Television March 19, 2008
A Hard Day's Night for 'Idols'
The "American Idol" hopefuls came together for a Beatles-themed evening of musical mismatches that left Simon Cowell scratching his head. "I think we have a couple more weeks to get rid of what I call the deadwood," Simon huffed to "Extra."
Wild-haired rocker Amanda Overmyer's version of "Back in the USSR" left the judges in the Siberian cold, while Jason Castro sang a bland version of "Michelle." "Maybe a second round of Lennon-McCartney tunes was not such a hot idea," Simon said after Jason's performance. David Cook turned "Day Tripper" into grunge rock, with the judges warning him not to do the same thing all the time, and country cutie Kristy Lee Cook admitted she barely knew "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" after fumbling her way through it. Love me don't!
Michael Johns, Brooke White, Carly Smithson and Chikezie all fared well, but no performance was entirely memorable until little David Archuleta's big-voiced version of "The Long and Winding Road," which clearly awed the judges. Nice comeback from last week's lyric amnesia.
The fan buzz has Ramiele Mulaby, Syesha Mercado and Brooke in the bottom three. As for who's staying, Simon says, "Brooke, David Cook, the Australian guy, the Irish girl, Jason -- they are all strong."
