Chickie's Take on the Top 7

I have the dubious distinction of having NEVER heard a Mariah Carey song in my life. Yep, that's right. Well actually, I've seen her sing one song - when she did the MTV Unplugged, she sang "I'll Be There." You know, the one that little Michael Jackson sang with his brothers years and years ago. I don't know how or why I happened upon that performance, but that's my only experience with Mariah Carey. I can tell from the intro of the judges that Randy is going to be a bear tonight. They say the producers pick the themes, but do the judges have any say in the matter? On with the show. Little David comes up first and sings "When You Believe." I have decided that I'm changing his name from Little David to Disney David because to me, every song this kid sings sounds like it comes off the 'Tarzan' soundtrack. This kid should collaborate with Phil Collins. The more I watch him, the more unnerving I find his Stepford-like Up With People persona, and the continual camera shots of the evil stage dad frighten me. For those of you with DVRs, run back and take a look, and tell me you don't think this guy has Helter Skelter eyes. (For the David A lovin' teeny boppers out there, google Charles Manson. I know you have no idea what I'm talking about.) I didn't think David A. was all that. I will say this though - he looked a heck of a lot better this week. He must have gotten some sleep. Carly looks pretty good for Carly, and she sings "Without You," which I actually know because 1) It's not a Mariah original and 2) I'm a child of the 70's. This song was a hit for Harry Nilsson, who is probably best remembered for his wildly drunken antics with John Lennon at a Smothers Brothers show. (Google that too - pretty hilarious). I thought Carly started out ok...just ok...but then she starts getting that bust-an-artery look on her face, and the oversinging commences. I don't buy her relaxed "I enjoyed myself" attitude at the end of her song. As I type this, she's purchasing more pins for her Simon voodoo doll. She's got a lot of fans in the audience, but does she have enough to keep her from the bottom three? Everyone has been waiting to see what Syesha will do. She sings "Vanishing," which from just a song standpoint, I'm kind of liking. Actually as I watch her sing it, I think how cool it would have been to hear Jason's take on this song. I don't like Syesha's vocal olympics, and her performance is exactly what I expected her to do. The glitter hair is cool, but she doesn't do it for me. However, I have to disagree with Simon on one point. I have never heard the song, and that didn't turn me off. ~How many times can Pauler say the word 'unbelievably'?~ Dear Producers, please don't put Brooke in the chat spot anymore. I do believe I will begin to have seizures. She sits at the piano and sings "Hero." I think I had the opposite opinion from Randy's. I thought that when she got to the bridge, she was really good, but yes, she did start to lose it and speed up, and yes she was slightly off key. By the end of the song she was shaking like my dog at the vet's office. Out of all the females, I liked Brooke the best, and I found it completely ironic that we had hamburgers for dinner. KLC (I so want to call her KFC) sings "Forever." She wasn't horrible, but it was a bit nasally and twangy at points, and it kind of sounded pageanty. Paula seemed to like her, but she had a hard time explaining why. The happy juice seems to be making her tongue sluggish. David Cook, David Cook, David Cook. Well I think there has to be at least one contestant per season that stirs up controversy, and this year it's David Cook. Song stealing. Artist copying. Credit acknowledgement. Already the internet is buzzing with theories that he's trying to gain sympathy votes, that the judges overly praised him because they knew his ill brother was in the audience. No wonder the kid has high blood pressure. David looks a hot mess when he takes the stage although not looking as unwell as last week. He sings "Always Be My Baby," and at first his performance is reminiscent of last week's. I thought he was a little garbled, a little off key, and I don't think the lower notes suit him. I wasn't sure whether I was liking the performance until he hit the upper register, and then he was shining. I LOVE the way this guy holds a note. I've downloaded every studio version of the songs he's done, and they all blow me away. Now...did I think this was the best performance David Cook has done so far? No. Did I love it? Hmm... well I loved parts of it. Did he deserve the lavish praise from the judges? Yes, and let me tell you why. My SO (that's significant other) said it best. "This guy took a song that will make you vomit and did a Frank Sinatra all over it." That is, he took a crap song, reworked it in his own way, and made it something worth listening to. (I often have to translate for the SO). Whether he wins or not, David Cook is here to stay, and I will be one happy fan of his. BTW, I was shocked that my SO even knew the song. "It was overplayed all over Lite FM back in its day," he told me. He listens to Lite FM??? Sheesh. Just goes to show, you can know someone all your life but never really know them... My Charles Manson reference is beginning to scare me now. Is it me. or does Jason Castro seem more lucid these days? I get the feeling the mentors don't know what to make of Jason because they all find him "interesting." hehehe That means weird. Well Jason sings "I Don't Want to Cry," and it's Jason through and through. I have many of the same feelings about Jason that I have about DC. How I feel about DC's note holding is the same way I feel about Jason's phrasing. LOVE it. Again, I've downloaded all of Jason's studio versions, and they too, blow me away. He has a lot of passion for what he sings, and I can dig that. Yes, I said dig. You know, at the beginning of the show Randy said he wants to know who the contestants are, yet he doesn't seem to get that Jason is a completely unique individual. I guess he doesn't get Jason because Mariah, Whitney and Celine don't do folk tunes with a folk singer style. He missed Jason's boat, and that's a shame. Pauler and Simon seemed to set sail with Jason this week though, and that's cool. So that's my take on the Top 7 this week. Who will be in the bottom three? Who will go home? It wouldn't surprise me to see Carly, Brooke and Syesha in the bottom three, but wouldn't a huge shocker be to see David A. or Jason there? Wouldn't the biggest shocker of them all be if we had finale with David Cook and Jason? There's only one way to find out... tune in tonight! Thanks for reading!