American Idol’s Top 12 contestants tackled the songs of the Beatles tonight. With a couple exceptions, they were moderately successful, although of course none could compare with the original classic tunes they were being forced to sing. I mean, you just can’t “outdo” the Beatles. Sorry. You can, however, do a really good cover, and some of the Top 12 pulled that off, while others were ok to mediocore, and the rest were just plain lousy. In other words, typical American Idol.

The shocker of the night had to do with David Archuleta, aka The Chosen One, who as everyone knows has been slated by the media and general public to be the “surefire” winner this year. Well, we all know making predictions like that can end up. Especially when the person in question has a really off night. Whoo, boy. But don’t worry - I seriously doubt our David is in any danger. He simply has too many fans.

Syesha Mercado: “Got to Get You Into My Life” - Yes! She did something different with her hair. She looked lovely. Not that she doesn’t look lovely with her usual ‘do, but as I said last week, very nice to see some variety. Anyway, her performance was all right. Some good notes, nice arrangement. But in the end, I found it a little bland and forgettable - not something the AI audience is going to reward with tons of votes. Since I don’t think she has the strongest fan-base, she could be in trouble.

Chikezie: “She’s a Woman” - His outfit was mellower but I never did like the casual-preppy look. His performance starts out like a hoe-down than starts to turn more “rock.” It was a decent performance, but I don’t know - I still admire his vocal talent, but he doesn’t do anything for me personally. The judges loved him this night, however. And what was up with Ryan Seacrest’s spazzing out over Chikezie’s head and running around the stage? Very weird. Perhaps Paula slipped Ryan some of her “happy juice” during the break.

Ramiele Malubay: “In My Life” - She’s cute, she’s short, she can hit those “power notes” like crazy. But tonight, she’s also extremely boring. Borrrriiiiinnnng. One of the things I’ve liked about this season of AI is that there is a decided lack of dull predictable ballads, even among most of the women performers. I like music with a beat, and Ramiele’s performance had none. Plus her voice was too quiet or weak or something through most of the vocals. It’s not that she messed up or did terribly, but not entertaining and completely forgettable. I think she’s in mild danger - maybe not this week, but because we have a couple others that may have shot themselves in the foot a lot worse, but …

Jason Castro: “If I Fell” - Not as strong this week as last week. His lack of stage experience seemed to show through a little more today, but vocally it wasn’t bad. He grows on me more each week, seeming more and more adorable. I like how we seem to be watching him grow as a singer/performer as he goes along.

Carly Smithson: “Come Together” - My eardrums still don’t like her higher notes…a lot of the time it just sounds shrieky to me, and listening to just the audio of the song through headphones makes me wince a little. I think this reflects more on my eardrum’s shape and design more than her vocal ability, tho. She sure rocked it out, and it was far better than I thought it was going to be. Carly showed some genre range ability, as well as stepping up her stage-persona a notch. I give her props.

David Cook: “Eleanor Rigby” - Vocals decent, stage performance the same as always. I loved this Beatles tune, and while DavidC did a fair job at giving it a “rocker” arrangement, I’m tired of his rock-clothes, his smug rock-attitude (even if it is more genuine than Robbie’s was) and the repetitive nature of his alt-rock sounding vocal uplilt. But I’m sure he’s safe, since I’m obviously in the minority.

Brooke White: “Let It Be” - One of my favorite Beatles song ever. I was terrified of it being mangled to death. I shouldn’t have worried. I loved the real piano and Brooke’s playing. I loved her singing and the emotional vulnerability she showed. The only bad thing for me was that the piano was obviously distracting Brooke from being able to “perform” to the audience/camera. I think she should have ignored the camera and just concentrated on playing/singing. Of the women, Brooke is the one I’m cheering for.

David Hernandez: “I Saw Her Standing There” - Very campy, very tortured. Bad arrangement, bad dancing. Vocals were actually ok, but the “performance” was so awful I think he just hurt his chances pretty badly. Not much else to say than that.

Amanda Overmyer: “You Can’t Do That” - Good strong vocals, but sounded like she was mumbling the words half the time. Plus, it was still “typical” Overmyer. I’d really like to hear her do something softer or more mellow to show range and versatility. I have the feeling she can’t do soft or mellow or another genre, and that’s going to be her downfall. But at least she was smiling this week. And she absolutely commands the stage with her presence/moves.

Michael Johns: “Across the Universe” - YES. Finally, Michael does something different than his usual “rock with the microphone” style singing/performance. I’ll be honest and say I’ve never liked the original “Across the Universe” very much. Too hippie or whatever, for me. But with Michael’s voice it became more of an alt-rock ballad and I enjoyed it. Michael managed to control his vocals this time and the result was a much smoother and consistent vocal performance. It still doesn’t beat his “Bohemian Rhapsody”, and he couldn’t seem to keep his arm from wanting to do at least one of those “raise in the air for dramatic emphasis” moments, but at least was different than his usual and it didn’t feel as much as if he was just “coasting” along in a “The Doors mode”. The judges did have a good point that the song was a bit “boring” but I don’t think that’ll matter. He has enough fans that he should be safe.

Kristy Lee Cook: “Eight Days a Week” - *shakes head* The country blonde turned the simplistic rock tune of the Beatles into a horrible, Speedy-Gonzalez paced country vocal, complete with spangled top and ripped-up jeans. I don’t like country music much, so I’m prejudiced, but … all you can say is … terrible. BUT - again, I do give props for her guts to take a risk and do what she wanted with the song. Sometimes the risk doesn’t gives us the gains we were hoping for. Kristy has a good chance of going home, unless the country-fans (and male fans) vote enough to keep her from the brink.

David Archuleta: “We Can Work It Out” - He said he was nervous, he looked nervous, and not long into his performance he proved he was nervous by forgetting the words. Recovering from that, he proceeded to wander around the stage, and forgot the words again another couple of times. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the vocals weren’t as strong as in previous weeks. He seemed uncomfortable and you just had to feel awful for him. We all know he has the talent, the stage persona, and the experience - but he’s also 17 years old and this time the pressure got to him. How will this effect his chances of winning? Well, if it’s the only time he really “messes up” - I think not much. I hope he won’t let this one bad performance toss his confidence. I may not be his biggest fan, but I do know he deserves to be in the Top5 at least. One wonders if the producers of AI wanted him to be less-than-stellar this time to make sure the viewers would stay tuned into the show. ie, the more everyone thinks Archuleta is a shoo-in for #1, the more likely they are to tune out. This is reality TV after all - tossing in a monkey wrench now and then is good for ratings. Not that I really believe in a conspiracy. It’s just fun to doodle about. :)

At any rate - I think Kristy, Syesha and David Hernandez should be worried tomorrow.