Some of the most memorable songs from the Broadway stage in the past 40 years have been composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Tonight the top 6 finalists had to prove their ability to interpret these amazing songs.
When it comes to naming one's favorite show tunes, few people immediately think of those catchy songs from Starlight Express. That did not stop Syesha Mercado from selecting One Rock and Roll Too Many and truly making it work. While it may not have been familiar to most listeners, she proved herself as a very talented live stage performer. Her voice sounded even stronger than ever and she exuded a vibrant and fun personality that was the perfect match for the song. This was the best she has done so far.
One of the favorite show tunes that just about everyone mentions is Memory from Cats. People have loved hearing Betty Buckley, Barbra Streisand and Barry Manilow elevate these lyrics with their powerful and impressive vocal ranges. As we have learned so far in the competition Jason Castro has never impressed with his vocal range. This young man knew nothing about what he was doing when he selected this song. It is a complete mis-match for his folk singing, acoustic guitar driven style. The final performance was a complete mess.
Just when we thought one finalist making a complete mess was tragic enough, we are given another. Brooke White messed up pretty bad last week when she had to rise to the Mariah standard and failed and now she has to go out of her element again with a show tune. When Andrew Lloyd Webber created an original song for Madonna in the movie version of Evita, You Must Love Me ended up winning the Oscar for Best Original Song. The song tells of the overwhelming sadness as Eva Perron realizes that she is close to death. In Brooke's hands the song was just plain sad. She couldn't remember the lyrics and the trembling in her voice was not from getting into character, it was from her acceptance that she is completely out classed by the other finalists.
David Archuleta chose to sing Think of Me from Phantom of the Opera. He has demonstrated once again that he can sing anything and make it sound like an inspirational adult contemporary hit. He has a very effortless vocal range that expresses the sentiment of the lyrics exactly as they should be every time. He is already a star whether he wins the Miss American Idol crown or not, but if he keeps on winning over fans with songs like this....
Carly Smithson has one of the best voices in the competition this year, but each week she has struggled with everything from song choice, to expressing the emotions appropriately and deciding what to wear. Tonight, as she performed Jesus Christ Superstar, she did everything exactly as she should have. All of the pieces fell into place so that she could showcase her talents at their best. Very entertaining.
The Music of The Night is a haunting love song from Phantom of the Opera performed as the monster tries to seduce his captive young diva. Rather than needing to rework the song into his rock style, David Cook genuinely brought the song to life because he skillfully knows how to work the lyrics. His voice was the perfect match for the intensity and drama that needs to be conveyed with every syllable. The Davids could be in a serious wrestling match for the Miss American Idol crown.
Predicting the bottom three is going to be very difficult this week. While it is a no-brainer that Jason Castro and Brooke White should have never made the top 12, much less be here in the top 6. The difficult question comes when trying to predict which of the remaining far-superior finalists must join them in the bottom three. Unfortunately, both Syesha and Carly have struggled to find a fan-base and have ended up in the bottom three before. Even though Syesha clearly gave her best performance of the season so far, I fear she will end up in the bottom three for two reasons: She performed first and may be forgotten and she performed a song that was unfamiliar to most of the listening audience. I predicted that Brooke White was going to go home last week, but now it has to finally be her time.
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