Of course, it wouldn't be Idol if we weren't careening toward the semifinals with at least a handful of potentially disastrous contestants, and while we lost Suzanne ''Doll Hair'' Toon, Perrie ''Single Dad'' Cataldo, Amy ''the Virgin'' Flynn, and Brooke ''Pageant Queen'' Helvie (who can now fulfill her destiny and go marry a nice wealthy man...I kid, I kid!), I still spy a couple potential stinkers left in the pack.
Sure, Syesha Mercado looks like a pop star, and interviews like a pop star (right down to the too-cute flash cards she used to save her strained singing voice), so then why does she have to go and shout her songs like a barker at the local carnival? Syesha may have hit most of the right notes on ''Chain of Fools,'' but she lacked all the subtlety and sex appeal of Aretha Franklin's version. Note that Paula told Syesha she'd given ''the performance of your lifetime,'' which isn't exactly saying she outsang anyone else in the top 50. (The Abdul Code: Coming to a Barnes & Noble near you!)
I'm also troubled that I might have to suffer through at least one more week of the following: Kyle Ensley, who doesn't seem to realize that Clay Aiken and Josh Groban only get away with being geeky because they don't go all flat on their big notes; Ilsy Lorena Pinot, whose rendition of ''Man! I Feel Like a Woman!'' was as wretched as the pink and black checkered napkin she used as a skirt; and long-haired Robbie Carrico, who had the dubious distinction of delivering the most forgettable of the evening's multitude of Bryan Adams covers.
Which leaves me to discuss two clearly talented contestants who left me with mixed feelings tonight. I'll start with a note to Kristy Lee Cook: We regret to inform you that every week will not be ''Amazing Grace'' week. Start your search for new material now!
As for the matter of Josiah Leming, well, the kid who lives out of his car got more screen time than any other contestant tonight and used it to alternately win me over and alienate me throughout the episode. Exhibit A: I don't ever want to hear a teenager with a faux British accent utter a line like ''I've made every mistake a man could make in the past year.'' (Doubtful!) Exhibit B: Josiah's off-kilter choice of Mika's ''Grace Kelly,'' and the fact that he pulled it off with jauntiness and style, had me agreeing with Simon: ''This is the one I'm gonna remember.'' Exhibit C: Josiah's dubious ''Stand by Me'' was part Chris Martin, part Froggy from the Little Rascals, and that remark about his own courage was not cute. Exhibit D: The tears! (Hey, I'm not made of stone!)
No matter how Josiah's story plays out as we head for the top-24 announcement, he's certainly made Idol interesting these last couple weeks. And with that, I'll use Simon's admonishment of the kid as a hat tip to the top 164: ''Everyone has a lot of guts to get up there.''
How did you feel about the new and improved Hollywood Week? Did you, like me, find drummer Jake Mellema's ''Hooked on a Feelin' '' so wedding-band-y that you expected someone to bring a shrimp platter and a glass of champagne to your couch? Wouldn't you say PG-rated nanny Brooke White sounds more like Sophie B. Hawkins than, as Simon argued, Carly Simon or Carole King? Shouldn't Michael Johns always wear short-sleeved shirts? And aren't you glad Natashia Blach got one more shot after ad-libbing, ''Kill me now,'' as she botched the lyrics of ''Sway''?
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