Idol Chatter: Mariah Carey Week

EDITOR’S “EDITOR’S NOTE”:  It’s “Mariah Carey week” on American Idol Season 7, and MC is in the hizzouse mentoring the last seven contestants standing.  So how were their performances last night?  My coworker, Chad, and I were more than happy to discuss it earlier this a.m. in a friendly, but firm, instant-message transaction.

Laura Mac says:  THIS .................... is American Idol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chad says:  Yo dog!

Laura Mac says:  Can Ryan Seacrest get ANY more dramatic/annoying with his opening each time?  I mean, come on.

Chad says:  I know.  I keep expecting him to announce that an important world leader has been shot or something.

Laura Mac says:  Well ... I guess those who can't make it in hard news wind up on AI.  I'm just saying. ...

Chad says:  Can't argue with that.

Laura Mac says:  Okay, so first things first.  I neglected to ask you what you thought about the performances of "Shout to the Lord" on AI last week. 

Laura Mac says:  Did you hear that they changed the lyric from "Jesus" to "shepherd" the first time it was performed?  I didn't catch that.

Chad says:  Yeah, to quote the famous Randy Jackson:  "It was a little weird for me, but I was mad at them."  Like everyone else I think I was just plain surprised.  When they did the song again on Thursday night, they put "Jesus" back in, but “Jesus” or no "Jesus,” I was just surprised.  It's not exactly a vague song when it comes to the message.

Laura Mac says:  Yeah.  I'm not really sure what to think.  I would like to know how it got selected and why.  Annnnnyway, the show must go on.

Laura Mac says:  So, last night was E=MC2 night with Mariah Carey.  Were you rightly scared or were you pleasantly surprised?

Chad says:  I was left with three thoughts.  1. I still don't get the whole Mariah thing.  2. Between the heels and that the little dog, I was rolling on the floor it was so cartoonish.  3. The performances really weren't that bad.  I think it helped that no one tried to "be" Mariah.  They did Mariah their way.

Laura Mac says:  Yeah.  She's just, well, Mariah.  Her own thing.  And her little dog, too.  Well, I have to agree w/Simon:  it was the guys' night. 

Laura Mac says:  Although, I disagree with the judges and don't think it was David Cook's finest performance on “Always Be My Baby.”  He still has me on "Hello" from a few weeks ago.

Chad says:  Agreed.

Laura Mac says:  Jason Castro did respectably well w/an acoustic-y "I Don't Wanna Cry."

Laura Mac says:  He's starting to ramp it up a little bit, I think.  But I still don't think he's going to win it all.

Chad says:  He is definitely someone whose game is on the upswing.  My guess is he makes the Top 5, but goes home from there.  His challenge is that, unlike David Cook who can make commercial jingles sound cool, he is much more at the mercy of the theme.  Motley Crue week would ruin him.

Chad says:  Someone else who's game is on the upswing is Kristy.  Once again, I predict couches rather than stools for her.

Laura Mac says:  Yeah.  I can't quite figure out what her M.O. is.  She is cute and all, but I just don't think she's interesting enough or a true, blue artist.

Chad says:  No, she is very "vanilla."  She may be Ben & Jerry's vanilla, but still just vanilla.

Laura Mac says:  Yeah, sometimes you gotta break out and do a little Rocky Road.  (It’s all about the ice cream analogies with us, is it not?)  Okay, now on to Brooke, bless her heart.  I felt badly for her last night.  I do think she's gifted, but she was really nervous and got all pitchy on “Hero.”

Chad says:  Oh man.  I'm a huge fan of hers and thought the first half was worthy of a download.  But the second half, I felt like I was on a runaway train.  The tempo picked up to a fever pitch.  It was so unfortunate, but you could literally see the moment she started to panic.  I think she's in trouble.  Bottom three for sure.

Laura Mac says:  Who do you think the other two, temporary bottom dwellers (sorry, couldn’t resist) will be?

Chad says:  Syesha and Carly.  Carly or Brooke will go home.

Laura Mac says:  I think it's gonna be Brooke.

Chad says:  I hope not.

Laura Mac says:  Bye, bye, bye-ye.  Okay, so on tonight's elimination show, Mariah Carey is supposed to perform.  But, the big question is:  will she have her little dog on stage with her or not?

Chad says:  If you are referring to Randy Jackson, yes.  Otherwise, I don't think I'm going to touch that one.

Laura Mac says:  That's more like a BIG DAWG.

Chad says:  OK, gotta run.  I have some meeting to go to.  I'm so sick of work getting in the way of my entertainment.

Laura Mac says:  Seriously!  Peace out, friend.  Good chatting with you.  More on this tomorrow. ...