It's all about threes tonight: The top three finalists sing three songs each. One personally selected by one of the three judges, one of their own choosing, and one selected by the American Idol producers.
Paula Abdul specially picked Billy Joel's And So It Goes for David Archuleta. This song barely cracked the top 40 in 1990, but David was able to work his magic and make it ooze with even more earnest sincerity than ever. For his own choice he decided to demonstrate that he is 17 and capable of singing a current smash hit on the charts this week. Chris Brown is the biggest hitmaker of the year so far and his jam With You recently peaked at #2. It was unexpected to see and hear David do something so contemporary, but with a little more practice he will show that he can do it convincingly. His final song, selected by the producers, brought him back to singing a heartfelt ballad. In 1980 Dan Fogelberg spent two weeks at #2 with Longer. This song is beautiful and sweet and all the things that David can bring to life very easily. It wasn't a big dramatic showstopper, but it was definitely enough to please his adoring fans.
Randy Jackson wanted to hear Syesha Mercado sing a song that hit #4 in 2004, Alicia Keys' If I Ain't Got You. This is a very straightforward choice that she was able to perform easily. Her vocals were perfect and she looked stunning in a glamorous gold full length gown. For her own choice, Syesha showed the all-around stage performer that she wants to be. Once again looking fabulous she added fun choreography to her rendition of the 1958 top 10 hit by Peggy Lee, Fever. It may be an old song, but Syesha made it vibrant and festive. The producers apparently wanted to pull out a much more contemporary festive vibe by having her perform the Happy Feet soundtrack toe tapper Hit Me Up. This third song allowed her to showcase a full range of styles in one evening of performances.
For six weeks in 1972, Roberta Flack stayed at #1 with The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. It's a subtle sensitive ballad that made Simon Cowell curious as to what David Cook could do with it. He did not disappoint with his strongest vocals so far in the competition and another powerful arrangement elevating the song to a new and exciting level. For his own choice, David played it very safe by selecting the top 20 hit from 2005 by Switchfoot, Dare You To Move. The song didn't allow him to do anything unexpected or special. The same can be said for the producers choice of the #1 smash by Aerosmith from 1998, I Don't Want To Miss A Thing. David performed with an orchestra and it sounded good, but it do anything exceptional from the original. He's set a pretty high bar for himself, so when he does good it doesn't really feel good enough.
I am very pleased that all three finalists proved they are very worthy of making it this far in the competition. They are all very clearly passionate about music and are excited and happy about having this opportunity of a lifetime. It will be very sad that one of them must be cheated out of making it to the finals. It is very hard to predict, so I am just going to base it on what has happened so far all season. While Syesha Mercado has put in very good performances each week, she has still ended up in the bottom three consistently. It just seems to make sense that now that we are down to only three she will be sent home since neither of the Davids has ever been in the bottom three.
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