Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The cast of singers American Idol keeps billing as the best ever stumbled and bumbled through another show Tuesday night.

Rather surprising considering they had the pick of singing any song from the year of their birth.

It’s a good thing they saved David Cook for last, because he saved the show.

And it’ll be interesting to see who winds up in the final three tonight. Based on last night’s performance along, one could make a case for just about everyone but Mr. Cook, Michael Johns and, perhaps, Syesha Mercado.

Best of the bunch

Cook just might have staked claim to front runner status in this competition with a stellar version of “Billie Jean.” Simon called it “amazing,” and he was right on the mark. Besides Mr. Cook, Brooke White gets kudos for the first half of “Every Breath You Take” (until the band joined in) and Michael Johns gets a gold star for the second half of his combo performance of “We Will Rock You” and “We are the Champions.” Pretty bad when the best of the bunch category has to focus on partial performances.

Deserves to go home

Ramiele Malubay might pack a big voice in a tiny body, but not big enough to pull off Heart’s “Alone.” Sorry, Ramiele, but that sounded more like shouting than singing. Carl Smithson oversang again, butchering the Jim Steinman classic “Total Eclipse of the Heart” because she failed to show any vulnerability in her performance. And what in the heck was Chikezee doing? After two fun performances, he goes ultra boring with a ballad. It might just buy him a ticket home.

Please keep her

After being so close to elimination so often, Kristy Lee Cook dusted off the patriotic card Tuesday, sang “God Bless the USA” and turned in her best performance since the finals began. It wasn’t the most challenging song, but it’d be a shame to see her go home after surviving much worse.

Baffled by the judges

David Archuleta went up tempo for the second time and never did find his niche singing “You’re The Voice.” Yet he got rave reviews from Randy and Paula. Only Simon called this one right. Sorry, but young David is showing vulnerability, and it’s not the kind Carly should have shown on “Total Eclipse.”

Best line of the night from the judges

Simon described young David’s performance as “reminiscent of a theme park performance … one of those ghastly songs you sing when you’ve got animated creatures dancing around you and everyone joins in.” Of course, his assessment was immediately greeted by boos from all the gals who just love young David.

Surprise of the night

Michael Johns has been nearly invisible in the finals, with one so-so performance after another. Last night started the same, with a very karaoke rendition of “We Will Rock You.” But then he took on “We are the Champions” and wowed the audience with his best performance to date.

Prediction for Wednesday night

Take Ramiele, please. She hasn’t lived up to her potential and deserved to go home a couple weeks ago. After finishing in the bottom three last week, Carly might also find herself in jeopardy. Among the guys, Chikezee ranks as the weakest of the remaining competitors.