David Archuleta has a "Long and winding road" to get back in my heart

It's funny how the Beatles stir up such sentiment in me, such nostalgia - especially since I wasn't alive during any of it. In fact, the Beatles were long broken up by the time I was born. But I think that's the key to the magic of their music. It transcends generations - I believe my children will grow up listening to the Beatles and I hope their children will, as well. Their music is timeless and revolutionary - it was such a large part of my childhood and it continues to be a source of great joy in my life. I'm just so excited that we get to hear a new generation explore this great era of music for another week - I'm hoping everyone does well, not just for their sakes, but for mine - I hope to thoroughly enjoy the next two hours.

Amanda Overmyer is up first and it looks like this week, we get to hear about the contestant's most memorable moment on "Idol" so far. Amanda's most memorable moment was playing on the big stage last week - she liked connecting with audience and feeding off their energy.

She sings "Back in the USSR," not really one of my favorite songs, but I can see why she chose it. It's got that rocker feeling to it, as close to it as the Beatles ever got, anyway. Well, it's not as good as last week, but it's still pretty good. She's a little behind the music in some spots and this week I find her very hard to understand - this is a song I don't know all the words to, so I was really listening for the lyrics and all I understood was "Back in the USSR." Having said that, though, I still find her very entertaining - I have yet to be bored by her. She picks great uptempo songs and really makes use of the stage, she moves around, gets into the performance. I am curious to see if she can take on a slow song at some point, but for right now, I love her choices, love her performances.

Randy says it's the perfect song choice for her, but that the beginning was a little pitchy. He says by the end, she was really good, but he only gave her a 7 out of 10 on that. Paula said she agrees with Randy - that in the beginning, it was a bit pitchy and she was a little ahead of the beat, but that she is authentic and unique. Simon says it was predictable, a bit of a mess in parts - that it's the same thing week after week after week. He tells her that she needs to switch it up because she may otherwise be in danger of becoming a bit boring.


Kristy Lee Cook is up next and her most memorable moment on "Idol" has been being the last man standing at almost every elimination. She says it's been very stressful being on stage with someone else, not knowing which one is going home. Well, maybe after this week, she won't ever have to go through that again. We can only hope.

She sings "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," a great song, but I'm not sure she can pull it off - the original has a very cool, mellow kind of vibe to it - her voice just isn't mellow, I don't think. Well, it only takes one line to confirm the fact that she's not going to do well with the song. She starts off a little bit out of tune and the vibrato in her voice doesn't even sound like vibrato - it sounds like nerves. She's actually in and out of tune throughout the entire performance and again, she's not really doing much up there - she walks around a bit and then does this weird thing with picking up her leg and stuff. It just wasn't good - I don't understand why she's still here this week, but I will be stunned if she's still here next week. But on a positive note, I do like her dress - not really with the cowboy boots, though.

Randy says it was an interesting arrangement, but that it felt kind of boring and safe and he wasn't sure if she was singing the melody or the chorus right. Paula says she looks gorgeous, the best she's ever looked, but that it was a little safe. Simon says he thinks she may need hypnosis because the problem is that she's not a good performer. He says the last two seconds were OK, but that it's like musical wallpaper, in that you notice it, but you can't remember it. He says that week after week, she's making no impact, apart from when she was terrible last week. But he does acknowledge that she was better this week. I actually disagree - her voice this week was completely off. While last week's arrangement was horrendous, her voice was actually very good - much better than tonight.

Kristy makes a pretty funny statement afterward about how she did the best she could with the Beatles, since it wasn't really her thing, but she hopes to stay through next week because as she says to Simon, "I can blow you out of your socks and you know it." I don't think any comment is necessary on that, so let's just move on... she did look appropriately embarrassed, though.


David Archuleta's most memorable moments include singing "Imagine," and of course, forgetting the words to "We Can Work It Out" last week with like 30 million people watching. Is it just me or has his whole innocent giggly thing gotten a bit old? Don't get me wrong, I'm still a fan, but I don't find it as endearing as I once did. If he keep it up another few weeks, I may eventually have to turn on him - we'll see.

He chooses "The Long and Winding Road" and thankfully, his past couple of weeks of yuck are over. He sounds great tonight, although I have to say, I feel like the past two weeks have taken a toll, in the sense that he's lost some steam - he's no longer on a roll. So, I feel like tonight, he's starting all over again. He sounds great - it's a terrific start, but he's going to have to do it again next week for me to start getting excited about him again. I mean, who's to say that he won't crack under the pressure again? I think we forget how young he is, plus there are reports all over the Web that his dad is crazy controlling and making him cry and stuff. I'm just not convinced that he has the staying power necessary to win this thing. Putting all that aside, though, when he's on, he does sing beautifully - there's a clarity to his voice that I really enjoy. And he picked a song that really suited him this week.

Randy says he brought the hotness back to his game, but he does mention that he thinks he played it a little safe and that next time, he should take some liberties. Paula says a some nonsense about how exciting and wonderful he is, something about purity and rising above adversity. I don't know, but she ends by saying he's wonderful. Simon says last week he was a mess, but that this week he was amazing. And oh boy, here comes the whole "Oh garsh, look at how cute and humble I am" act. I mean, maybe it's not an act, but I almost hope it is, because if that's really who he is all the time, he's just way too annoying to be around.