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David Cook Versus David Archuleta Versus Syesha Mercado Who's Performed Better?
A Week By Week Analysis
Grading:
Winner: 5 Points
2nd: 3 Points
3rd: 1 Point
Audition:
David Cook - Livin' On A Prayer
David Archuleta - Waiting On The World To Change
Syesha Mercado - Think
Cook auditions with a Bon Jovi classic, and this is a song that nobody but Bon Jovi can do, but Cook gives a respectable shot at it
David Archuleta is gold! With the success of High School Musical, here comes a kid with Disney Looks and I was singing along with his audition (So was Randy Jackson) Awesome Audition)
Syesha gets all screechy with her audition, but I guess it's ok to be screechy wen you're singing Aretha songs because I loved it Tough one but...
Winner: David Archuleta
2nd: David Cook
3rd: Syesha Mercado
Hollywood Week
David Cook - Everything I Do (I Do It For You)
David Archuleta - Heaven
Syesha Mercado - Chain Of Fools
David Cook rocked he house with this Bryan Adams classic, even his fellow contestants couldn't contain their excitement, they applauded him wildly! Freakin' awesome!
David Archuleta sings another Bryan Adams song but he softens it up, which works! Go Archuleta!
Syesha sings yet another Aretha song after losing her voice, and it was also good but...
Winner: David Cook
2nd: David Archuleta
3rd: Syesha Mercado
Top 24 (Theme: 60's)
David Cook - Happy Together
David Archuleta - Shop Around
Syesha Mercado - Tobacco Road
David Cook sings a rock version of the Turtles' classic, one of his weakest performances but still pretty darn good (At this point I didn't really like him yet)
David Archuleta sings Shop Around (I had high hopes for him because I really liked his audition) He starts out pretty good with this bouncy number but by the middle of the song, he screws it up and he ended the song with a hesitant high note (But still got praises from the judges
)
Syesha, on the other hand, blew me away with this rocking number. There were a few shaky parts, but all in all, this was a fantastic performance
Winner: Syesha Mercado
2nd: David Cook
3rd: David Archuleta
Top 18 (Theme: 70's)
David Cook - All Right Now
David Archuleta - Imagine
Syesha Mercado - Me And Mr. Jones
David Cook sings a song that I don't know (I still don't like him up to this point) Simon questions his charisma, he answers back, Simon fires back. His performance was good but nothing really special.
David Archuleta sings a Lennon classic a la Eva Cassidy and wins! Really great emotions and one of the most perfect vocals he's ever given throughout the show (Even Yoko Ono, Lennon's wife, liked it!)
Syesha does a gender bender, the vocals were really good but the thought of an adulteress doesn't really sink well with me (The judges also hated it).
Winner: David Archuleta
2nd: David Cook
3rd: Syesha Mercado
Top 16 (Theme: 80's)
David Cook - Hello
David Archuleta - Another Day In Paradise
Syesha Mercado - Saving All My Love For You
David Cook rocked the house this week with a rock version of on of the cheesiest songs ever! He took command of the stage, his vocals were awesomely good (This is when I started to love him!) Seacrest also mentioned that Lionel loved Cook's rendition of his song (Why wouldn't he? It was better than his version!)
David Archuleta sings a Phil Collins classic, the judges hated it but I actually liked it, but I guess the judges had a point by saying that Archuleta had the tendency to become boring by singing these ballads.
Syesha sings another adulteress song (WTF?) Now I don't know but I've always found it unfair when the judges start comparing this Idol wannabes to well established artists, and one of the hardest artists to live up to is Whitney Houston, she's just golden! I do think that Syesha did it really well!
Winner: David Cook (By a Landslide!)
2nd: Syesha Mercado
3rd: David Archuleta
Standing Before The Top 12
David Cook (19 points)
David Archuleta (15 Points)
Syesha Mercado (11 Points)
Top 12 (Theme: Lennon-McCartney)
David Cook - Eleanor Rigby
David Archuleta - We Can Work It Out
Syesha Mercado - Got To Get You In To My Life
David Cook rocked out Eleanor Rigby! I loved it! I was unfamiliar with the song but it sounded like a David Cook original (Then there's that Doxology song arrangement stealing issue! It kinda takes the edge off David's originality but I still think he did it really really well, because I was also able to listen to Doxology's version and David was way better! But I don't know I'm torn!)
David Archuleta forgets his lyrics and lets everyone notice it! Crap, I was really starting to like it, this could have been one of my favorite performances if not for that (Now let’s talk about the studio version of that song, that was good eh?)
Syesha Mercado's number was bouncy, technically really well executed but it was forgettable.
Winner: David Cook
2nd: Syesha Mercado
3rd: David Archuleta
Top 11 (Theme: The Songs of The Beatles)
David Cook - Day Tripper
David Archuleta - The Long And Winding Road
Syesha Mercado - Yesterday
Cook tries out a different thing on stage (I'm calling it thing because I forgot what they called it! It was something that he blew and Seacrest didn't want to try it! Am I making sense?) Really good song and rendition too!! I wonder why Simon did not like it as much!?
David Archuleta sings...ZZZZZZZZ.. Oh wait it's The Long And Winding Road, but it was more like The Long Winding And Never Ending Lullaby! I really hated it! It was boring, it was safe but it was still better than his performance last week! If I wanted to listen to this song, I will listen to Regine Velasquez's rendition.
Syesha gets the pimp spot and shows off her great body in a pretty pretty gown! She sang Yesterday and she was awesome! The song was full of emotions and she really shone that night
Winner: Syesha Mercado
2nd: David Cook
3rd: David Archuleta
Top 10 (Theme: Songs From The Year They Were Born)
David Cook - Billie Jean
David Archuleta - You're the Voice
Syesha Mercado - If I Was Your Woman
OK There's no need to discuss this, I think it's pretty clear. David Cook takes the front runner status from Archuleta and even overshadows Syesha's very nicely rendered song (You've got to listen to her studio version for this song!)
It may be one of the best American Idol performances ever, OMG!
Winner: David Cook
2nd: Syesha Mercado
3rd:David Archuleta
Top 9 (Theme: Dolly Parton)
David Cook - Little Sparrow
David Archuleta - Smoky Mountain Memories
Syesha Mercado - I Will Always Love You
David Cook is still fresh off the Billie Jean success, and although this is one of his performances that I liked, it was still very nice that he could transcend the country genre! Versatility and Great Looks!
David Archuleta's rendition of this song sounded wimpy to me, I don't know why, vocally, it was good but there's nothing about it that I liked.
Syesha Mercado becomes precocious, after being compared to Whitney (and of course losing) she mixes Dolly Parton and Whitney's version of the song. It's confusing! I kinda wish she did a full on Whitney version!
Winner: David Cook
2nd: David Archuleta
3rd: Syesha Mercado
Top 8 (Theme: Inspirational Songs)
David Cook - Innocent
David Archuleta - Angels
Syesha Mercado - I Believe
David Cook was not really good this night, he started off with an indescribable first note (Now we see a weakness, his low notes) He kinda built up nice but he was really in keeping with the Inspirational Theme of the night (I liked the Give Back hand gesture he had at he end)
David Archuleta wows me this week with a chilling rendition of a Robbie Williams ballad! Singing ballads is his strength, and for the first time in 3 weeks I didn't dislike his performance. It was tender and touching (Alright I'm stopping because it sounds like I'm talking about lovemaking here~)
When I first heard that Syesha was singing Fantasia's I Believe, I thought, SUICIDE, Fantasia is the bomb! LaKisha Already bombed with this choice last year! Oh No! But as soon as she started out singing, man Syesha's got pipes of steel! She did it really well!
Winner: David Archuleta
2nd: Syesha Mercado
3rd: David Cook
Top 7 (Theme: The Songs Of Mariah Carey)
David Cook - Always Be My Baby
David Archuleta - When You Believe
Syesha Mercado - Vanishing
I feel like there' no need to drill this one down, David Cook wins! Hands down! Syesha coming in a at a far second place (She sounded really wicked too!) and Archuleta at an even farther 3rd place, Nope Judge pimping don't work with me)
Winner: David Cook
2nd: Syesha Mercado
3rd: David Archuleta
Top 6 (Theme: Songs Of Andrew Lloyd Weber)
David Cook - Music Of The Night
David Archuleta - Think Of Me
Syesha Mercado - One Rock And Roll Too Many
David Cook sings a Broadway song and takes it as it is, not changing it to a rock version and he's a really fabulous vocalist (I don't know if that adjective suits him) plus he looks hotter than ever! Broadway songs are really hard to sing especially if you use your vocals in gritty love songs almost all of the time! Wow!
David Archuleta as they say gives this song a pop arrangement, but I guess I would never know because I've never heard this song (I've heard only a few Broadway songs... I know how Un-gay!) He sounds pretty good but nowhere near David Cook's awesomeness!
Syesha Mercado shows some leg, flirts, with the camera, sings with pizzazz, rocks the house and takes command of the stage all in less than two minutes! FABULOUS is not enough to describe her in this performance !!!! (Let's try super-Fabulous! Better but still not enough..) Now this wasn't enough to get Syesha out of the bottom 2 position (Aww! What were they thinking! You've got to vote better than that! Let's not forget Carly got eliminated this week!)
Winner: Syesha Mercado
2nd: David Cook
3rd: David Archuleta
Top 5 (Theme: Songs Of Neil Diamond)
David Cook - I'm Alive
David Archuleta - Sweet Caroline
Syesha Mercado - Hello Again
Opting for a more up tempo rock number, David Cook's still a very formidable shoo-in to the top 2 Spot! This is one of his more forgettable performances, but it is still good!
OK David Archuleta's song was really nice! It's up tempo (OMG! Shocked here!), it sounded young, it sounded fresh, and that's something different even though David is only 17.
Syesha actually is fighting as hard as ever (Of course she would she's been in the bottom for the past few weeks, sometimes surprisingly...) I really like her! Plus Hello Again is one of the few Neil Diamond songs that I k------------------now! OK this is hard..
Winner: David Archuleta
2nd: David Cook
3rd: Syesha Mercado
David Cook - All I Really Needed Is You
David Archuleta - America
Syesha Mercado - I Thank The Lord For The Night Time
Wooh Cook strikes back after a brief mishap with his first number, This performance really melted me (Exagg!) Seriously, it was molten lava hot! (Hehehe!) STUDIO VERSION PLEASE!!!!
Archuleta gets wimpy again, I hated this!(What's "piyok" in English?) Seriously, if this kid looked like George Huff from Season 3 he wouldn’t' be in the competition, I think that the only thing working for him is his image.
Syesha is clappy!!! Loved it I actually liked it better than her first preformance, I was kinda bummed that she didn't choose to record this for the studio version! Really nice!
Winner: David Cook (Without a doubt)
2nd: Syesha Mercado
3rd: David Archuleta
Top 4 (Theme: Songs From The Rock N' Roll Hall Of Fame)
David Cook - Hungry Like A Wolf
David Archuleta - Stand By Me
Syesha Mercado - Proud Mary
This was a very surprising choice but at this point Cook can sing almost anything ad I would still like it, not one of his best though. But it's actually a song that would be better given a few more listens just like Innocent.
Archuleta sings Stand By Me, and although his breathing technique sucks, it was pretty good, he delivered with this one, I knew h would insert the beautiful girls line in there somewhere (Admit it the song was kinda calling for it) Now if only they would have gotten permission for that maybe Daddy Archuleta would not be in trouble...
Syesha Syesha Syesha...This song has been performed by Trenyce (Season 2) before, and although Trenyce sang it better than her, Seeing Syesha dance and look as pretty as ever, you'll kinda feel the vibe! Syesha's placement in the Top 3 = Well deserved!
Winner: Syesha Mercado
2nd: David Archuleta
3rd: David Cook
David Cook - Baba O' Riley
David Archuleta - Love Me Tender
Syesha Mercado - A Change Is Gonna Come
OK This is an off night for Mr. Cook. This performance was certainly enough to get him to the top 3, but it kinda left me hanging "It was actually getting better at the "They're all racing" part then it ended? WTF?! More!!!
David Archuleta's breathing is still out of control and he gets all gaspy on this one. The judges really loved it but I was just like " It's just ok!". I guess it's the familiarity of the song that worked.
Syesha, looking all out fabulous in a yellow gown, sings A Change is Gonna Come with conviction, You'll know that she felt her song! Randy is just plain stupid for not loving it!
Winner: Syesha Mercado
2nd: David Cook
3rd: David Archuleta
Points so far:
(I'm not that good at Math so if I screwed up, I apologize, but I think it's correct)
David Cook: 58
Syesha Mercado: 48
David Archuleta: 38
Now in conclusion, if I'm going to choose based on the previous performance, the finale would be between Syesha Mercado and David Cook!
David Cook would of course win!
I will update this after the Top 3 Performance, see if anything will change, anyway, this is where the votes will be based on.
OK This is part 2 of the Grading The Idols mega-post I did a couple of days ago...
http://ardydelrosario1.multiply.com/journal/item/85/Grading_American_Idols_Top_3?replies_read=5
Here's where they stand as of the above mentioned post (which followed the Top 3's performances from the audition up to the Top 4 Night)
David Cook: 58 Points
Syesha Mercado 48 Points
David Archuleta: 38 Points
Now on with the show (The Top Three Show that is!) It was a night of choices!
Judge's Choice
David Cook - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
David Archuleta - And So It Goes
Syesha Mercado - If I Ain't Got You
Simon chose a Roberta Flack classic for David, when I heard it at first I had no doubt that he will change it up to suit his rock style, but I wasn't quite sure how...Trust David to take a boring song and give it new life! Can you smell it? David Cook is the American Idol!
Paula chose And So It Goes for Archuleta, very well sung but a little boring. The A Capella part was incredible, less gasping but it's still there.
Randy chose a song that Syesha has already done before (She did it for another talent show called The One). As much as I hate comparing the Idols to established artists, I can't resist it, Alicia Keys did this song very well and Syesha did a so-so job, her vocals were good but not awesome. I remember Vonzell Solomon (Season 4) performing it and she got burned by the judges, but her rendition is actually better than Syesha's. I don't know, still love Syesha though and I'm still hoping for her to be in the Top 2 with Cook.
Winner: David Cook
2nd: David Archuleta
3rd: Syesha Mercado
Personal Choice
David Cook - Dare You To Move
David Archuleta - With You
Syesha Mercado - Fever
Cook's choice was his weakest tonight but it's still really awesome! His voice is kinda giving up but he was still really good ! I'm guessing that this is the kind of songs that record labels would want to hear from him.
Archuleta chose to go hip with a very current song (Very smart if you ask me, he's appealing to his target audience) but he shouldn't have given it as much of the runs that he did, it was pretty good though although it sounded a little weird that Archuleta is saying "Boo"
.
Syesha chose the very sexy song Fever no over singing, just plain sexiness! Syesha tore this one down! Very subdued for her! Loved the flirty dancing and MG! Syesha's voice is in tiptop shape!
Winner: David Archuleta
2nd : Syesha Mercado
3rd: David Cook
Producer's Choice
David Cook - I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing
David Archuleta - Longer
Syesha Mercado - Hit Me Up
Yahoo! Cook takes on Aerosmith (BTW, one of the most difficult songs to sing like ever!) His voice sounds a little tired but he still sold the song, he changed it up a bit and it worked, this guy is ready to sell tickets and CD's!
Archuleta + Ballads = boring! What's up with them! (I know ballads are David's strength, but he's got to give something more than that! They had the chance to challenge him but they kinda didn't! they played it safe) But to be fair, David performed it fairly well!
Syesha sings Hit Me Up, an unfamiliar song off the Happy Feet soundtrack! If Syesha can bring to life unfamiliar songs then she can be a credible artist! I Love it when Syesha sings bouncy songs! Love Love Love it! Damn those judges!
Winner: Syesha Mercado
2nd: David Cook
3rd: David Archuleta
The Verdict
Who should be in the Top 2 based on my analysis?
David Cook: 67 Points
Syesha Mercado: 57 Points
David Cook will win American Idol!
MG! I hope they're not brewing up a shock elimination, Oh I hope they are, But I hope they're looking at Archuleta!
MG! The judges obviously do not want Syesha in the finale! She was arguably the second best tonight with Cook as first, but even Paula could not give her enough compliments!
Hmmmm....
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