The Top 5 sing Neil Diamond

The top 5 finalists get the wonderful opportunity to work with the extremely accomplished singer/songwriter/performer Neil Diamond. He has an incredibly extensive catalog of hits and the finalists will be able to perform two each.

Jason Castro selected Forever In Blue Jeans for his first song. This great song peaked in the top 20 in 1979 and it would seem like a good match for Jason's casual attitude. He strummed his guitar as usual and really took the casual demeanor to the extreme. He seemed even more vacant and disconnected than ever. The same was true for his second song, September Morn', which was another top 20 hit in 1980. These songs have a depth and maturity that is far beyond Jason's capabilities. Simply put, the songs are too big for him.

David Cook walked into this theme with a clear advantage over the others as his vocal style is very similar to that of Neil Diamond. That and he's also knowledgeable and passionate about music. David selected I'm Alive for his first song. This was the last song that Neil charted with on the Billboard HOT 100 when it cracked the Top 40 in 1983. David made it sound fresh, energetic and ready for radio airplay all over again. The same is true for his second selection, All I Really Need Is You. It's an obscure song from Neil's catalog, but in David's hands it doesn't matter. His voice is the perfect match to rejuvenate these songs.

The Monkees hit #1 for 7 weeks in 1966 with the Neil Diamond penned I'm A Believer. Brooke White seemed to have chosen this song to very clearly demonstrate how awkward she can look on stage. The song is really fun, but Brooke doesn't have the inherent qualities to do it justice. For her second song, she went in the complete opposite direction with the introspective ballad, I Am, I Said that hit the Top 5 in 1971. She was able to sit comfortably behind the piano and let the lyrics of the song take center stage. We were reminded of two things tonight: Brooke has a very limited vocal range that is clearly exposed when she sings ballads. Brooke is also very limited in the range of musical styles that she can perform. She can really only do one thing well while all of her other efforts come off as awkward.

David Archuleta is an extremely talented young man who is gifted with an effortless vocal range and a warm, sincere personality that is the definition of "like able". The challenge for him comes from finding songs that are a good match for his extreme earnestness. He first tried to see if the Top 5 smash from 1969, Sweet Caroline, would work. While vocally he was successfully, it was a little strange to hear this song that has been sung in many a bar late into the night come from this young man. His second song was a slightly better match: America - Top 10 - 1981. The lyrics celebrating the desire to immigrate to "my country tis of thee" sounded more natural coming from the little darling.

After weeks of being in the bottom three, Syesha Mercado is finally showing a full range of personality and style. She was a great entertainer last week and tonight she got even better. For her first song she chose Hello Again which went Top 10 in 1981. Neil has never been known for his impressive vocal range, so it was nice to hear this song re-interpreted with many interesting nuances and shades that Syesha made seem effortless. She then gave an other exhibition of her complete comfort on stage and become a totally different character with her rendition of the 1967 Top 20 hit I Thank The Lord For The Night Time. It was an exuberant vocal celebration.

The bottom two this week is very clear. I have no choice but to predict that Jason Castro and Brooke White will finally stop getting votes after these catastrophic efforts tonight. While I have been leaning toward Brooke going home for the past two weeks, I think it is finally time for Jason to hit the road and never come back. His face is not pretty enough to excuse his complete ignorance when it comes to musical knowledge. He should be embarrassed about everything that he doesn't know. There really is nothing underneath those dreads. He should have gone home a long time ago.