Just as disheartening, but for a completely different reason, was ''Mr. Tambourine Man,'' which I actually thought might turn out to be Jason's redemption song. Dressed in a very snazzy black shirt with gold and silver detailing, Jason started the number rather sweetly, until, of course, he completely forgot the last line of the chorus, which he turned into a mildly embarrassed ''uh-nuh-uh-uh-uh-uh.'' At which point I just hung my head and groaned. I know Simon was going for a dig when he told Jason to pack his suitcase, but I can't help feeling Jason had already finished the task four or five days ago. (Is it too late to go back and change my vote for ''Favorite Offbeat Contestant'' in our new ''Idol Steel Cage'' showdown?)
Jason's flameout is good news, however, for the Artist Formerly Known as Cannon Fodder, Syesha Mercado, who I'd contend had her least successful showing tonight since Idol Gives Back week. To me, Syesha's ''Proud Mary'' wasn't a bad imitation of Tina Turner, but it was more like a pale copy of Trenyce's season 2 crowd-pleaser (right down to the ''come on, y'all!'' shout-out). Granted, Syesha looked a-mah-zing in those slinky silver sequins — was it my imagination, or did she point to her breasts pre-commercial, right after Ryan declared she was about to ''let it all hang out''? — but aside from an Aretha cover, was there a more obvious choice on the Hall of Fame's 500-strong song list? And if she really wanted to pull off Tina's head-snap, hair-toss move, then she needed to commit to it mind, body, and soul.
No, I am not trying to reduce the typically unflappable model-actress-singer to tears (again). But if I'm being completely honest, though I was quite moved by Syesha's mid-critique breakdown following her rendition of ''A Change Is Gonna Come,'' the performance itself left me feeling ambivalent. I agreed with Randy: The arrangement was slightly off-putting, and Syesha (again in a major, major dress) kept falling out of step with the band and falling ever so slightly flat on the big notes. What's more, although I appreciated Syesha's efforts to learn about the song's significance to the civil rights movement, was anyone else flummoxed by her need to reinterpret the lyrics as somehow reflecting on her Idol journey?
If Jason's fans rally to his cause in record numbers, there's a chance the second sentence of Paula's rave — ''Welcome to the dream, Syesha. This is it for you'' — could prove prescient. And as we all know, according to the Idol playbook, when a contestant says something like ''I just like to have fun,'' it can usually be interpreted as ''I have made peace with the fact that I am going home soon.''
Then again, as Ryan frantically reminded us — without actually dangling the two Davids over a pit of rabid wolves — ''Anything can happen. Nobody is safe and nothing is guaranteed.'' So maybe Rocker David or Teen Dream David is at risk of being booted Wednesday night. Yeah, right, and moments later, I'll publicly renounce my love for Fantasia Barrino.
It's true. David Cook should be sailing into final-three week with ease, although how Simon predicted this after the guy had only delivered one very middling number, and none of his competitors had yet taken the stage, is a mystery on the same plane as Paulagate. But who's looking for consistency or common sense from the panel anymore? Rocker David himself admitted he could've done ''way more'' with his paint-by-numbers cover of Duran Duran's ''Hungry Like the Wolf'' — after all, nobody who rides the Idol train gets to pull the emergency brake and ask, ''What if the coronation song is worse than 'Do I Make You Proud'?''' — and yet Paula got all Pavlov's dogs and drooled that the performance left her ''with a big appetite.'' (Inappropriate? Discuss!)
NEXT: David C. shows who he is
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