"A day in the life" of boring, I mean, Michael Johns

Michael Johns is next and his most memorable moment was during Hollywood week when he sang "Bohemian Rhapsody." He says it was really risky for him but that he was really proud of how he delivered it with emotion, that it was magic.

He sings "A Day in the Life" and once again, I'm left wishing there were more. It wasn't bad - nowhere near bad - but it wasn't great - it just kind of sat there in mediocrity, with nothing special to grab hold of. It could have been a great song for him, too, but not when he's cutting more than half the song out. The great thing about this song is how it builds and builds like a crescendo into the chorus - and when you chop up the song, you just don't get that same experience. But besides the arrangement, his singing is just OK. I feel like his most memorable moment was indeed that moment during Hollywood week - I think that performance is the reason he made it into the top 24 and I think the judges, and America, keep waiting for him to duplicate the magic of that performance. He hasn't done it yet and I'm beginning to wonder if he can. It's such a disappointment, too, because he's so handsome - I'd certainly rather watch him than Chikezie any day, so I'm still holding out hope that he can pull it together and deliver something great sometime soon.

Randy says it wasn't his best performance, that he still hasn't chosen the right song. Paula says she caught some of the dress rehearsal and that he was phenomenal then, but that he lost a connection a little bit during this performance. She says that maybe it's because they're all wearing ear monitors this week and that it takes some getting used to because they're hearing themselves and are worried about how they're sounding. Simon says the ear monitor doesn't make any difference whatsoever because the long and short of it was that it was a mess. He says the song went all over the place, that it didn't work in a minute and a half and he didn't hit the right notes.

Wow - Ryan just totally sold Michael out. I can't believe it. He immediately asks Paula to talk about the ear monitor thing and what that means and as she starts to explain how it takes getting used to and whatever, Ryan interrupts to point out that Michael is not even wearing one. So Paula then says that he has no excuse, that's he's a phenomenal performer and he needs to step up his game. Then after all that, Ryan asks Michael why he chose the song. It turns out he chose it to honor his friend who died a year ago because it was his friend's favorite song.

Something just happened and I'm very curious to know what brought it on... As Ryan is giving out Michael's phone information, Michael looks over at something and says kind of sarcastically, it seems, "That's nice" and kind of looks a bit upset for a minute. I wonder what he was reacting to. I could be misreading it all together - maybe he was responding to something and saying "That's nice" in a very sincere way, but it didn't seem that way to me. Did anyone else catch it?


Brooke White's most memorable moment was last week when she sang, "Let It Be." She says the moment was bigger than she could have imagined and that's why she was so emotional.

Tonight, she sings "Here Comes the Sun" and before I say anything about that, I have to mention her dress. Now, normally, anyone who knows anything about me knows how much I love yellow. It's my favorite color and I adore just about anything that has any kind of yellow it in - except this dress. It looks like petals were ripped off a flower and sewn together - it's way too baggy, too... just not cute at all.

Anyway, back to the song... it's all wrong for her - she should have chosen "Yesterday" or maybe "Blackbird," something more mellow. Plus, as she gets up from the stairs, she does this very awkward walk and a sort of spin and actually whoops a little. She ends up in the middle of the stage and is she dancing? I'm not really sure. She reminds me of a "Friends" episode where Phoebe is trying to seduce Chandler and she tells him, "Maybe I'll dance for you" and does this really awkward, wanna-be sexy wiggling that of course, is very funny. And if I thought for a second that this was meant to be funny, too, then it wouldn't be quite so sad. She just looks terribly uncomfortable and while her voice sounds just as good as previous weeks, the performance as a whole is kind of a let-down. Especially since she's had like three great weeks in a row.

Randy says it was really awkward (no way) and that he didn't think she was ever really connected to the song. Paula says you can't help but smile when you watch Brooke and that she loves the yellow dress for the sun. Simon says that he just knew when she was choosing that song that she would be wearing yellow and the lighting would be yellow. He says the performance was terrible, from the horrible dancing to the absolute lack of conviction, it was wet (huh?) and forgettable. He says it's all about the song choice.


David Cook's most memorable moment was last week. He says it was the epitome of what he wanted to do when he started playing music - to have that rock concert feel, with the lights and the smoke and the audience. He says it was euphoric and then to be praised by the judges was just icing on the cake.

He sings "Day Tripper," and I'm kind of nervous, because he says he found a version sung by Whitesnake. Now, I love "Here I Go Again," who doesn't? But the idea of a Whitesnake version of a Beatles song is just a little bit frightening. But as always, he's awesome - I don't know why I worry. David has a way of just completely taking ownership of a song, completely transforming it without changing a note. And his voice is fantastic - he's always on - never a bad note, never out of tune. He's just such a breath of fresh air every week - he's fresh, innovative and entirely entertaining. And did anyone notice how confident he seems this week? He's even making these faces that I assume are supposed to be sexy at the camera. It's kind of creepy and cool at the same time. Creepy, because despite his great talent, I still don't think he's all that attractive, but cool because I don't think he's had the confidence to play to the camera too much so far, at least not in the same way. The only thing I thought was a little strange about his performance tonight was that contraption he used in the middle of the song to make that weird noise. It seemed kind of gratuitous to me, totally unnecessary. I don't think it took away from his performance, but I don't really feel like it added anything either.

Randy says he keeps it interesting every week, that he doesn't know if it was his best performance, but that it was another solid look for David Cook. Paula starts off with her usual mutterings, but then says something so ridiculously stupid, I actually found myself paying attention. She says, "You can probably get a Geico commercial now. Geico commercials are next." Huh? What? And nobody explained it - it just was put out there and left to marinate in its own stupidity. Why is she even on the show? She contributes nothing. But anyway, Simon tells David that it wasn't as good as he thinks it was. He says David looked a bit smug throughout the performance and that the weird noise in the middle was just stupid. Of course, the crowd is booing like crazy and so Simon says, "Just an opinion." He goes on to say that he's lost his element of surprise, that it was a bit predictable and that he didn't like that version.