...It Was Better Than Cats...

We're down to six finalists now, so it makes sense to have the theme night where all the potential Idols have to tread water. Andrew Lloyd Webber comes to Hollywood as tonight's mentor.

I would have thought that this would be the most dreadful performance show of the season, but you know what? It was the most memorable night so far.

Two performers bombed: Brooke White and Jason Castro.
Four shined: Syesha Mercado, Carly Smithson, David Archuleta, and David Cook.

What sucks is that one of the shiners has to be in the bottom three tomorrow.

Recap:
Syesha was in the dangerous lead-off slot, and sang "One Rock and Roll Too Many", giving her best performance of the season. She actually moved around, danced on top of the baby grand, did some dance moves with the bandleader, and really connected with the audience. I really enjoyed this one - probably the only time this season she's done that.

Jason Castro inexplicably tried "Memory", James Blunt style. Only - Jason doesn't have the power to make the needle move on the emotional scale. This is a power song - no ifs, ands, or buts about it, and Jason should have picked something else. No power, one style, no performance skills. He's a fish out of water this week, and his narrow range was exposed for the world to see.

Brooke White sang "You Must Love Me" from the movie version of "Evita". 20 seconds in, she blanks on the lyrics and stops and starts over. Paula tells her afterwards that this is unforgivable, but Simon undermines that opinion. (It violates all the laws of music performance, by the way - the show MUST go on. There is no starting over in music.) I have to give ALW props - his mentoring of Brooke zeroed in on her greatest weakness (at least before her new-found fondness for the do-over, that is) which is not feeling the meaning of the lyrics. Brooke got it! Tonight's song was absolutely full of meaning and emotion. Unfortunately, it threw her off her game and may have doomed her.

David Archuleta amazed me. He pulled a page from David Cook's book and re-arranged "Think Of Me" into a pop ballad! ALW zeroed in on Archie's most annoying habit - singing with his eyes closed. Damn, this guy is good. Archie kept his eyes open and the slightly peppy ballad version rocked. This was my favorite performance of DA's all season, however, I suspect that the rearrangement may have come from his dad. ALW's week was announced at the beginning of the season, and I suspect this song has been sitting in a suitcase waiting for it for several weeks.

Carly nearly ended her season this week. She was all set to sing "All I Ask of You", but ALW with his amazing insight stopped her after she sang two bars, and made her switch to "Jesus Christ Superstar". The change from a ballad to a production number turned it all around for Carly. She was GREAT! She was loose and comfortable and it looked like she was enjoying herself for a change. She also wore long sleeves again, which shows that she's been listening to the fans.

Now for the reason I watch this season: David Cook. I totally expected him to do a rock-opera verson of "Phantom", but he shocked the heck out of me by doing a straight version of "Music of the Night". Wow! It was awesome! Money notes and everything. Now here's why this was a great strategic move: that song makes girls swoon. DC may have stolen some votes from Archuleta, judging by the little girl screams from the audience. He'll need to do that to win.

Top 3:
David Archuleta
David Cook
Carly Smithson

Bottom 3:
Syesha Mercado (deserves better than this)
Brooke White
Jason Castro

Going home:
Hard to tell. Jason's performance was weaker than Brooke's but his fan base might be stronger. I'll go out on a limb and predict Brooke is outta here, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's Jason.
If Syesha goes home, it'll be blatantly unfair and not indicative of her finally breaking out of her funk this week.