'American Idol' Banter: Who are they really?

In the climactic moments of what should have been a thrill-inducing semifinal, the three most dutiful finalists ever to dominate "American Idol" fulfilled homeroom teacher Ryan Seacrest's opening descriptions so perfectly, one suspected the producers had slipped in animatronic replacements for the nervous wrecks we've seen the last couple of weeks.

Not that Seacrest's tags were that creative. He called David Archuleta "a high school student," Syesha Mercado "an actress," and David Cook "a bartender" -- that last one got a mortified guffaw from the Missouri rocker. But in a show devoted to song choices from the judges, the producers and the contestants themselves, the singers' most memorable performances mined the truth behind these simple labels.

Taking on Chris Brown's languidly anthemic "With You" as his personal song selection, Archuleta wobbled his hips like a duckling learning to mate and grinned with the glee of someone surprising himself. It was his least comfortable performance in weeks, full of vocal stumbles, and he did seem silly uttering the phrase "my boo" (It's an Afro-Caribbean term, popular in hip-hop songs, and our Mormon favorite is just not fly enough to pull it off.) But the song's awkward movements gave us something more important than his other two spot-on ballads could offer: a glimpse at a Pinocchio letting himself become a real boy, made of something other than beautifully polished wood.

That quick glimpse into the heart of goofy Archie -- who actually sees the girls screaming at his feet, and wants to touch their outstretched hands, and even steal a glance at one or two -- exposed a side different than this baby trouper projects when he's playing the balladeer. Chastised by the judges, Archuleta retreated behind his grown-up mask for his next number, a rigorously sincere version of Dan Fogelberg's wedding song, "Longer."

It takes years for some pop prodigies to get beyond craft and risk vulnerability; Mariah Carey, for example, didn't go there until she was nearly 30. Whether he wins "Idol" or gets booted off for this slip into joyful amateurism, Archuleta probably won't let that high school self through much; he's destined for a more Josh Groban-esque intergenerational appeal. Yet for all his musical gifts, he's going to have to go through many growing pains before he gains depth as an artist. And to grow, you have to start out young. (Ask Michael Jackson.)

Syesha Mercado's revelatory moment, also on her personal song choice, asserted showbiz artifice with as much earnestness as Archuleta showed trying to be a real teen. The judges slammed her for choosing the cabaret standard "Fever," but none of their reasons held up. Had Randy, Paula and Simon ever heard of Amy Winehouse, or seen Queen Latifah in "Chicago," they might realize that these days a retro style is as commercially viable as anything else.

Can those three tolerate even the slightest self-assertion on the part of their talent pool? They've given Syesha bad advice every step of the way, curbing her lounge-friendly, jazz-flirty tendencies and pushing her toward an overwrought "sincerity" that contradicts her strengths. Since her main talent is brainy interpretation, she's adapted to their suggestions, but lately she's realized that her instincts were right all along. She's been playing up her ability to transform, to use choreography and costume to assert herself instead of just aiming for big notes she can't own.

If she survives -- and the judges seemed desperate tonight to make sure she doesn't, dousing her in negativity while anointing the Davids -- Syesha will probably be even better next week. She's fulfilling that classic ingenue role, willing herself to stardom. All the debate about the value of amateurism that's haunted this season of "Idol" crumples under Syesha's shimmering stilettos. Unlike bashful David Archuleta and shoulder-shrugging David Cook, she acts like she was born to be on stage. And even if the judges' manipulations work and she's voted off before the final, she's not letting go of that spotlight anytime soon.

And what about the bartender? Cook's triumphs last night showed his mettle, too. Anyone in the rock world has known characters like him: talented and ambitious young men who aren't quite adventurous or weird enough to find a home in the underground, but who still believe in artistic integrity and the saving power of rock's grandiose noise. These guys often end up slinging mojitos for years as they figure out how to realize their dreams.

Watching Cook absorb the lessons that "Idol" has offered him has been one of the season's most edifying experiences. Though his loyalty to minor modern rock bands remains intact -- last night's song choice championed Switchfoot, a decent bunch of surfers who turned their Christian rock secular and had a hit or two a few years back -- Cook has lately been cultivating the pop-friendly glow of his more restrained vocal timbre. He's the rare contestant who has greatly improved under the judges' tutelage, and for that alone, he probably deserves to win.

Simon Cowell's selection for Cook this week was Ewan MacColl's time-stopping love song, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"; singing it, Cook harkened back to "Idol" mentor Andrew Lloyd Webber and let his inner drama club kid lead the way. Though not even close to the divine finesse of Roberta Flack's version, Cook's take was quietly gestural, not rock 'n' roll at all, but sexier and more beautiful because he curtailed the catharsis.

And he did get his explosive moment, on Diane Warren's genre-melting 1990s power ballad, "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing," made famous by Aerosmith. The rococo arrangement didn't do him any favors; this should have been his chance to whip out the scarves and invoke the skeletal fierceness of Steven Tyler. At the very end, though, he pulled the microphone from the stand, pushed every ounce of air out of his diaphragm and aimed for transcendence. I'd wager that Cook thinks the song is nowhere near as good as Switchfoot's.

-- Ann Powers

Photo courtesy of Fox

Comments

[EJ]

This show has jumped the shark.

I was watching last night, and suddenly realized that I no longer cared.

Not that I ever thought this show was ever good, or the contestants, or the judges.

[Leigh Hanlon]

Who are they really? WHO CARES?

[Brooke Preston]

For an entertainment reporter, Ann Powers doesn't seem to know much about entertainment. For one thing, Switchfoot wasn't a Christian band turned secular that had a hit or two. Their lyrics are overtly Christian as are their live shows, and their sales and hits have been consistent for well over a decade now.

Secondly, to compare what Syesha has to offer to Amy Winehouse and her ilk is a stretch at best. Syesha is the archetype of every community theatre performer who believes themselves to be three shades more talented than they actually are. If she didn't believe it were so, she wouldn't have the audacity to attempt the biggest songs with the biggest notes with a straight face (not with that voice). She wouldn't talk back to the judges with more industry experience than summer dinner theatre reviews. Love them or hate them, artists like Winehouse or Duffy work because they remind us of all the great parts of Motown, Doo-wop and early Pop Rock while staying firmly planted in today's soundscape and culture. Can Powers really believe Syesha's "Fever" rendition truly contained anything fresh or commercially viable?

The problem with too many American Idol ex-patriots is that they believe the judges when they are told they are talented, original artists, who are destined for superstardom. I wonder what Blake Lewis thought when his album full of the same tired beat-boxing (that was already old when Timberlake filled 'NSync 'No Strings Attached' tour costume changes with it onstage) that the judges made over to no end was released...and tanked. They're not all Kelly Clarksons and Carrie Underwoods. Syesha's certainly not. I just don't see a place for her (or David Cook, whose success thusfar makes me wonder if people have forgotten so soon about the terrible mass error in judgment that was Creed's success) in the modern music machine beyond next summer's AI tour.

The LA Times may want to consider hiring reporters with their finger slightly more firmly placed on the pulse of pop culture.

[Susan]

Ann, Thank you so much for what you said about Syesha! You said beautifully what I was struggling to articulate last night in the debate going on in my own living room. You are right on! Syesha is very commercially viable, her retro style is wonderful. It's such a pleasure to see her on her feet in her stilettos, working that smokey jazz milieu. Did you notice she sounded just like Randy Crawford on a couple of her runs last night. I like her more and more every week. Bravo, Syesha!!

[JoeP]

I think David Cook has, at present, the best chance at a pop career, Syesha has the best stage presence and would do well in a show or review. David Archuleta is so far superior as a vocalist that I would question the integrity or hearing of anyone who wouldn't agree to this evident fact.

[Jeannie]

Everyone seems to want the 2 Davids to win. I personally think it should be between David A and Syesha. She usually hits her notes and David Cook misses his and is hard to understand as he doesn't articulate well.

All three will probably get a contract so in the end they all will win.

[Realmusiclover]

tjayswift has written the most cogent comment here. "Because, if it was solely about vocal talent, then the competition was over weeks ago. Despite his young age, Archuleta's by FAR the most talented and versatile. And that's a fact. If you don't see that clearly, you either a) don't know a whole lot about music and/or vocal performance, or b) are having trouble seeing past the personality and entertainment part of the equation."
And of course, tjay is right on the money. If singing was the entire criteria of AI then Archie would get the gold ring. But since this is a popularity contest, and since Archie's real talent is not appreciated for what it is, pure and beautiful tonalities that he is able to convey with or without instrumental accompaniment, he is likely to lose to that one trick pony, David Cook. Sayesha has great stage presence and deserves a shot as a Vegas act or Broadway musical star, but she lacks the vocal power to command any long term public affection. Cook is simply a rock and roll screamer, and as such will probably win next week because in this country, true to Goebbels' dictum, screamers win.

[appalled]

There are a lot of pompus people posting here. All three contestants are talented and don't deserve to be ridiculed. The fact that they can endure the stress that must come from being on this show and still peform is a credit in itself. Brooke was very talented but could't take the pressure. So part of AI is to get the future winner ready for the demands that will be made on them. I'm glad it's the two Davids, but I hope Cook wins. I would like David A to be in a more protective enviroment for a time, perhaps touring with Miley Cyrus and other young artists. He seems like a very nice perosn and I would hate for him to become jaded by being thrust into an adult enviroment when he isn't quite emotionally ready for it. Cook has received good reviews from the AI vocal coaches and other professional voice trainers, so those who say he can't sing are only showing their bias towards David A. David A fans think by knocking David C, that makes David A better. It doesn't. David A is a true talent, but so is David C in a different way. They both can be talented at the same time.

[davidcookfan]

The problem with AI is its format. How can you "count the votes" when the contestants don't use the same ballot? In other words, how can David Å lose when his songs are always a ballad, but David C's and Macardo's ballots are ballads, show tunes, rock 'n roll etc?

The answer to the gordian knot AI presents is to have one song for all contestants every week. Then and only then will the apple v oranges blood fued stop.

If AI was a piano playing contest—David A would play chop sticks over and over again, even when he was playing Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue or Jerry Lee Lewis's Great Balls of Fire.

[Paul]

This is the most insightful analysis of this program (or any other like it) that I've ever read.

[Idol Fan]

To the person who said... "Chris Daughtry didn't win American Idol, and he has the best selling album out of all the seasons." uh, you're wrong! Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson had much better selling albums than Daughtry. Even William Hung's album did better!

[indygirl52]

David Cook is anything but the definition of a bartender. He is a college graduate with a Bachelor Degree in Graphic Arts Technology-Management, who has been beating the pavement to realize his dream. Moved to Tulsa after college and worked in a club to make ends meet while he tried to make his way in the music business. That is what you call perserverance and he is the most deserving, humble person you could ever meet.

[Sharron Casey]

I have been a big fan of idol but------last year I was so shocked at the total disreguard of Melina Doolittle.She had all of the judges and celebs speechless and yet BYE BYE!!!I still crave her singing. And this year David A presents with almost the same talent and he has been blown away personality wise for being too nice.Now his father is foremost in the news to discouirage voters.You might as well go back to Murray. I personally think we need a few Legends to begin their carreer. sometimes we need to listen to beautiful soft music and escape the hard rock fo awhile. David A is just too "nice" of a role model or boring as previosly stated. Sad isn't it?

[Leah]

Ann, you seem like somone strong who can take care of herself, but I wanted to say that every time I've read your analyses, I am so glad to have found someone knowledgeable and articulate to read. You're not just an American Idol fan (if you even are); you're a music critic, and I appreciate all you have to say and the time and thought you put into it. You're a talented writer, which I'm sure you already know. I find it sad and funny--and irritating when I read the comments. Most people just use this--the way they do everywhere else with an AI comment section--to talk about their favorite and bash the others. Not nearly enough people take the time to respond to you; and when they do, all too often it's bash YOU for having your own opinions and a forum for expressing them. I don't agree with you all the time, but I found myself agreeing with everything you've written in this article. Even when I don't agree, though, I'm still enjoying myself, reading you. Just wanted to let you know!