Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Tuesday marked the beginning of double-your-pleasure time on American Idol, meaning each contestant got to perform twice during the hour-long show.

Toss in Neil Diamond, some surprising uneven performances, a format change and one frazzled judge and it made for a rather chaotic evening.

After all, FOX wasn’t about to cut down on commercials to allow time for comments by the judges after each first-round performance.

Well, that shouldn’t be a problem next week, because there will be two less songs to fit in after someone gets the boot this evening.

On to this week’s commentary …

Best of the bunch:

David Cook was the most consistent during his two songs, though it was a little odd to hear “I’m Alive” and “All I Really Need is You” turned into rockers. My single favorite performance of the night was Brooke White sitting behind a piano and singing “I am I Said” with that now familiar plaintive tone in her voice. Trouble was, her first song, “I’m a Believer,” came across as a performer out of her element and trying too hard to have fun with an up-tempo tune.

Deserves to go home:

Jason Castro seemed to make the perfect song choice with “Forever in Blue Jeans” and failed to do anything with it, then returned with a barely recognizable version of “September Morn.” If anyone’s counting, that’s four straight turkeys from Jason.

Please keep her:

Syesha Mercado failed to match last week’s magic, and she wound up in the bottom two. So what happens this week, after lukewarm reviews on both of her numbers? Yet she’s miles ahead of Jason in vocal talent.

Baffled by the judges:

OK, David Archuleta might be the second most talented person in the competition. And he hit some big notes last night on “Sweet Caroline” and “America.” But he didn’t sound nearly as good on either as you would think after hearing the praise from the judges’ table.

Best line of the night from the judges:

Earth to Paula. Hello, out there. Much was made of Brooke White starting and stopping a song last week. How about a judge who rates a second song before it’s even been performed? That’s what Paula tried to do last night. Midway through the show, she was asked what she thought about the first round of the competition, and she started judging Jason on a second song he hadn’t performed yet. Reminded of her gaffe by Simon, Paula looked at the stage, mightily confused, and said to Jason: “Oh, my God, I thought you sang twice.” Then, more exasperated, she proclaimed: “You know what? This is hard.” Hey, Paula, all you have to do is sit there and listen, keep track of who’s singing what, then talk. You aren’t performing and being judged by millions.

Surprise of the night:

Paula got more coherent later in the show, proclaiming that she felt as though she’d just watched the America Idol during her review of David Cook’s second song. She was even succinct for a change. Two surprises for the price of one. Told you it was double-your-pleasure night.

Prediction for Wednesday

Jason Castro, dreads, charming smile and all, should be packing his bags. He’s hands down the worst singer of those left. But here’s betting Syesha gets the voters’ axe. Which would be too bad, because she’s been one of the most consistent performers of late.