They Say the Neon Lights Are Bright ...

Dust off your tap shoes and practice your jazz hands. It’s Broadway night kids!

The Idol-hopefuls traveled to Las Vegas to get schooled by this week’s inspiration and celebrity mentor, the legendary Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber.

At the start of the show, Randy predicted that this would be the most difficult week of the competition. And for some it was. But others saw this as an opportunity to shine.

Enter Syesha Mercado.

Syesha’s choice of “One Rock n Roll Too Many” from the New Starlight Express was ironic considering she doled out just enough rock n roll to please the crowd and the judges. Randy said it was her best performance ever. Simon said it was the first time her personality came through and called the performance “very sexy.” And for good reason. They straightened her hair into a sultry 20s updo and poured her into a fire engine red dress. Combine that with animated and near-flawless vocals and this could be the performance that gives her that “New Hampshire bump” she needs to stay viable in this contest. She’s still tops for me, and I still think she’s the only one left in this contest (besides maybe David Cook) who is actually marketable.

Jason, Jason, Jason. “Memories?!” Lord Webber says he never imagined a guy with dreadlocks singing “Memories.” (from Cats) In fact, the singer gave Webber “a little bit of a jolt.” On Jason’s interpretation of the classic, “He kind of understood it, I think” After this pitiful attempt, Jason might as well be singing about his stint on the show cuz surely this is his last night. Randy called his vocals “a bit of a train wreck.” But he was really nice about it. Even Paula couldn’t clean this up… Simon said it seemed forced and suggested that both he and Jason were miserable during what he suspected were “the longest two minutes of [Jason’s] life.”

Brooke White, the resident hippie, chose “You Must Love Me” from Evita. Webber said he didn’t think Brooke “had a clue what she was singing about.” Thankfully, he filled her in. This was a good choice. Evita was made into a mainstream movie and so most people remember Madonna’s rendition of the song. Not hard to compete with the vocal stylings of the Material Girl. Or is it? She started off strong but started to unravel midway. Paula’s criticism was that she stopped mid-verse and started again (Brooke said because she forgot the words) BUT interestingly enough, Brooke was praised for stopping and starting again three weeks ago. Simon called it brave again this week. But this critic calls it sloppy. Kind of like Paula was during the rest of her critique. What the heck was she talking about?????

OK, how many kids are in David A’s family?? I keep forgetting he’s Mormon. Not that I find anything wrong with Mormonism. My issue is with having that many kids – period.
So David tackled “Think of Me” from Phantom of the Opera. It was OK -- very “adult contemporary.” Like if Michael Bolton were to sing Broadway. Randy says he’s the one to beat and Simon called his performance “pleasant” adding that it was not his strongest. L’il David has skills, no doubt about it. I just don’t know if they will easily transfer to a mainstream (and mostly young, fickle and Pop-crazy) audience.
Maybe he and his 8,000 siblings can form a Mormon Jackson 5.

Carly Smithson started to sing a Phantom song, but Lord Webber stopped her and persuaded her to sing “Superstar” from Jesus Christ Superstar instead, She looked the part. (I want that dress) She sang the part. And she almost won the part. Simon called it one of the best performances of the night. Girls 2, Boys 0.
*But then she flashed her “Simon Loves Me (this week)” T-shirt and lost half a point. How presumptuous! Girls 1.5, Boys, 0. With last week’s “come on over” gesture to safe but definitely not sound David A and then this week’s T-shirt stunt, she’s turning into the one (everyone wants) to beat.

David Cook ended the show with “Music of the Night” from Phantom. Webber (who I am LOVING for his British/theatrical candor. He could give Simon a run for his money.) said if David could show some emotion when he sings “maybe it will work.” Dang Andy, tell us how you really feel. I’m normally a David Cook fan, but I didn’t get this performance. It’s one of those songs that, I think, needs the set and costuming to bring it to life. But the judges thought otherwise and gave him a very positive critique. But hey, I like Big David, so hopefully he’ll stick around for another week.

By the way, what happened to the green-powered finale?

If “America” chooses reason over “rhyme,” then Brooke, Jason and David Cook will be in the bottom three. And Jason will go home.

But I have a feeling the bottom three will be Brooke, Jason and Syesha (I don’t know why “America” isn’t feeling Syesha). Jason will unfortunately stick around for another week. And they’ll go ahead and send Brooke home.