"I shot the sherriff," but Jason Castro's the one suffering

Next up is Jason Castro. He mentions this week's theme and says there were a few songs on the list that he knew and so he's singing one that he's known for a while that he likes, although he's never performed it. He's singing "I Shot the Sheriff" by Bob Marley.

I have to be honest ... I really don't think Jason is going to be able to pull this off. Bob Marley is so unique, so untouchable -- I can't imagine that Jason will be able to conjure up that same kind of energy. I don't know ... this can't be good.

I will say this -- you can tell that he loves this song. He's showing more life in this song than he has this whole competition, meaning he's actually attempting to entertain instead of just performing, like he normally does. I'm not sure I can fairly judge this -- I love Jason's voice, I think it's beautiful -- and that has nothing to do with how cute I think he is. I sincerely love the sound of his voice. I can admit that he's not well-suited for this song -- I'm not sure anyone is -- at least not like Bob Marley, but overall, I think his singing is very nice. But I have a feeling the judges will not be very kind.

Randy says it was a really karaoke Bob Marley. He says it was just OK, but there was nothing special about it and at this point, the contestants have to show that they deserve to be in the finals -- it's not about just doing a song, just good enough, just to have some fun. He says it just wasn't good. Paula says, on a positive note, that she's never seen him perform so much to the audience. But she says she wasn't crazy about the performance or the song, but he's so real, so genuine and his artistry shines through and he wins her over just for that. Simon says, "Jason, stand back. That was utterly atrocious." He says that this is a song you do not touch, the arrangement was atrocious, the performing and the singing was as bad as he's ever heard. He says it was like a first-round audition massacre. Then he says, "Honestly, I don't know what you're thinking." And Jason says, "I was thinking, Bob Marley -- yeah!!"

Ryan comments about how they seem angry at Jason, and Simon says that he was really surprised, that the only similarity between Jason and Bob Marley is the hair -- that you just can't do that. Then Ryan adds, "Especially at this point in the show, Ryan. C'mon." Paula then tells them to drop it and they do.

But Ryan is right -- they seem really angry with him, beyond not liking his song. I wonder if something has happened behind the scenes. I've seen stories talking about how Jason has said that he's ready to go home, and Simon has criticized him before for not seeming to care, so maybe it's all true. Maybe Jason really doesn't care about the competition and just hasn't been trying -- who knows? I read a story last week that said the reason Jason forgot the words to the Neil Diamond song during his meeting with him was because he had been out on the town with friends and hadn't spent the time practicing. You never know what kind of drama is brewing backstage.


Anyway, the golden child, David Archuleta is up next. He says he's singing "Stand by Me," by Ben E. King, which came out in 1960. He says it's always been a fun song for him to sing, that he would sing it in his room to himself and to his dog, but he's never sung it in public before (Sure ... wait until all the YouTube videos start popping up of him singing the song somewhere when he was like 12). He says this will be fun because he's always wanted to sing this song.

How many different ways are there to say that David is predictably fantastic? I find that every week I have less to say about him. He's great -- his voice is wonderfully smooth and he's never out of tune. He picked a fantastic song that I think the world over is in love with -- how can you not love "Stand By Me?" But again, I feel like there's never been any progress with him -- no change, no growth. He'll probably win the competition or come in behind David Cook, but I'm still not sure he'll be able to sell records.

Randy says at least there's one guy that hits the stage, every time he hits the stage, trying to win the whole thing. He says he brought the hot man vocals, that he loved it, it was hot. Paula says she really admires how he listened to Andrew Lloyd Webber, who told him to keep his eyes open, to communicate with his audience, and she says he really delivered with that. Well, you know me, I have to go back and check if she's right. Please hold ...

OK ... Now I don't know if she's reading off her notes from the dress rehearsal or what, but she couldn't possibly be referring to tonight's performance -- his eyes were closed more than half the performance. She's just batty. But anyway, Simon says the truth is, he could have whistled the song and it would have sounded better than Jason, that he was very well placed. The boos kind of drown it out, but David does respond, saying, "I liked Jason's song." Simon says it was a good choice of song, that he struggled a bit at the end of it, but in the grand scheme of things, he's going to call that the best performance of the night so far.