"I liked it...it was better than Cats...I want to see it again and again."

Hey y'all.  It's time for an run down of last night's American Idol episode.

The theme of the evening was the songbook of the great Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber.  Even though many a theater snob see ALW's compositions as overrated and trite, and I know what they mean, I will always always always be grateful for the magic he has given to the Theater over the years.  When I was falling in love with Musical Theater early on in my singing days, his music provided hours of listening pleasure AND rehearsal for me.  His songs took up a great portion of my training.  So I will always love his work.  I'm admitting a bias towards the music here.  ;-)

There was a fair representation of of his shows - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats and Phantom.  The basics. 

Syesha

First up was Syesha.  She sang "One Rock 'n Roll Too Many" from Joseph and stirred up the crowd with a sexy start, poised and lounging on the piano.  She then picked up the pace and poured a ton of pep and personality into the performance, giving it life.  The tricky thing about picking a song like this is that the song isn't really about anything...kind of.   It's fluffy as heck so your personality must make up for that and she did not disappoint.  She still may land in the bottom two or three because of the popularity factor but who knows....?

Jason_c

Jason sang "Memory" from Cats.  This song is probably the most recognizable and memorable (haha) of all the songs of ALW.   It's a powerful yet delicate ballad full of sorrow and whimsy.  Treated badly, this song could easily be a cheesefest for just about anyone.  Treated with respect, this song is heartbreaking and sweet.  Jason totally did it justice.  The judges hated it, for the most part, and I think they are full of shit.  They wanted "power ballad" and nothing more for this song and they seemed to think Jason shouldn't have picked it at all.  But he made it his own, simple and soulful and I bought it hook, line and sinker.  He took a big risk.

Brooke

Brooke.  Brooke Brooke Brooke.  *sigh*  For the second time this season she started a song and then stopped and started over.  Bad BAD BAD.  Paula was hard on her about it and rightfully so and then Randy and Simon tried to make Paula look like a know-nothing by saying that THEY would've done the same thing if they had lost the lyric.  Um, excuse me, but leave it to the actual pop star of the three of you to determine the level of professionalism here, thank you very much.  Pop STARS don't stop and start unless there are technical difficulties.  Period.  Brooke showed her amateur side and I'm inclined to agree with Paula that at this stage in the competition, this sort of behavior cannot be displayed and then still expect the audience to believe that you have what it takes to "make it".  But anyway, the song itself was nice.  She sang "You Must Love Me" from Evita, one the best musicals of all time, imo.  ALW actually wrote this song for the movie, not the original, because they needed something to play on the radio.  But it's still very beautiful.  Full of emotion, she showed an excellent range in her acting ability and camera work.  She did strain her voice a little, but I dismissed it as being part of the high stakes within the song itself.  Evita is on her death bed, pleading, after all.  I liked how ALW gave her that clue and she ran with it without being overly dramatic.  Very nice.  But it still may do her in.

David_a

David "Cheeseball" Archuleta sang "Think of Me" from Phantom of the Opera which is a lilting tune that passes as an "Aria" performed by the lead soprano, Christine.  This is one of my favorite songs of all time and I used to love singing it.  So enter David, very young, shy and a tad awkward, taking this puppy on.  Well.  He did the smart thing and performed what was essentially an easy listening "cover" of the song with a different arrangement.  If anything, turning an Aria into a coffee house rock song shows how versatile ALW's songwriting is to begin with (or non-challenging as some I know might argue).  But I digress.  I actually really liked it.  It was weird, for sure, but it worked.  He did the whole "make it your own" thing and it passed.

Carly

Carly then sang the title song from Jesus Christ Superstar.  It was perfect.  There's really not much more to say.  It was perfect for her voice and she nailed it.  

David_c

David Cook wrapped up the night with a stunning vocal performance of "Music of the Night" from Phantom, which is arguably the second most recognizable and memorable of ALW's work.  I LOVED IT.  And this critique is not coming from below the belt...I swear!  *shifty eyes*  Yeah, I have a little crush on my fellow Missourian but for reals - what he pulled off last night - man, I didn't know he had it in him.  He revealed that he has a background in musical theater during the clip they showed of him working with ALW.  So he completely (except for the last note) abandoned all "rocker" chicness and simply sang the damn song!  He went against the whole "making it your own" thing and became the Phantom for a bit.  It was subtle and undramatic yet full of life and not one flat note was uttered (then again, DC tends to be pitch perfect).  He could've hammed it up some more...but instead he simply peered into the camera and told us about the music and asked sweet Christine, the angel of music, to let the music set her free and belong to him.  Brilliant.  I want him to win. 

Predictions - barring any upsets - the bottom three will be Brooke, Syesha and Jason.  The big upset would be David Cheeseball Archuleta, even though I personally believe that he belongs there.  But realistically speaking, there are way too many screeching horny teenage girls and little old ladies out there to keep this sweetie out for awhile.  In fact, I'm still fairly certain that in the end it will come down to him and someone else, likely David Cook or Carly.