans"
– Good choice for him. It’s bouncy, light-hearted, and works with him
playing guitar, but he still isn’t being much of a performer.
David Cook
– Sings "I’m Alive"
– Good, pick obscure Neil Diamond songs people don’t know by a performer who
most people know all of his hits. David did good with the "I’m Alive"
song, but most people probably don’t want to hear Neil Diamond songs they don’t
know. Quit trying to be so "original."
Brook White
– Sings – "I’m a Believer"
– "I’m a Believer" is just so wrong for a song for her to sing. She
couldn’t hit the low notes, it might have been in the wrong key, and these
people playing their own instruments limit themselves because they are stuck
behind the mike and can’t actually work the crowd. So far the performing
side of anything isn’t coming out.
David
Archuleta
– Sings – "Sweet Caroline"
– So David tried to bust out of his melodic groove with maybe the biggest
karaoke song in existence, and he didn’t even fill in the "So Good, So Good, So
Good" part. He almost wanted to work the crowd for this song, but then
hunkered back to just singing, almost seeming to hope he wouldn’t forget the
words.
Syesha Mercado
– Sings – "Hello Again"
– It’s nice enough, but just seems to be lacking some kind of punch that Neil puts into it even though it’s a ballad.
On a side note, Paula Abdul has finally hit an all-time
high for being clueless.
ROUND 2
Jason Castro
– Sings – "September Morn"
– Yea, we get the performer you want to be – the laid-back, hippie dude.
We get it, the dudettes probably like your laid-back attitude, and you picked
good songs this week even though I found you lame. You’re lucky the chicks
probably dig you.
David Cook
– Sings "All I Need is You"
– Yup, another obscure Neil Diamond song, what the hell are you thinking?
Sure, you might be trying to separate yourself and be original, but in a week
you had two songs to pick maybe you should choose an obscure one for the first
song (good choice though), and then bring reality back with a Neil Diamond
classic so everyone could remember that. You’re probably lucky that you
are a pretty-boy, rocker-dude, because that is the only thing you bring.
Brook White
– Sings – "I Am, I Said"
– You know what, I hate the fact that the band actually joined in because for
her, doing this solo, on the piano, was really working for me. The back-up
band ruined it, because as a solo song this was actually a song I liked. I
still hate that she won’t shut up when the judges give her their critiques, and
I only wish I could see her do this song in a smoky bar, all alone on a piano,
just being herself.
David
Archuleta
– Sings – "America"
– I know you are young, but who in the hell is coaching you on the songs for
you to sing? Of all of the Neil Diamond songs this is probably the worst
choice in my head for you. I guess it sounded better for his live
performance because on my TV I didn’t like it at all. Am I hearing
something different?
Syesha Mercado
– Sings – "Thank the Lord for the Night Time"
– She’s at least coming out of her shell and trying to also be a performer, but
I think it might be a little too late because, as I’m listening to her, Syesha
could have probably turned "Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show" into a
fabulous number, but the problem is the American Idol folks forced these people
to do two songs in an hour.
Let’s wrap this up…
As much as I love Neil Diamond I still have absolutely no idea why he was
involved in this show. The crappy part is that our contestants didn’t need
to try and fit two songs each into an hour, they really needed just one song
each to fill in this hour – and perform the hell out of that song. I hate
to say this but the "American Idol" folks haven’t seemed to realize why we love
this show, and it’s not for seeing people sing a verse and then a chorus and
then being judged by Randy, Paula, and Simon, clipped because of time
constraints. Our time is precious, don’t let us feel cheated.
I’ve
pretty much given up on "Dancing with The Stars," and now I’m almost not caring
about "American Idol." Idol Producers, at least let these people try to
sing.
That’s it for this one!
I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!