The American Idol Results show for week 12 of Season 7 live performances announced the Top 3 contestants and managed to finally cut loose the last of the pretenders, and a contestants who no longer appeared to be having fun, and gave the remaining hopefuls a one in three shot at being named the next American Idol.
By all accounts, song choices during this Rock and Roll Hall of Fame week, the bane of this season’s contestants, were once again responsible for a poor showing from almost everyone involved. Luckily the contestants all had two songs to sing this week which gave them all a chance to at least get something right. Some did better than others. One did not so well at all – and didn’t seem to care one bit.
If you missed the performance show on Tuesday night you can always watch the performance videos and read our recaps right here:
I was none too crazy about the song choices this week, as usual. My favorite, David C., failed to impress me. David A. bored me. Jason embarrassed me. Syesha was the only one I really thought was trying her best. To refresh your memory, I placed the Top 4 performances for May 6, 2008, in this order:
- David Archuleta – “Stand By Me” and “Love Me Tender”
- Syesha Mercado – “Proud Mary” and “A Change Is Gonna Come”
- David Cook – “Hungry Like The Wolf” and “Baba O’Reilly”
- Jason Castro – “I Shot The Sheriff” and “Mr. Tambourine Man”
As I said, David A. bored me, but I still thought he sang well. David C., did much better on his second song than he did on his first, but I still thought both songs were beneath his talent level. It was pretty much obvious to everyone that it would come down to a race between Syesha and Jason. On the results show Ryan stated that the top 3 were all within one million votes of one another so it appears that it was a much tighter race than we expected.
The bottom two this week:
- Syesha Mercado
- Jason Castro
The producers didn’t even try to make us think it was anything other than these two this week. They told us the two David’s were safe right way. I think Syesha has become used to being in the bottom so probably expected it. Jason was probably relieved.
It was no surprise when Ryan announced that Jason Castro was the person voted out this week. In fact, Ryan actually said something about Jason appearing relieved (or something to that effect).
Why Syesha Mercado Was In The Bottom Two
Because she’s always in the bottom two. She’s up against the two Davids who are obviously the favorites right now. The big question for Syesha now is can she continue to impress viewers and can she win over the people who have been voting for Jason and keep those votes from going to the Davids? If the Davids and Syesha were all within one million of each other (out of 51 million votes cast) then Syesha doesn’t have to pick up a lot of votes to be a contender for the finals. She’s got a shot.
Why Jason Castro Lost American Idol
Jason was a one note wonder. He started out fairly strong showcasing his talent in his chosen niche. He built up a solid and loyal fan base, but he began to really struggle when he had to stretch his musical style to genres that he wasn’t comfortable with. At some point he began to noticeably lose interest in the contest itself and it really showed. People want to back someone who thinks they can win. Maybe Jason felt he didn’t have a chance and gave up or maybe he never really cared and just got tired of all the hard work. We’ll probably never really know. All we do know is that his performances suffered and a one-time viewer favorite made a virtual joke of himself onstage and is leaving the show with a lot of broken pieces to pick up.
The American Idol Top 3
- David Archuleta, 17, Murray, UT
- David Cook, 25, Tulsa, OK
- Syesha Mercado, 21, Miami, FL
Jason Castro, 20, Rockwall, TX(Top 4)Brooke White, 24, Van Nuys, CA(Top 5)Carly Smithson, San Diego, CA(Top 6)Kristy Lee Cook, 24, Selma, OR(Top 7)Michael Johns, 29, Los Angeles, CA(Top 8)Ramiele Malubay, 20, Miramar, FL(Top 9)Chikezie Eze, 22, Inglewood, CA(Top 10)Amanda Overmyer, 23, Mulberry, IN(Top 11)David Hernandez, 24, Glendale, AZ(Top 12)
If you’re keeping score with the little side contest Jeff (from Static ThinkBox) and I have going… Jeff has had trouble keeping up with his posts with a new baby in the house. He did contact me to let me know that his choice to be voted out was Jason Castro. So, once again, we both voted the same. At least we finally (finally!) got one right.
The current score is below (why do I even bother?).
Definitely the right call for this week.
Jason was the most interesting contestant the Idol has ever had. He was probably also the least experienced, singing only five times in public prior to going on Idol. Lets face it, he had confirmed what the producers/judges thought of him in Paulagate.
Jason provided some of the funniest moments in Idol – I was thinking BOB MARLEY, I shot the tamorine man, making fun of Seacrest etc. They could not handle Jason’s intelligence and irreverence to all things Idol – he probably never even watched the show until he auditioned.
If Jason decides to go into the music business full time he will be the most successful of any of this years pretenders
Also, Jason did mouth the words, “Don’t Vote” after he had peformed. It was pretty clear he wanted to go. I am not sure that a contestant has ever done that before.
Raven Spinners last blog post..My Alternatives to Plastic!
@Aggie Fan -sorry to disagree, but I don’t think Jason’s going to have a huge music career. He doesn’t have a very strong voice (by his own admission), he sings music with a fairly narrow appeal and let’s be honest he’s a nice kid with a decent voice, but that’s not likely to sell many records. All that said I wish him well, it was never dull having him on the show and I liked him infinitely more than David A.
This was the right call this week. If David C is smart/lucky he’ll get voted off next week and let Syesha and Peter Pan fight it out. Then he can focus on getting his first record ready.
Scotty Dubs last blog post..Inked
Why oh why do they have to sing the group numbers on Wednesday nights. Last night’s was so awkward and the pseudo-choreography so un-inventive, I literally cringed while fast forwarding through the second half when they went up to the bridge on top of the massive Idol stage. Thank God for Tivo.
@ Aggie Fan: Aggies stick together. I know this. I graduated in 2003. Having said this, America made the right decision last night by voting off Jason. He didn’t want to be there, he didn’t care anymore, and by giving up he made us all look bad.
I can guarantee he will not be the most successful.
Scotty Dub
The reason I think Jason has a great future as a musician is because he is a musician. Jack Johnson has not done badly, same type of voice etc. Jason’s unique style seems to be making a comeback in the music world judging by some of the music my 16 yr old daughter listens to. (of course I hear alot of crap from her as well…) Jason has the ability to write his own music, and once he gets some training under his belt he has an enormous upside.
Who knows, he may go back to school at A&M – a very demanding school academically where by all reports he was doing well and do music on the side
By the way Scotty, that would be David C’s 5th or 6th record – he had one released on itunes about the time that Idol started that was pulled for the time being
@Aggie Fan – Jack Who? And it would be David C’s 2nd album…
La Times agrees with me
And so we bid farewell to Jason Castro, “American Idol’s” first hippy finalist. With his piercing eyes, goofy remarks, perpetual smile and unmistakable sweet nature, he was a contestant who was impossible not to like. While his musical background was more limited than many of the others, he nonetheless had some star-making musical moments and was the sort of genuine find for whom this season will be remembered. Judging from the avalanche of e-mail I have received from his Dreadhead fan club in the past few weeks, Castro has the most ardent of fan bases which will without a doubt stay with him as he moves into his post-”Idol” career. Whether through his music or his personality, Castro always brought a bit of fun to the “Idol” stage, was never just filler, and for that we wish him well and treasure the time we’ve shared in the Idoldome.”
Jack Johnson is cool!
Like I said, I wish him well, maybe with a few years exp and some guidance he’ll be the next Jack Johnson, which wouldn’t be bad at all. I’m just not sold yet, but we’ll see.
Scotty Dubs last blog post..Inked
the music world needs more jack johnson singer-songwriter types so hopefully jason does go on to make some chill, creative stuff! and yes jina, i laughed out loud at the choreography last night. if paula made that little walk and change positions number up, she should be ashamed!
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I have an idea for the song choices. Limit the songs to the number of contestants. (Top 12 gets to pick out of 12 songs.) Let the person who has the most votes pick first. Then the one with the second most votes picks, and so on and so forth. That way they will actually have decent songs (current songs) and will actually sing their heart out each week for the top picks for the next week. The first week they’ll have to draw the order, but from then on the audience gets to pick. I like it!
How do they pick the 12 (or whatever) songs?
The judges could pick. Or people could vote online which ones they like the best out of say 50 songs.
They’d have to have a method that didn’t involve people making choices because people make stupid choices. It would always have to be like a certain group of songs like only #1 hits or only songs from 1994 or something random like that. I don’t see any other way it could work.
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