Mariah Madness Hits Idol!
Despite the unjust absence of Michael Johns, this week's American Idol forged ahead, featuring the Top 7 working with and performing the songs of Mariah Carey. The night could have been a disaster full of second-rate Mariah performances, but several contestants stepped up to the plate and out of the box enough to make a mark. At least two of the night's songs are sure to be iTunes gold in the very near future.

Following is the It's Destiny! panel's take on the AI7 Top 7: Mariah Carey.

David Archuleta "When You Believe"
Liza: No big surprise that he picked this song. The clothes made me laugh. He looked like a kid trying to play grown-up in the leather pants and spiky do that are not really appropriate for this song. I thought he was trying to do too much with the song and kind of made it a bit overwrought and overcooked. The kid has a nice, pure voice, and he did make one run in the middle of the song that was pretty cool, but it was by no means a perfect vocal. The gasping for air was very noticeable in the beginning, the high notes were a bit shaky, and the low note he tried at the end didn't work. But of course Randy acts like he's the second coming.
Score: 8.25
Destiny: I agree that David's leather pants were slightly distracting and not exactly his style, but overall I thought he was much more loose and casual this week, two things of which he definitely needs more. He sounded lovely on this song, but I do have to agree with Liza that it wasn't a perfect vocal. David could have definitely made this song soar, but he didn't quite go there. On the other hand, it was a good song choice for him, because David certainly fits the bill when it comes to songs from animated movies.
Score: 8.5

Carly Smithson "Without You"
Liza: Wow. The judges totally threw her under the bus. I thought she was great. She showed great control on both the low and the high notes and she looked nice. She still needs to watch out for her facial expressions when she sings, however. She made it look like a struggle at times, especially at the end.
Score: 8.75
Destiny: This performance was no different than any other Carly performance for me. She once again displayed her limited vocal and performance ability. It all seemed so forced yet so short of the mark. I couldn't get Kelly Clarkson's version of the song out of my head, and that only made Carly's performance seem even more lackluster. Carly's time on the show needs to come to an end in the very near future.
Score: 6.5

Syesha Mercado "Vanishing"
Liza: I agree with Mariah in that Syesha chose well. It's a great song that isn't as well known as Mariah's other songs, so it would help in not having the comparisons to Miss Thang (I swear I wrote this before Paula). Syesha, however, pretty much chose to keep the song as it is, complete with ridiculous hystrionics. But apparently glory-noting is the new good since she's still here!
Score: 7.75
Destiny: It's funny that Syesha chose a lesser known song when face to face with Mariah, since she has spent the past two weeks tackling the signature songs of two other major divas. She did go all out on this song, but as is usually the case with her, she failed to make a real impression. Her vocals were also all over the place and quite painful in parts. She's lucky to still be in the competition. She and Carly should make a double exit this week.
Score: 6.5

Brooke White "Hero"
Liza: I feel bad for Brooke because the judges have just hammered into her that she should just be at the piano by herself. I didn't think her piano playing was very good, tonight though, and I think it impeded her vocals. LOVED the ending though.
Score: 7.5
Destiny: I thought Brooke should have stripped down the song a lot more than she did. She also should have done the song on the guitar as she did in her meeting with Mariah. That would have suited the song better in this setting and allowed Brooke to better put her stamp on it. She was also so literally shaky during the performance that it was a bit distracting. And for all her heart and sincerity while talking, I felt once again that she needs to better connect to and convey the message of the song while singing it.
Score: 7.5

Kristy Lee Cook "Forever"
Liza: Kristy struggled a little with the low notes, but overall I thought she did really well. She's really been the most improved in this competition and probably one of the most improved competitors ever on this show.
Score: 8.0
Destiny: Kristy Lee turned in yet another strong performance. Besides her adorable looks, she has so much confidence and style onstage, backed-up by a strong identifiable voice. I agree with Mariah and Paula that Kristy Lee's version could be a big hit.
Score: 9.0

David Cook "Always Be My Baby"
Liza: I was unsure of this at first, but then the strings kicked in and then the drums, and then the glory notes, and I was really kind of blown away. And wow, Paula's dead-on (who knew such words could be spoken? HA!) - that COULD be in a movie soundtrack. I do hope, though, that people don't think that his tears had anything to do with the praise but all to do with his cancer-stricken brother being in the audience.
Score: 9.5
Destiny: Another fabulous performance from David Cook! Loved the song choice and what he did with it. I agree that the strings and drums kicked the song up to star status. I'm sure this will be the most downloaded song on iTunes for a good while. This GREAT showing by Mr. Cook combined with his brother in the audience and David's emotion afterwards, all made for one of the most special moments we've seen on the Idol stage.
Score: 9.5

Jason Castro "I Don't Wanna Cry"
Liza: I like that he twisted it up with that Caribbean vibe, but I totally did not recognize the song at all until the chorus, and I felt like we've seen this before from Jason with "Fragile". This song is all about anguish, but I didn't feel that emotion (or any emotion) from Jason at all.
Score: 7.0
Destiny: I totally disagree. The fact that Jason chose this song is intriguing in and of itself. In addition, I thought this was a beautiful and emotional performance of the song. Like Paula, I, too, wanted this performance to go on and on. As Cook before him, Castro definitely has an iTunes hit on his hand with this one.
Score: 9.3

Who Should Be Eliminated:
Liza: Syesha (for body of work) or Jason (for tonight's performance)
Destiny: Carly or Syesha (yet again!)

Who Will Be Eliminated:
Liza: Syesha (partially because someone has to take the fall for surviving instead of Michael)
Destiny: Carly

Visit the Idol Talk Archives to see all of our existing Idol coverage.
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Last week we asked you, "Who Gets Your Vote This Week On Idol?"
24% Jason, 21% David A., 15% Michael, 14% Brooke,
10% Syesha, 9.5% David C., 6% Kristy Lee, 0.5% Carly

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