Beatle Mania Hits
American Idol...AGAIN!

The Top 11 American Idol contestants tackled the music of John Lennon and Paul McCartney for a second week in a row. While there may have been some decent moments, overall all that was accomplished was a confirmation of the fact that Beatles do Beatles' music the best.

Following is the It's Destiny! panel's take on the AI7 Top 11: Lennon & McCartney 2.0.

Amanda Overmyer "Back In The U.S.S.R."
Liza: I totally agree with Simon in that it was predictable and a bit of a mess. It was way pitchy in the beginning. I do agree with her thought process of picking songs she would do if you bought a ticket to her show, but if she really did do all fast-paced hard rock songs all the time, I don't think I'd want to buy a ticket. It's ok to change things up, Amanda. Ever hear of metal ballads?
Score: Tammy: I guess this might appeal to some people? I am not one those people. Her timing was off (especially with the back up singers), and she continued her tendency to mumble lyrics. She may ignore the judges' suggestions, but without switching it up a bit, her time is going to extremely limited on the Idol stage. I think a major problem this one has is convincing anyone that her sound is in any way current, or even relevant.
Score: 6.7

Kristy Lee Cook "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away"
Liza: First of all, how do these "musicians" not know these Beatles songs? It boggles the mind. In regards to the performance, it was SO pitchy, especially in the chorus. And I couldn't disagree more with Paula about Kristy's look. I hate the outfit and the hair/makeup. She looks like a 60's reject from the Grand Ol' Opry. She can "blow (Simon) out of his socks"?! Ok, country bumpkin.
Score: 4.5
Tammy: Oof. This one was more flat than not. The song did nothing for her voice. She is so out of her depths at this point, I'm hoping she gets voted off just so she doesn't have to stand there and be abused by the judges anymore.
Score: 5.8

David Archuleta "The Long And Winding Road"
Liza: I have to say I was a little shocked that they harped on the forgetting the lyrics things, but then I quickly realized that doing so would give him the all-important "comeback" arc. "David's BACK!" I can hear them saying. I still get a singing child robot vibe from him, but his vocals are pretty flawless.
Score: 8.75
Tammy: Well, he remembered the lyrics, but I was bored. Then again, something tells me I'm not exactly his target audience.
Score: 8.2

Michael Johns "A Day In The Life"
Liza: This is one of my favorite Beatles songs ever, and Michael's voice fits it just great, although he really croaked on that high note in the beginning. I'm quite confused by the haterade coming from the judges, though. It wasn't THAT bad, and I actually thought he did a good job of hitting the key parts of the song.
Score: 7.25
Tammy: While it wasn't anything spectacular, I didn't really think he deserved the public flogging that was handed down to him. I guessed the judges aren't going to go lightly on you when you've been considered 'one to beat', and then you fail to deliver. He did seem extremely uncomfortable tonight -- and you've got to wonder why anyone would attempt a falsetto if it wasn't 100% guaranteed that you'd hit it. Baffling.
Score: 7.0

Brooke White "Here Comes The Sun"
Liza: She is so earnest and sweet and cute that I can forgive her for that stupid "whooo!" Plus, she fully owned up to how bad that and her dancing were. She needed to stop trying to interrupt during the critiques, although I wasn't sure who she was trying to interrupt - the judges or the audience! Vocally, I thought she sounded nice as always.
Score: 7.0
Tammy: I think the thing that is so appealing about her is that she doesn't pretend to be anything that she's not...which is why this performance absolutely failed, because she threw all that out the window. Her dancing didn't really fit with the song (her shoulder movements and her bopping about were very 'Whoo! Fun!' on a song that wasn't really all that...uptempo?). She didn't even sing with any conviction, no doubt already realizing what a mess the song would be.
Score: 7.0

David Cook "Daytripper"
Liza: Like Brooke, he was going to have a really hard time living up to last week. It wasn't as good as "Eleanor Rigby", but I'm not sure he could have topped that with another Beatles song anyway. I kind of take issue to Simon's words about it being predictable because I know that if he had picked, say, "Yesterday" and sung it straight, Simon would have slammed him for not doing what he did to "Hello". By the way, I'm glad they diffused any Live-gate controversies by showing David talk about the Whitesnake version.
Score: 8.75
Tammy: Flying high off of the success of last week's performance, David was sporting all sorts of confidence tonight. The performance was solid, but not spectacular (we expect a lot from this one now, and 'good' just ain't going to cut it). I wasn't all that crazy about the use of the fancy electronic do-dads, myself. It didn't sound especially melodic, or fit well in the song.
Score: 8.4

Carly Smithson "Blackbird"
Liza: She's got some serious range. I like her lower register; she really should use it more. Honestly the only criticisms I have are of that horrible top she's wearing and the hokey explanation of why she picked the song.
Score: 9.0
Tammy: I get the feeling I should have liked this more than I did. I didn't sense any emotional connection here. I kept comparing it to the Sarah McLachlan version, and Carly just came up short.
Score: 8.0

Jason Castro "Michelle"
Liza: His French actually sounded pretty good. This was probably one of his better vocals (no late note mishaps), although parts of his performance verged on corny. Paula nailed it - too sing-songy at times, kind of polka. Ha!
Score: 7.5
Tammy: Even though Jason didn't create any sort of enchanting performance tonight, he's a tough guy to dislike. He just seems so amiable. The boy has a lot of work to do to catch up with several of his competitors, but in the meantime, I'm not going to complain too much. He's goofy, and entertaining!
Score: 7.7

Syesha Mercado "Yesterday"
Liza: It probably was her best performance so far, but I thought she sang it too high, and, once again, she went off tempo because she oversang some notes. And WOW she sounded awful in the rehearsal clip.
Score: 7.25
Tammy: I was expecting another debacle from Syesha again this week, and I was pleasantly surprised. She sang the song with just the right mix of restraint and maturity, and no doubt saved herself from another appearance in the bottom 3.
Score: 8.6

Chikezie "I've Just Seen A Face"
Liza: Chikezie's going to play harmonica and doesn't know how? Mmkay. And Taylor Hicks is sitting in his living room somewhere throwing something at the TV. Chikezie is back to his mismatch of musical styles like last week, but it didn't work as well this week on this song. It was just utterly unrecognizable. And neither style quite worked for me. The opening ballady part sounded corny, and the hoe-down was too Kristy Lee Cook for me.
Score: 5.75
Tammy: The whole 'start the song off slow, then switch it up' would have worked a lot better without the harmonica interlude, which didn't function all that well as an interlude between the two sections of the song. That said, Chickezie is so much fun to watch, and has such a dynamic voice and stage presence, that he was able to pull it together by the end. He seems to want to bring the unexpected each week, even if it doesn't always come together by show time.
Score: 8.5

Ramiele Malubay "I Should Have Known Better"
Liza: Finally Ramiele delivers! She made this song sound fresh and hip. This was her best since the first week of the semifinals. I can't believe Simon said a lot of people chose "mediocre" songs. Sacrilege!
Score: 8.25
Tammy: This girl is really struggling. Given that her balladeer persona went over like a lead balloon last week, she's trying to reinvent herself with something a little more upbeat. The song really *wasn't* all that upbeat, however, and her attempt to make it so just came off as awkward, and you could see in her eyes that she knew she wasn't connecting with the audience or the judges. She's got a strong voice, but is seemingly lacking in almost every other department.
Score: 6.9

Who Should Be Eliminated:
Liza: Kristy Lee

Who Will Be Eliminated:
Liza: Kristy Lee (usually people leave a week after they really should)

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