Chikezie packs his bags

THE choice of this week's departee was either Ramiele Malubay or Chikezie. If you take into account the performances of both contestants, Ramiele was in a much weaker position.

She sang Alone not in the best health conditions but her courage did not go unnoticed. Thus, she earned some bonus points from the judges as well as from viewers for even making it to centre stage.

Ramiele tugged at everyone's heartstrings when she said her "voice just went bye-bye". She didn't give any excuses. It was just one of those unpleasant things that sometimes came a-calling at the most inopportune times.

Simon gave her a bit of encouragement by saying that she will get through, and so she did, with the Brit's stamp of approval.

As for Chikezie, he belted out If Only For One Night. He convinced me that he had the potential to make it up there with the others, given the right song and the right circumstances.

Now on hindsight, it can be safely concluded that Chikezie wasn't that bad. So I am a little surprised by Simon's harsh assessment.

Chikezie clearly didn't deserve that "lack of originality" bit. Like all ordinary mortals, he was hurt by that remark. It showed in his eyes.

The following day, on results night, his worst fears came through. Along with Syesha Mercado and Jason Castro at bottom three, the axe came down hard on Chikezie.

This guy born of Nigerian parents however can take comfort in the fact that he made it to the Top 10. None of the tens of thousands who auditioned and failed have bragging rights to that.

As for Syesha, it astounds me no end to find her for the second time among the bottom three. Why? She clearly doesn't deserve to be there.

Her rendition of If I Were Your Woman was superb. Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon concurred with me that Syesha performed flawlessly. Her vocals soared, held and took flight again.

She's a rare singing bird, one who was born for the stage. So it is bewildering to hear her name being called when the three contestants with the lowest votes were summoned to the centre stage.

I guess Syesha doesn't have the kind of fan base that other lucky people have.

Take for example, David Archuleta. This boy who's not even out of high school yet gets more adulation than he probably thinks he deserve. But then this is a reality TV show. Fairness doesn't count.

Archuleta didn't do too badly this time. In fact, he did quite well. Not earth-shatteringly marvellous but good enough to make Paula gushed with some superlatives that only Paula can come up with.

With You're The Voice (Australian song), Archuleta let the whole world know that he could pick any song he wants and turn it to his advantage.

This boy who admitted that he doesn't know what is really involved in attending a prom went on to entertain the grateful girls at the front of the stage with his deep voice and cheerful disposition.

Ryan Seacrest pulled his leg vigorously when he hinted that perhaps Archuleta was taking the lady seated next to his dad.

The camera panned over and focused on the young lady's face which seemed to grow redder with each passing minute. I thought it was a rather endearing moment for both parties, for Archuleta as well as for his girlfriend.

There were two people who deserved special mention for making a great comeback. They were Michael Johns and Kristy Lee Cook.

Michael came storming back into contention with Queen's classics We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions. He was definitely in his element and delivered a knock-out blow.
The crowd went wild, so did the judges. Even Simon had to put in his share of compliments alongside Randy and Paula. The rest is history of course.

For Kristy, this week was her salvation. The past two weeks were forgettable. She was bordering between miserable and horrendous.

But this week, with God Bless The USA, Kristy cranked it up several crucial notches and practically brought the entire audience to their feet.

It was a feet-stomping, soul-stirring song that roused even the most catatonic in the hall. I would put it on par with the other soul-rousing song The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Good for you, Kristy! Me and a few million other guys are totally on Kristy's side this week.

We can't help it. Each time, she smiles and flashes those cricket-white teeth, we are goners!

David Cook is another one to watch. He sang Billie Jean at the closing of the show and made it memorable for everyone in the audience as well as at home.

I almost didn't believe that Cook could pull this one off. Few can actually turn Michael Jackson's hit songs around and make them their own.

Lo and behold, David Cook pulled out more than a rabbit from his hat. He doggone went and yanked out an elephant.

It wouldn't be wrong to guess that David might be one of the two finalists on showdown night at the Nokia theatre.

Earlier, Brooke White also pleased many people with Sting's famous hit song Every Breath You Take.

I thought she did rather well. Yes, there was that little stumble at the beginning but it was nothing to fuss about. I have always liked Brooke's vocals. Her likeability factor is rather high at the moment.

She will go far. How far will depend on how lucky she is and how good she becomes in the following weeks. Carly Smithson didn't fare too badly too.

She went with Bonnie Tyler's 1983 super hit Eclipse of the Heart and scored big. But one of the three judges scored her low on points. I guess I don't have to name that Brit.

Is there something between the Irish and the Brits that we don't know about?! Just kidding. Anyway, Carly has a great voice. She will make it to the semi-finals if the viewers are fair to her.

As we all know, some of the best singers don't make it that far, as previous Idol seasons have shown.
I am keeping my fingers crossed for Carly. I like her. Period.

There are now nine left standing. Next week, this time there will be eight. And so on it goes. This isssssss....... the American Idol, as Ryan loudly puts it every week.