Wednesday 16 April 2008

"Idol's" Mariah night: was it a burger bun or a luau?

It must have been conceived as some sort of cruel joke. For seven seasons now, the judges of "American Idol" have repeatedly told contestants to steer clear of singing songs by Mariah Carey, ostensibly because the singing competition's up-and-coming star wannabes could never hope to measure up to one of the great voices of pop music.

So, let's just say it was a little strange to find Carey as the guest judge on Tuesday night's show. Because you know what that means: the contestants were allowed to perform an old Mariah song, a new Mariah song, or any other Mariah song of their choosing.

As judge Simon Cowell predicted at the beginning of the show, the night indeed turned out to be lackluster one for the girls because of the unavoidable comparisons between them and the great Carey herself. That didn't stop Cowell from delivering his usual barbs, however.

"It was a bit like ordering a hamburger and only getting the bun," Cowell told Brooke White after her performance of "Hero". "In other words the vital ingredient, the bit in the middle, was missing." Ouch.

The other girls - Syesha Mercado, Kristy Lee Cook, and Carly Smithson - emerged without being compared to fast food, but they didn't get any overwhelming love from the judges. The remaining three boys, however, put the judges in a festive mood. A leather pants-clad David Archuleta's performance of "When You Believe" was declared the evening's benchmark by Cowell, and David Cook's rock take on "Always Be My Baby" received a standing ovation from judge Randy Jackson.

Later, Jackson likened Jason Castro's take on "I Don't Wanna Cry" to "a weird beach luau", but Paula Abdul said it was a luau that she would "love to be at". Cowell agreed with Abdul, saying that "the guys completely won the night". According to host Ryan Seacrest, Jackson must just have been craving "poi in a coconut broth".

(Reuters)



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