A little birdie told me that this week's theme on American Idol is going to be "songs from the year you were born." No, not you, dear readers. That would get a little confusing. Each contestant has to choose a song from the year she or he was born. Thanks, AI producers, for making me feel really old!
I don't know if it's been specified that the finalists have to pick songs that were written or released in their respective years, or if they can pick any songs that charted in their year, regardless of when they were originally released. I'm assuming that it's the latter, especially since the selection criteria for '80s week wasn't exactly strict.
I'd like to offer up my song selections for each kid (and the one man) since a lot of them can't seem to remember further back than Y2K.
David Archuleta (1990)
1st Choice: "Crazy," Seal.
Alternates: "Here and Now," Luther Vandross; "I Don't Have the Heart," James Ingram. Chances are he'll go in an R&B direction anyway, so those two are probably his best bets. If he wants to be a bit daring, he could go for George Michael's "Freedom '90," or a metal ballad rather than the typical soul ballad. How about "More Than Words Can Say" by Alias? I haven't heard that one since I retired my tape deck.
Don't Touch: Well, 1990 was the year I graduated high school (Good Lord) and I remember that Tesla's "Love Song" was voted the most popular song by our class. I certainly don't think that would be a good choice for him. Neither would anything by Paula Abdul or Bell Biv DeVoe. Could you imagine little Davey bumpin' and grindin' to "Do Me?" Yikes.
Jason Castro (1987)
1st Choice: "Don't Mean Nothing," Richard Marx. I don't really know why, it just seems like it suits his voice well.
Alternates: Jason was the most difficult to pick for. I can't really pin down his style. But some of the tunes that I thought he might be able to handle are, "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House, Billy Idol's "Sweet Sixteen" or The Cure's "Just Like Heaven." Then there's always "Wishing Well" by Terence Trent D'Arby. They share the same hair, after all.
Don't Touch: Hmm, I don't know. Guns 'N Roses would be a bad idea.
Ramiele Malubay (1987)
1st Choice: "Open Your Heart," Madonna.
Alternates: Any song that shows off her range and "look how cute and petite I am" attitude. Certainly nothing with too much depth. For instance, "Only In My Dreams," Debbie Gibson; "Lost In Emotion," Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam; "Catch Me (I'm Falling)," Pretty Poison; or "Could've Been" by Tiffany. That last one might backfire, since Carrie Underwood covered it well during her time on the show.
Don't Touch: "Alone" by Heart, again, because of the way Carrie (and recently, Carly) nailed it. And stay away from Whitney's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody." Remember, it killed Asia'h!
Syesha Mercado (1987)
1st Choice: "So Emotional," Whitney Houston. There is about a 97% chance that she will pick a Whitney song anyway, so better this than rehashing the aforementioned "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."
Alternates: "Didn't We Almost Have It All," Whitney Houston; "I Live For Your Love," Natalie Cole; "Looking For A New Love," Jody Watley or "You Keep Me Hangin' On," Kim Wilde. Of course, she would do it the Supremes way.
Don't Touch: The same ones I told Ramiele to avoid.
Chikezie (1985)
1st Choice: "Lonely Ol' Night," John Cougar Mellencamp. Since he does so well when he brings the country vibe, this might be fun, and it's my fave JCM song.
Alternates: "Easy Lover," Phil Collins & Philip Bailey; "Jungle Love," The Time; "Would I Lie To You," The Eurythmics or "Dancing in the Streets," Mick Jagger & David Bowie. Again, he could cop out and pick that one so he could do the original Martha & The Vandellas version.
Don't Touch: Please no "Part-Time Lover." I like Stevie Wonder, but he needs to be slapped for dropping that steaming turd.
Kristy Lee Cook (1984)
1st Choice: "Mama He's Crazy," The Judds. She's better off sticking with real country instead of trying to fiddle-ize something else.
Alternates: "Pink Houses," John Cougar; "They Don't Know," Tracey Ullman or "I Want To Know What Love Is," Foreigner. Really, I'd love her to try John Parr's "Naughty Naughty" because I just want her gone, and that oughta do it.
Don't Touch: "Islands in the Stream." It's been done to death.
Carly Smithson (1983)
1st Choice: "Ain't Nobody," Chaka Khan and Rufus.
Alternates: "Goodbye to You," Scandal; "Total Eclipse of the Heart," Bonnie Tyler; "The Metro," Berlin or "Making Love Out of Nothing At All," Air Supply. The latter is one of my favorites, and Carly's voice is definitely big enough for it. Plus, who doesn't love Jim Steinman tunes? DRAMA!
Don't Touch: "Stand Back," Stevie Nicks. Never ever cover Stevie Nicks. Also, "Sunday Bloody Sunday" might be a bit ridiculous coming from the one Irish contestant.
Brooke White (1983)
1st Choice: "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)," The Eurythmics.
Alternates: "Every Breath You Take," The Police; "Time After Time," Cyndi Lauper; "Save It For Later," The English Beat or, another fave of mine, .38 Special's "If I'd Been the One." I won't hold my breath for that one, though.
Don't Touch: Uh, well, I wouldn't do "Love is a Battlefield" again! And the Stevie Nicks warning goes double for her.
David Cook (1982)
1st Choice: "Rock This Town," The Stray Cats. We know he can do the rock thing, so let's see some rockabilly!
Alternates: "My Kinda Lover," Billy Squier; "Don't Stop Believin'," Journey; "No One Like You," Scorpions or, for something completely different, The Jam's "Town Called Malice."
Don't Touch: "Pac-Man Fever?"
Michael Johns (1978)
1st Choice: "Kiss You All Over," Exile. You're probably thinking that this is a cheesy song, but it's really not. Go listen to it again. And over again. 'Til the night closes in. Anyway, who the hell wouldn't want to hear Michael singing these words? The only problem with this might be that his supreme sexiness could cause the AI cameras to explode, so we wouldn't actually get to see the whole show. They better save him for last, just in case.
Alternates: "Because The Night," Patti Smith; "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love and Understanding," Elvis Costello; "Roxanne," The Police or "You're In My Heart (The Final Acclaim)," Rod Stewart.
Don't Touch: After doing so well with "Bohemian Rhapsody," it would be a mistake to do another Queen song, especially if it's "We Will Rock You" and/or "We Are the Champions." Also, no Grease songs! (Of course, Michael and I will still do our version of "You're the One That I Want" in private.)
Whoa! "Kiss You All Over," eh? Is that a musical request or a general one? You naughty little Sheila, you.
I don't know if it's been specified that the finalists have to pick songs that were written or released in their respective years, or if they can pick any songs that charted in their year, regardless of when they were originally released. I'm assuming that it's the latter, especially since the selection criteria for '80s week wasn't exactly strict.
I'd like to offer up my song selections for each kid (and the one man) since a lot of them can't seem to remember further back than Y2K.
David Archuleta (1990)
1st Choice: "Crazy," Seal.
Alternates: "Here and Now," Luther Vandross; "I Don't Have the Heart," James Ingram. Chances are he'll go in an R&B direction anyway, so those two are probably his best bets. If he wants to be a bit daring, he could go for George Michael's "Freedom '90," or a metal ballad rather than the typical soul ballad. How about "More Than Words Can Say" by Alias? I haven't heard that one since I retired my tape deck.
Don't Touch: Well, 1990 was the year I graduated high school (Good Lord) and I remember that Tesla's "Love Song" was voted the most popular song by our class. I certainly don't think that would be a good choice for him. Neither would anything by Paula Abdul or Bell Biv DeVoe. Could you imagine little Davey bumpin' and grindin' to "Do Me?" Yikes.
Jason Castro (1987)
1st Choice: "Don't Mean Nothing," Richard Marx. I don't really know why, it just seems like it suits his voice well.
Alternates: Jason was the most difficult to pick for. I can't really pin down his style. But some of the tunes that I thought he might be able to handle are, "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House, Billy Idol's "Sweet Sixteen" or The Cure's "Just Like Heaven." Then there's always "Wishing Well" by Terence Trent D'Arby. They share the same hair, after all.
Don't Touch: Hmm, I don't know. Guns 'N Roses would be a bad idea.
Ramiele Malubay (1987)
1st Choice: "Open Your Heart," Madonna.
Alternates: Any song that shows off her range and "look how cute and petite I am" attitude. Certainly nothing with too much depth. For instance, "Only In My Dreams," Debbie Gibson; "Lost In Emotion," Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam; "Catch Me (I'm Falling)," Pretty Poison; or "Could've Been" by Tiffany. That last one might backfire, since Carrie Underwood covered it well during her time on the show.
Don't Touch: "Alone" by Heart, again, because of the way Carrie (and recently, Carly) nailed it. And stay away from Whitney's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody." Remember, it killed Asia'h!
Syesha Mercado (1987)
1st Choice: "So Emotional," Whitney Houston. There is about a 97% chance that she will pick a Whitney song anyway, so better this than rehashing the aforementioned "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."
Alternates: "Didn't We Almost Have It All," Whitney Houston; "I Live For Your Love," Natalie Cole; "Looking For A New Love," Jody Watley or "You Keep Me Hangin' On," Kim Wilde. Of course, she would do it the Supremes way.
Don't Touch: The same ones I told Ramiele to avoid.
Chikezie (1985)
1st Choice: "Lonely Ol' Night," John Cougar Mellencamp. Since he does so well when he brings the country vibe, this might be fun, and it's my fave JCM song.
Alternates: "Easy Lover," Phil Collins & Philip Bailey; "Jungle Love," The Time; "Would I Lie To You," The Eurythmics or "Dancing in the Streets," Mick Jagger & David Bowie. Again, he could cop out and pick that one so he could do the original Martha & The Vandellas version.
Don't Touch: Please no "Part-Time Lover." I like Stevie Wonder, but he needs to be slapped for dropping that steaming turd.
Kristy Lee Cook (1984)
1st Choice: "Mama He's Crazy," The Judds. She's better off sticking with real country instead of trying to fiddle-ize something else.
Alternates: "Pink Houses," John Cougar; "They Don't Know," Tracey Ullman or "I Want To Know What Love Is," Foreigner. Really, I'd love her to try John Parr's "Naughty Naughty" because I just want her gone, and that oughta do it.
Don't Touch: "Islands in the Stream." It's been done to death.
Carly Smithson (1983)
1st Choice: "Ain't Nobody," Chaka Khan and Rufus.
Alternates: "Goodbye to You," Scandal; "Total Eclipse of the Heart," Bonnie Tyler; "The Metro," Berlin or "Making Love Out of Nothing At All," Air Supply. The latter is one of my favorites, and Carly's voice is definitely big enough for it. Plus, who doesn't love Jim Steinman tunes? DRAMA!
Don't Touch: "Stand Back," Stevie Nicks. Never ever cover Stevie Nicks. Also, "Sunday Bloody Sunday" might be a bit ridiculous coming from the one Irish contestant.
Brooke White (1983)
1st Choice: "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)," The Eurythmics.
Alternates: "Every Breath You Take," The Police; "Time After Time," Cyndi Lauper; "Save It For Later," The English Beat or, another fave of mine, .38 Special's "If I'd Been the One." I won't hold my breath for that one, though.
Don't Touch: Uh, well, I wouldn't do "Love is a Battlefield" again! And the Stevie Nicks warning goes double for her.
David Cook (1982)
1st Choice: "Rock This Town," The Stray Cats. We know he can do the rock thing, so let's see some rockabilly!
Alternates: "My Kinda Lover," Billy Squier; "Don't Stop Believin'," Journey; "No One Like You," Scorpions or, for something completely different, The Jam's "Town Called Malice."
Don't Touch: "Pac-Man Fever?"
Michael Johns (1978)
1st Choice: "Kiss You All Over," Exile. You're probably thinking that this is a cheesy song, but it's really not. Go listen to it again. And over again. 'Til the night closes in. Anyway, who the hell wouldn't want to hear Michael singing these words? The only problem with this might be that his supreme sexiness could cause the AI cameras to explode, so we wouldn't actually get to see the whole show. They better save him for last, just in case.
Alternates: "Because The Night," Patti Smith; "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love and Understanding," Elvis Costello; "Roxanne," The Police or "You're In My Heart (The Final Acclaim)," Rod Stewart.
Don't Touch: After doing so well with "Bohemian Rhapsody," it would be a mistake to do another Queen song, especially if it's "We Will Rock You" and/or "We Are the Champions." Also, no Grease songs! (Of course, Michael and I will still do our version of "You're the One That I Want" in private.)
Whoa! "Kiss You All Over," eh? Is that a musical request or a general one? You naughty little Sheila, you.
Comments
You should work for the show. Those are GREAT choices!!!
And if you cant work for AI...work for Mr. Johns
Very nice suggestions. If David Cook sings "Don't Stop Believin'" I might just die!
I'm going to suggest that my Jason Castro go with a broken heart song like "At This Moment" by Billy Vera and the Beaters.
Freakin' little birdies....they're almost as bad as all the voices in my head.
I would love to hear Carly do that Berlin song, too.
That's what I feel like has been a problem this year, these kids are choosing too many standard songs.
You put a lot of good work into that post.
G
Imma gonna have to agree with just about all your picks especially Jason doing crowed house, that could be fun to see. The girls will all just do the usual tunes I'm sure. I think your Michael may could do a good job doing U2 or Sting.
Enter Sandman
Metallica
Punishment
Biohazard
Chop Suey
System Of A Down
Not because these are by far, my favorite songs, but because this would get me to watch Idol.
I really like Carly and David....I think they are my favs so far.
Those were great suggestions!
Enjoy the show...
~xo
Lee Ann
The song spoilers are up at Jennifer's and MJ's and I got one right!
Michael Johns Smoked!
If I were in this, my song would have to be "Travelin' Band" by CCR. Or, if I could actually sing, "ABC" by the Jackson 5, one of the best songs of all time.