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I couldn't get on to Yuku last night to post this...

DAVID ARCHULETA - Round 1: I thought this was pretty, but dull. He can clearly sing, but I wasn't dancing a jig. I actually disagree pretty strongly with Paula. What was missing was the storytelling aspect.

SYESHA MERCADO - Round 1: Alicia Keys may be a tremendous artist, but she is not an extraordinary vocalist. With the exception of a few pitchy notes (like, literally, 3 of them), I think Syesha matched up vocally quite well. Was it original? No, not really. But I think the song suited Syesha, and she brought out the jazziness of the style very well. I hated the melisma on the last note, though.

DAVID COOK - Round 1: The song started out very weakly in the worst section of David's register. It was too high for him to sing softly, but he couldn't belt. When he hit the second half, it picked up, but it was just a'ight for me…

Round 1 Rankings:
1. Syesha
2. David Archuleta
3. David Cook


DAVID ARCHULETA - Round 2: Did he forget the words AGAIN? At the very least he stumbled over them. It is true that this song doesn't suit his personality, but worse yet, it didn't allow him to showcase his vocals. There ARE up-tempo songs that showcase singers! He had some pitch problems and some tempo problems, but mostly, it was just inauthentic, awkward and boring. I can see this song working as a sweet, tween, Disney-style song. It would just have to be executed better. Still, I was glad to see that he looked less miserable, here. I wonder if a little freedom from Papi Chulo hasn't given him some relief…

SYESHA MERCADO - Round 2: This was one of my favorite performances of the season, mainly because it was a fully realized PERFORMANCE. Syesha thought about and made choices for every moment of the song, and for the most part, they paid off. It was fun, watchable, sexy, even a bit funny… And musically, I like the risks she took with the song. She changed some rhythmic elements in the first verse and later extended some phrases that are normally truncated. Without butchering the melody, she managed to subtly and stylistically make the song her own. I disagree that this doesn't show what kind of an artist she would be. She would be a jazz/cabaret artist. That has merit, despite the fact that it isn't what Simon and company are looking for. So she's a Liz Calloway or a Leslie Uggams. There are worse things!

DAVID COOK - Round 3: worst.song.choice.evah!!! For the first half, he wasn't even singing. When he came in with the big notes in full voice almost halfway in, they were off-key. I think this was his worst performance ever. Still his worst is eversoslightly better than Archuleta's bad performance, if only because Archie once again botched the lyrics.

Round 2 Rankings:
1. Syesha
2. David Cook
3. David Archuleta


DAVID ARCHULETA - Round 3: A beautiful song in it's simplicity… David overcomplicated it and oversang it a bit. Mostly, though, he had no idea what it was about. Therefore, it was at best okay…

SYESHA MERCADO - Round 3: I won't deny that there were little problems with pitch and rhythm throughout, but it was far from terrible, and it showed that if the Idol machine chose to sign her and go a commercial route, she could pull it off just fine. That was easily as good as most live performances by the likes of Rihanna or the Cheetah Girls or Danity Kayne. Put her in the studio, and she'd do it much better. And she clearly knows how to sell it…

DAVID COOK - Round 3: What a "so-what?" performance! A rocker guy who NAILED "Music of the Night" a few weeks ago should have been unbelievable with this song. David wasn't. For the last 3 weeks, his pitch has been spotty verging on terrible. He pulled off the song with some authenticity and performance chops, but he is NOT proving to be the vocalist that he hinted at being early on. Does he want this? I don't know…

Round 3 Rankings:
1. Syesha (flaws aside, it was the least boring to me)
2. David Cook
3. David Archuleta


Overall Rankings:
1. Syesha - Round 2
2. Syesha - Round 1
3. Syesha - Round 3
4. David Archuleta - Round 1
5. David Cook - Round 3
6. David Archuleta - Round 3
7. David Cook - Round 1
8. David Cook - Round 2
9. David Archuleta - Round 2


Artist Rankings:
1. Syesha
2. David Cook
3. David Archuleta

In all three rounds, I think Syesha was the clear winner and the David's were fighting it out below. It was practically a tie, for me, and I think I gave more of an edge to David Cook in my rankings just because I like him more and believe in him more based on his track record. I will say, though, that he surpassed Archuleta as the most overpimped of the evening. Simon is on crack. Cook didn't win round 1 and he didn't win the night!

I commend Syesha on the versatility she showed tonight. Archuleta tried but didn't really succeed in showing variety, and Cook's (especially when all played back in the recap) were remarkably one-note. I really, REALLY hope she shocks everybody and makes it to the finals. The whole time I've been writing this, I've been trying to vote for her simultaneously, and the line (05) has been consistently busy. I haven't gotten a single vote in… Wait! Just got one in…