Suspenseful week on American Idol

With only four finalists in the running, the fifth season of American Idol has reached what is probably its most suspenseful week ever. The pace of the reality show has been pretty much predictable up to this point. Audiences knew fairly well who deserved to go during the past weeks. But not anymore. I tell you that having to choose whom to send packing from among Katharine McPhee, Taylor Hicks, Chris Daughtry and Elliot Yamin is a very difficult task.

I do not say this because all of these four finalists are talented singers endowed with stellar charisma. That is now a given and that is the reason why they are in the finals. It is because each of them is uniquely interesting and has broken the American Idol mold established by past winners. There is no Kelly Clarkson or Keith Aiken here. No country princess or soul crooner. That is why they all deserve to win and it would be very sad to see any of them leave the contest.

Today, Katharine, Taylor, Chris and Elliot will compete by performing songs popularized by Elvis Presley. This should made for a truly interesting show as the vast Presley catalogue will surely provide them with songs that will help them stay in the race. That is, if they choose the right one. Elvis songs can be very tricky. They sound so easy but are in truth mighty difficult to cover. Do you think somebody will pick Suspicious Minds or Always on My Mind? Will it be woe to anybody who dares to go for Heartbreak Hotel?

As judges Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell keep saying season after season, the right song choices can make or break a performance. Helping the judges along will be famous producer Tommy Mottola. This guy discovered Mariah Carey and is now married to Thalia. I can’t wait to hear what he will say of the performances. We will have the results tomorrow.

I am sure that viewers have also noticed that this year’s competition has shown a decided preference for the standards or a repertoire with the most number of old songs ever. Barry Manilow, Rod Stewart, Andrea Bocelli, David Foster and even Queen turned up to appear in the show and coach the contestants. Is this because there are more artists promoting new standard albums in these days? Maybe and it is a fact that sales of the new albums by these stars leapt to the top after their American Idol appearance.

So that brings us back to the fact that more people are indeed listening to the old songs today. This, however, is no gripe. In fact, I do believe that the high quality of this year’s finalists and the high ratings of the show worldwide can be attributed to the clever use of the old songs. Is nostalgia truly alive or should I say flourishing all over the world? Let me save the answer to that for another piece. I will reserve today for American Idol and the wonderful Elvis Presley songs.

Incidentally, American Idol also boosted the sales of a previously unheard of recording by an unknown artist. This is Daniel Powter, whose song Bad Day was chosen as the theme for the departing contestants. It is a very appropriate choice. It also made for the widest exposure ever enjoyed by a single ever since Elton John sang Candle in the Wind during Princess Diana’s funeral. Bad Day zoomed to No. 1 in the US charts and made Powter a star.

Bad Day has gone down to number two in this week’s Billboard Hot 100 tally but since it came from nowhere, that is still impressive. The Top 10 songs today in the US are: SOS by Rihanna; Bad Day by Daniel Powter; Temperature by Sean Paul; Ridin’ by Chamillionaire featuring Krayzie Bone; What You Know by T. I.; What’s Left of Me by Nick Lachey; Ms. New Booty by Bubba Sparxxx featuring Ying Yang Twins & Mr. ColliPark; Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield; Dani California by the Red Hot Chili Peppers; and You’re Beautiful by James Blunt.

The Top 10 albums in The Billboard 200 list are: IV by Godsmack; Louder Now by Taking Back Sunday; We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions by Bruce Springsteen; Director by Avant; A Girl Like Me by Rihanna; Me and My Gang by Rascal Flatts; High School Musical, the original motion picture soundtrack; Now 21 by Various Artists; Let Love In by Goo Goo Dolls; and Amore by Andrea Bocelli, which went from number 25 to number 10 after the tenor’s American Idol appearance.