Tonight was Mariah Carey night on American Idol.  The remaining contestants were coached by and selected songs by the great Mariah Carey.  Overall I thought most of the performances were really good.  At this point all of the contestants are here because they are very talented.  Kristy Lee Cook helped her stock and David Cook showed again that he is bound for stardom regardless if he wins Idol or not.

Knocked It Out: Kristy Lee Cook, David Cook, Carly Smithson
In The Middle: David Archuleta, Syesha Mercado, Brooke White

Danger Zone: Jason Castro

David Archuleta - “When You Believe” - At least he was wearing leather pants.  His stylist is trying to make him look hipper.  It is just hard to be too hip when you sound like Josh Groban (that’s a backhanded compliment).  He sounded like good ole’ Dave tonight.  A great performance but I just don’t see him being a huge commercial success.  I could be wrong though (I was 4x last year alone).  I am afraid Archuleta is going to win and his stage-dad father is going to turn into the second coming of Joe Simpson. Grade B

Carly Smithson - “Without You” - Carly looks really good tonight.  The best so far I do believe.  Her performance tonight was one of my favorites of her to date.  She looked mature, beautiful, and her voice was beautiful.  The women do have it tougher tonight with the inevitable comparisons to Mariah. When the women start shows lots of boob you can finally tell they are serious about winning. Grade A-

Syesha Mercado - “Vanishing” - She looked really good with her mini-afro puffs.  It is hard for me to judge her.  Syesha should have done the best tonight since most of Mariah’s songs are like what Syesha likes to sing.  I think she could have done it better but overall she did a mighty fine job.  I do think that she could still be in trouble tomorrow night.  Grade B+

Brooke White - “Hero” - Bonus points at the start for playing the piano and singing at the same time.  That has always given me trouble as has singing and playing the piano separately.  Brooke did a stellare job and my favorite of the night.  Mainly because she did her own thing and wasn’t trying to sound like Mariah.  She did seem to be shaking very visibly.  She is always a bit ackward and goofy and is best when she keeps her mouth shut with the judges.  Simon threw her for a major loop by comparing her performance to a hamburger.  Classic Idol!  Grade A

Kristy Lee Cook - “Forever” - I think Kristy and Syesha shared the same dress tonight but that is no crime especially around prom time.  Kristy Lee is starting to find her groove.  I wasn’t familiar with this song but I am now.  Kristy Lee is likely to be in the bottom three again tomorrow night but I think she will survive.  One of the best two performances of the night so far.  Her best so far in the competition.  Grade A

David Cook - “Always Be My Baby” - Dave did his rocker version of this ultra upbeat pop song and he sold it.  If you didn’t know the original from Mariah then you would be like that is a great rock/alternative song.  It was a bit Edwin McCainish.  Dave probably has the most talents of any of the finalists remaining.  The riskiest and most daring contestant perhaps in Idol history.  I think Cook is now the favorite to win it all.  Grade A+

Jason Castro - “I Don’t Wanna Cry” - Fidel continues to do his best ‘light it up’ version of all of these songs.  I thought it was decent but probably the worst performance of the night in my opinion.  Don’t get me wrong Jason was good but not the best tonight.  Grade C+