Idols Sing From The Rock and Roll Hall of BLAH

No surprises as to who sang the Marley tune ("I Shot The Sheriff"). That's right, resident stoner-cum-muppet Jason Castro took on the classic song, and even though it's not one of my favorites, I still enjoyed the performance. It wasn't great, but it surely didn't warrant the savagely brutal marks that the judges gave it. As for Jason's second song, "Hey Mr. Tambourine Man" by Bob Dylan, well, all I gotta say is "Lyrics, lyrics, lyrics." Poor Jason became the latest person to screw up the words, but unlike David Archuletta, who has received a free pass in similar situations, Jason got the ever so harsh "I would pack your bags" line from Simon. Ouch. Very ouch. Truth is that aside from his major flub, I thought Jason's cover of the Dylan song was all right. Oh well. Just goes to show what I know (WHICH IS PLENTY).

Personally, I thought the worst performance of the night by far was David Cook's growly, insipid take of "Hungry Like The Wolf." I mean, it sounded terrible. It didn't even have any of his signature emo-makeover touches (which I'm actually thankful for). Not helping matters was that the audio levels were all over the place. It may have sounded normal to Paula, who was dancing in her seat (she probably thought she was on a parade float on a rainbow), but for the rest of us at home, the music was super quiet while David's voice was entirely too loud. It really highlighted how poorly he sang the song and the utter lack of energy he brought to what should have been one of the most fun songs of the night.

The judges didn't give him great reviews, but they did say it was okay. Simon said it was good enough to get him through to the next round. I thought it was awful.

David's second song, "Baba O'Riley" by The Who, was a huge improvement. I liked what he did with the song. There's nothing more to say. It was really good. His hair still pisses me off though.

As for the other David, little boy Archuletta once again clocked in two proficient performances, first with "Stand By Me" and then with "Love Me Tender." His voice really is the best of the bunch, but damn, he's got to be the most boring one up there. David earns bonus points for momentarily shifting into "Beautiful Girls" by Sean Kingston, a shockingly whiff contemporary music by the kid who seems at home with old Amy Grant covers. However, he's ultimately too soft, too bland, too whatever for me. The little girls love him, but can this kid really have a big record career? I guess in the Christian Rock world, yes. Eh, who am I to stop the crazy train of mediocrity that will be David's career?

Finally, there was Syesha Mercado. I have to say, when the show began and Ryan introduced the Final Four, I was shocked that a) we were already down to such a small number, and b) Syesha was the last girl standing. Who would have thunk it? As I've said before (and so have many others), there's something so hateable about her, and yet I find myself warming to The Mercado. Could it be that I've come to respect her unrelenting drive? Or maybe it's her neat new hair? Or maybe it's the fact that she might just be the most underrated of the four? Yes, as hard as it is to admit, Syesha has been clocking in some very good performances over the past several weeks, and many of them have been torn to shreds. No one seems to give her credit for always trying to tackle the biggest, most difficult songs — especially in a season where "safe" has been the name of the game. Of course, she rarely succeeds in pulling off the Whitney and Fantasia songs, but she comes close. Some people might see this as hubris on her part (I used to be in that camp), but I think it's starting to look more like old fashioned balls. And that's something this season is in hardcore need of. BALLS.

On top of all that, Syesha has been on a roll. I didn't see last week, but according to Randy, she was hot. And the week before, she was great with Andrew Lloyd Weber. She continued her streak with a very good (but not excellent) cover of Tina Turner's "Proud Mary." I wasn't blown away, but I loved that she danced all over the place and showed some leg (someone having fun on Idol? Since when does that happen?). Overall, the performance won me over, and for the most part, the judges really liked it. Simon rained on the parade by calling it bad karaoke. I didn't agree with him, but I could see where he was coming from.

For her second song, Syesha sang the Sam Cooke song, "A Change Is Gonna Come," which I thought was really great. Granted, I'm not familiar with the song; so I couldn't say whether or not Randy was right in saying that she should have stayed the course with the original tune, but I still really thought her version showed off her vocals quite well. Of course, the noteworthy part of this entire performance is what happened during judging as Syesha had a full-on breakdown on camera. I think when she saw Paula getting choked up, it just set something loose and then next thing we knew, there were Mercado tears everywhere.

Of course, since this is Syesha, she always does find a way to ruin the moment, and this time it happened when she explained her emotions. She revealed that she had been reading about the song, and how it was tied into the Civil Rights movement. That's all cool and legit. But then Syesha explained that she felt a very special connection to the song too because she was changing too! She was becoming a better performer! So basically Syesha just compared her growth on a talent show to society-altering shifts of the Civil Rights movement. (Me smacking my head)

Nevertheless, I'm not going to begrudge Syesha her emotions. It actually was a touching moment, and it was made all the better for her when Simon sided with Paula and said it was a great performance. So now we have to figure out who goes home. David Archuletta is a lock. The girls love him, and the producers unceasingly end the show with him (cough, bias, cough). David Cook seems like a lock too, but if I'm lucky, there'll be some shocking upset (it happened to Daughtry at this stage of the competition). Truth be told, Jason Castro, who's always been one of my favorites, should and probably will get the boot, but then again, Syesha may have finally reached the end of her line. Her histrionics may have saved her though. It's really a toss-up. Who do you think will go home tonight?