Another Gray Area

Idol Elimination: Not too inspiring

If I was picking who deserved to be in the bottom three, supposed frontrunners Carly Smithson and David Cook would be there. Smithson easily gave her worst performance yet on Queen’s “The Show Must Go On.” She was shrill and screechy, and Simon was on the mark when he said it sounded like she lost control of the song. It sounded more like she was wrestling with the melody than singing it.

David Cook’s problem was that he picked a bad song, Our Lady Peace’s “Innocent,” that also didn’t seem particularly well-suited to his vocal range. There was a point where he was bouncing in and out of falsetto that was ugly.

David Cook hasn’t been in the bottom three yet, and I doubt that he’ll be there Thursday, but he deserves to be. Smithson doesn’t seem to have the ardent fan base of the other leaders, and she may need the luck of the Irish to keep singing.

Kristy Lee Cook probably will be back in the bottom three. Betting against that would be like betting against the sun rising tomorrow. It happens every time, why should this week be any different? She may finally go home too. Her rendition of Martina McBride’s “Anyway” was one of her better performances, but the only reason she’s survived this long is having Country Week last week and a perfect song choice the week before that.

Joining Carly and Kristy Lee in the bottom three with be either Syesha Mercado or Brooke White. The judges were tough of Syesha, but her version of a Fantasia song had the kind of vocal histrionics that some Idol voters seem to love. And “pleasant” was an apt description of Brooke’s version of “You’ve Got a Friend,” and pleasant won’t get you into the final four.