American Idol: Your Top 6

Here we are, halfway home. A few things before we begin this week: one, the theme is "The songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber," and beyond Phantom, which I've seen twice, I couldn't name you another ALW song, except the famous one from "Cats." Two, they have seriously overloaded the stage with band members this week. The contestants have about three square feet to work with. Three, each contestant is only singing one song, which means they have plenty of time to fill and each should be allowed to sing more than just 90 seconds of the song.

Syesha is up first, and she sings "One Rock and Roll too Many" from a musical that is not Phantom. She handles the space issue by starting out the song on top of a piano. I think the beginning is lovely and seems to fit her voice, but as the song goes on, it really exposes again how weak her voice is, which was her problem in the early weeks. And then she starts yelling, and it is a lot off pitch. That went downhill fast. Randy thinks it was her best performance yet. Whaaaa? Randy, this was the perfect time to use "pitchy!" Even Simon was swayed. The yelling? And the pitchiness? The weak voice? Ehhhh, I'm not buying it. I think the over-praise is in reponse to the article this week pointing out what we already knew: singing first is the kiss of death in some rounds. They over-compensated for what was a mediocre performance.

I recognize this song! This is the famous Cats song, "Memory." Jason didn't know that a cat sang the song in the musical, despite its title. Give him a break...when this was taped he was probably gearing up for 4/20. Anyway, I think this has "disaster" written all over it. He is totally not cut out for this song, it is way too big for his voice. There are some really good parts and some really, really awful parts. Randy uses the word "trainwreck." This was such a poor song choice. Paula...is an idiot. I quote: "It was really wise of you to choose this choice. It really identifies your unique being as an artist." Simon goes the "child at a wedding" route, and the crowd doesn't even boo all that much. Meh.

Brooke is singing "You Must Love Me" from Evita. It looks like ALW gives her some solid advice for the performance. She's without a piano this week, and she stops and starts over one line into the song. There's a terrible 3 second pause -- that has never really happened on Idol before, before she starts up again. I'm torn with Brooke now. I think she's working herself into a mental panic before every performance, and it's showing, but when she can settle down and give a full performance, she's great. The crowd and judges are kind of stunned, even Paula has to grasp for words. Simon seems to realize what a fragile emotional state she's in, and keeps the criticism to "I think you'll be disappointed in yourself." If she's voted out tomorrow I would really hate for her sing-out to be to "You Must Love Me."

David A. is up next. "Think of Me!" I love this song. ALW doesn't know how a boy can sing this song meant for a diva. David has altered the arrangement of the song, and vows to work on keeping his eyes open during his performance. You know, I never thought about that. Maybe that's why most of the time I fawn over his voice, but the performance leaves me strangely cold. The change of arrangement is a little off-putting, but the singing is incredible as usual. His eyes were open most of the time, too. Randy proclaims him "the one to beat." Paula deems it "perfect." Simon says it was one of his weaker performances. Hmmm, I think this is Simon's reverse psychology at work here. Yes, I buy into the theory that Simon is a manipulative bastard, and this is his wake-up call to David's legions of teenybopper fans. You may have a different take on it, of course.

Ugh, they put David C. in the pimp spot. I swear, if he wins...

Anyway, Carly is next and she is singing "Jesus Christ Superstar." I want Carly to be better than she is. I mostly enjoyed her performance, but she veers dangerously into shouting territory on some of the bigger notes. I thought it showed a lot of her personality, and while she's still treading the line between having fun and utter desperation, I think this came down just on the good sign of the line. Judges? Liked it, with Simon proclaiming it one of his favorites of the night.

David C. is singing "Music of the Night" from Phantom, which sounds like a great choice for him. ALW isn't convinced, only saying "maybe it will work." David has a great voice, which is why I don't understand all of the nonsense he puts into his other performances. I mean, WOW, this is fantastic, if you just listen to it. Randy says it was a "molten hot lava bomb." Does the Pentagon make those? Simon wants him back in his RAWK box. Noooooo, that ruins him!! Don't listen to him, David! If I were a contestant, I would hate the advice from the judges. Make the song your own, but don't step outside the pre-made box we place you in. God.

Rankings:

David C.
David A.
Carly
Syesha
Brooke
Jason

I forget if they do bottom three tomorrow. If they do, I'm thinking Brooke, Jason, and Syesha. Brooke is going home, as much as I'd like Jason to go after that mess of a performance.