Why a ballad? Why?

Colton Berry is annoying - they interview him briefly, since we haven't seen much of him and he starts by saying that he looks like Ellen DeGeneres, which he does a little, but not nearly enough to mention it on live TV and then when Ryan mentions how the judges were hard on him for being too theatrical, he says he's been working on it, but that he has a background in theater, so he's been drawing on that. Frgive me for being an old fart, but he's 18 - he's not old enough to have a background in anything. Has he even finished high school? I'll admit, I was prepared to dislike him because he got the last spot instead of Kyle, my adorable dork, but now he's giving me ample reason to find him irritating.


Anyway, next up is David Cook. Thank goodness, the stylists on the show did something with his hair - it's still not ideal, but wow, what an improvement from the last time we saw him.

Ohhhhh... David Cook is the guy who slaughtered Bon Jovi during his audition - I had completely forgotten. But you know what? I'm willing to let it slide, because I like how he tries to stay grounded. He makes a comment about how he's glad that Simon said no to him during Hollywood week, because he says if Simon had said yes, he would have had way too much of a comfort level. It's like he can admit getting carried away with the praise. I found that endearing, and while I don't find him physically appealing nor do I think he has a real shot at winning, I'm beginning to like him.

My first thought as he starts singing The Turtles' "So Happy Together" is NNNOOOOOOO!!! He's singing it like a ballad and while his voice sounds good, this song was meant to be faster. Here he goes again, messing with a song that should never be messed with. Maybe I shouldn't have let the Bon Jovi thing go so quickly.

But I freaked too soon... what a sigh of relief... he speeds it up and sings it extremely well - he even adds a rock flavor to it. I still love the original, but I really enjoyed his performance. He looks totally at home on stage - he doesn't seem nervous at all and he just kind of owns the space. I loved it - it was great.

Randy had the same reaction I had when he first started singing - "NO!" - but he says that while the beginning was a little weird for him, he worked it out and made a rock joint out of it - that it was crazy. Paula says he rocked it, made something original. Simon said it was good - that he shouted the song a bit in the middle - but that he'd never heard the song sung like that and that he almost made it believable.

Jason Yeager is up next and I think it's really cool that his son has been with him kind of the whole way through this process. It may be hard on his son, though, listening to all the criticism. For example, I'm sure it would be difficult for him to hear that I can't stop staring at the ridiculous streak of blond hair his dad insists on keeping in his otherwise brown hair. It's so silly, I don't even know what to say about it. I thought maybe he would have wised up after seeing himself on TV, but apparently, he must actually believe it's chic. Who knows?

But all joking aside, watching your dad be at the mercy of the judges must be nerve-wracking, especially for such a young kid, who probably still looks at his dad as if he's Superman. I do love how Jason is doing the show to show his son that you can achieve your dreams - it's quite touching, because so few of us, in my opinion, really get that chance to reach for the stars.

Jason sings "Moon River," which I believe is from "Breakfast at Tiffany's," and I almost feel bad for him. He sings it well, but here's my problem with it. We haven't seen that much of Jason - just a glimpse, really, during Hollywood week. This is the first chance he has to show America who he is, and he's singing a ballad - what could be more boring?

Randy tells him he did a good job, but that he needs to maintain his concentration. Paula says she loves that song because she did her first ballet recital to that song. And then Jason says that he dedicates that song to his grandmother, who taught him that song when he was little. Simon asks him (did he call him David?) how old he is and when he answers 28, Simon tells him he came off as much older with that song. He tells him it was very cruise ship and that many young people watching the show won't get it.

I like how Jason admits to the fact that he's had some vocal coaches tell him to avoid being too cabaret... he acknowledges that what Simon said is true, and I like when people can accept criticism. It shows their willingness to improve and more importantly, it shows humility. He's setting a good exmaple for his son, I think.