Idol Top 7 Recap

OK, so my notes from last week's American Idol haven't surfaced yet...  Instead I'll just have to post based on my memory.  Yikes...  Actually, I remember quite a bit because it was one of the BEST Idol shows ever, seriously.  Everyone (for the most part) sounded great--when's the last time I've said that?

Uhhh it was Mariah Carey week.  Can you believe it?  One of the most prolific pop stars ever took time out of her diva schedule to coach the Idols and perform on Wednesday night's results show. Here's the thing about Mariah: sure, she's crazy, but bitch can sing!  She's such a good musician and understands the voice so well.  The advice she gave to the Idols made sense for each of them and boosted their performances.

The best performance of the nigh--hands down--was David Cook singing "Always Be My Baby." I admit that when I first heard that this was his song choice, I was a little afraid.  How could this rocker pull off one of the most poppy of pop songs?  Well, he did, and it was awesome.  His performance was the perfect balance of a tribute to the original artist as well as doing something completely innovative and fresh.  Not an easy task!

Also amazing was Jason Castro.  His rendition of "I Don't Wanna Cry" was gentle and almost tropical.  Sometimes I feel like Jason is completely high during his performances because something about his face just makes me think of hippies; luckily his voice is beautiful and he has a knack for making songs his own.

David Archuleta was fine; I mean, it wasn't his best performance, by far, but his version of the Whitney/Mariah debut "When You Believe" still makes me think he's a strong contender to win this season.  And he's still soooooooo cute.

The girls were OK--Carly Smithson sang "Without You" and showed her lower range which is really beautiful; Syesha sang one of my fave Mariah songs, "Vanishing," and managed to pull it off.  Brooke White, who performed "Hero" at the piano with her shoes off, was forgettable; Kristy Lee Cook sang "Forever" and was predictably bad, though I must say that it was her best performance so far.  Unfortunately it wasn't good enough, because she was sent home on Wednesday night.  No big loss.

So yeah, that's my American Idol Top 7 recap.  

Final Thought: Kellie Pickler won awards at the CMT awards last night.  Just another reason why people who like country music are a little disturbed...