American Idol Top 3 Performance Review

The performances for Tuesday's (May 13, 2008) final three were a bit mediocre, to be honest. For the evening, each of the three judges handpicked a first song for particular contests. The contestants' second song were selected by themselves, while the third was chosen by Idol producers. All three American Idol performers seemed to flop on at least one song.

For the night's recap, David Archuleta began the night with a solid version of "And So It Goes" by Billy Joel, which was a song selected by Paula Abdul. He then followed it with a so-so rendition of "With You," by Chris Brown. "It just wasn't you," Randy summed it up as he critiqued David's song choice. Archuleta then finished up with a more usual beautiful ballad, "Longer" by Dan Fogelberg, which the judges all seemed to be pleased with although it was "predictable."

Syesha Mercado's first song was probably her best of the night, but far from her best of the season. She sang "If I Ain't Got You" by Alicia Keys, which was selected by Randy. Nothing fantastic, but she should have stuck with the same type of song. She digressed with her next one, "Fever" by Peggy Lee, strutting around a chair. It was "cabaret-ish," as Simon put it. Mercado then ended her trio somewhat on a bad note with "Hit Me Up" by Gia Farrell. Apparently, all the judges agreed that this stripper-like image was not her.

As for David Cook, he started the night with "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" by Roberta Flack, which was selected by Simon Cowell. This song he performed wonderfully, and the judges thought so as well. He then followed it with "Dare You to Move" by Switchfoot. Although off to a good start, "Dare You to Move" hardly got moving as the song ended when it just seemed like it was just beginning. But Cook rebounded with his finale "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith, closing the show on top, at least according to Simon.