Video Beat Extra Extra - AMERICAN IDOL ELIMINATES SYESHA MERCADO - MAY 2008

James Loving - National Radio Text Service

She survived losing her voice during the Hollywood Week auditions. She then survived through being nominated for elimination in seven of nine shows after it reached the final 12. She grinned and endured it all, survived again and again making it through all of those cuts until the final three. It was at this point that her dream of becoming the next American idol came to an end as she was eliminated - The finals are not David vs. Goliath but David vs. David (Archuleta & Cook that is) - NBA ON TV - Recommended TV Listings

Sunday May 18, 2008

SYESHA MERCADO TOUGHED IT OUT

She survived losing her voice during the Hollywood Week auditions to the point that she wrote a sign saying that she lost her voice and couldn't speak. She was trying to save what voice she had to sing in her upcoming audition. Her plan worked and she had enough of a voice to make the cut.

She then had to survive through being nominated for elimination in seven of nine shows after the program reached the final 12. She grinned and endured it all, survived again and again making it through all of those cuts until the final three when judge Randy Jackson said she peaked at the right time. It was at this point that her dream of becoming the next American idol came to an end and Syesha Mercado the 21-year-old contestant from Sarasota, Florida was eliminated.

That leaves the odds on favorites of the competition David Archuleta and David Cook to compete for the title. Though Mercado lost this battle she's winning the war in displaying her talent to the world and she has a bright future ahead of her. She is also an actress and Jennifer Hudson has done quite well in her post American Idol career where she didn't do as well as Mercado. Hudson was eliminated at number seven.

Mercado also raised the bar for her family as her father who admittedly has a history of drug and alcohol abuse stated that he is proud of his daughter her success making it more motivation to help keep him clean and off those substances. This is somewhat of a Cinderella story as neither father nor daughter attempted to hide the problem. They brought the subject to light from the very beginning of the American Idol auditions.

For Archuleta and Cook they both have bright futures as both have continually impressed throughout the competition. Archuleta's voice is one that you could listen to over and over again. It is quite unique.

Archuleta's mother is from Honduras, and much of the music he listened to as a child, according to an interview aired on American Idol, was Latin-influenced. She also "was big on dancing" according to Archuleta, and would "make" him dance to traditional music with his older sister. He also listened to jazz music from his father's collection as well as gospel, pop, rock and "soulful music." In a later interview he also revealed that his dad was a jazz musician. Archuleta also enjoys Broadway musicals.

Archuleta started singing when he was six because he was inspired by a Les Misérables video. "That musical is what started all of this," he said. He started performing publicly at ten years old when he participated in the Utah Talent Competition singing "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton; he received a standing ovation, and won the kid division.

In 2003 at the age of twelve, Archuleta won the Junior Singers competition on Star Search. He sang on several episodes of show and ended up as the Junior Vocal Champion on Star Search 2. On one episode, he sang against then 13-year-old Alexandréa Lushington, who also became a "top 20" semifinalist on American Idol.

Archuleta's competing on Star Search led to appearances on The Jenny Jones Show and CBS' The Early Show, and meeting the finalists from American Idol's first season, for whom he performed a spontaneous a cappella rendition of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from Dreamgirls. He once suffered partial vocal paralysis but refrained from risky surgery and feels he is almost fully recovered.

Archuleta won his ticket to the Hollywood final auditions (with a performance of John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change") at the San Diego tryouts held at Qualcomm Stadium - July 30 and July 31, 2007. He was still 16 during the Hollywood auditions (where he sang Bryan Adams' "Heaven" to unanimous praise).

Along with other American Idol contestants not yet 18, he has to go to school ("doing schoolwork in the morning and then come onto the stage and then go back to the schoolwork") while a part of the programs seventh season. His parents have been on hand, because he's a minor.

After the performance of "We Can Work It Out," which judge Simon Cowell called "a mess," Entertainment Tonight reported that Archuleta was feeling pressure from his father, Jeff Archuleta, who "reportedly yelled at" his son after a recording session the previous night. Naomi Judd, who was a judge while David was on Star Search, called Jeff the "worst stage dad" on the Today show, and said that as a measure against Jeff's meddling he had had to be sequestered away in a security booth. Judd also announced to the audience that Jeff should "leave [David] alone." In the same interview, however, the Today show hosts stated that American Idol contestant Chikezie, who was Archuleta's roommate, did not see Archuleta's father interfering with him much at all.

Jeff Archuleta, in an interview with Us Magazine, denied the claim he had yelled at David. However, a May 2008 Associated Press article reported that Jeff Archuleta had his son add lyrics of another song into a rendition of "Stand by Me", increasing the costs for licensing, and that this had resulted in Jeff's being banned from remaining American Idol rehearsals.

Apple joined as a American Idol season seven major sponsor with performances (videos as well as songs) made available via the iTunes Store. Although "sales of current Idol tracks are not reported or charted" by Billboard, on 5 March 2008, Archuleta's singles "Imagine" and "Shop Around" were in the top of the iTunes' Idol (season 7) releases. Billboard noted that Archuleta's "stunning performance" of "Imagine" boosted the original by John Lennon back onto the "Hot Digital Songs" top 100 (at No. 47).

Cook had a rough start when after reaching the top 24 stage where America made the voting decisions he clashed with AI judge Simon Cowell after Cowell stated that he wasn't impressed with Cook's performance. Cook a 25-year-old bartender in Tulsa, Oklahoma was quick to point out to Cowell that he didn't have to impress the acrid AI judge and that his task was to impress the American public.

The reply startled Cowell and for the first time during that last four years that I've been watching the program Cowell was upset and somewhat embarrassed that a contestant would sass him back. The following day (the elimination show) Cook apologized to the Brit and since that time they've been getting along famously with Cowell turning out to be one of Cooks biggest fans.

Cook raised in Blue Springs, Missouri has plenty of experience. He was the lead singer and guitarist of the band Axium from 1999 until 2006. He formed Axium in his junior year of high school with drummer Bobby Kerr. One of the band's songs, "Hold," was picked up by AMC Theaters Movie Tunes and was played before previews on over 5,000 screens nationwide. Axium was also named one of the top 15 independent bands in the country in the "Got Milk?" independent band contest, and it was chosen as the best band in Kansas City in 2004.

In 2006, after the breakup of Axium, Cook relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and joined the regional touring band Midwest Kings, playing guitar, bass, and singing backup vocals. He recorded one EP, Incoherent with Desire to Move On, with the band in 2006. He also worked as a bartender at several Tulsa clubs, including Blank Slate and Rehab Lounge.

Cook released a solo independent album, Analog Heart, in 2006, the year he graduated from the college. It was written from 2004 to 2006, and he designed the artwork as well. The album was chosen as the fourth-best CD released in 2006 by website Music Equals Life. Cook also won the Urban Tulsa Weekly's "Absolute Best of Tulsa" award for "Best Locally Produced, Independent Album" in 2007. He had completed recording a second album before his appearance on American Idol. Over the weekend of April 18-20, 2008, Analog Heart was listed as the number one album for "Today's Top MP3 Albums" on Amazon.com.

The final should be one of the best if not the best since AI first aired. It's a tough choice to pick who will win, they both deserve the title. Archuleta's voice is supreme and Cook's renditions and arrangements of previously recorded songs are remarkable. He has improved as the competition advanced.

An interesting twist to Cook's story is that he got involved in competing by chance. He originally went to the auditions to support his brother Andrew. When they were standing in line an American Idol producer turned the camera on Cook and insisted that he audition. The rest is history, he made it and his brother didn't. Should he win the competition fate will have played its hand.

SAY WHAT!!!

Judge Paula Abdul shocked the world when she made a strong critical remark to Syesha Mecardo after Mercado sang a song 'Hit Me Up.' that was selected by the producers. Abdul abandoned her sugar and spice and everything nice critiques with a stinging comment, "You did the song very well but I don't think it's enough to get you into the final."

For this show the contestants sang three songs. The first was chosen by one of the judges. The second selected by themselves and the third by American Idol producers.

LARRY KING DOES AMERCAN IDOL

It seems to be an annual event as TV talk show host Larry King interviews judges and contestants from American Idol. This past week his guest was American Idol host Ryan Seacrest. King asked the question we often ask is there a third impartial party that monitors the American Idol voting. Seacrest replied that there was but he couldn't reveal who they were due to instructions from the show and network lawyers.

Then came the big blast when king asked if it were true that Simon Cowell wanted to rid the show of fellow judges Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul as well as Seacrest in order to inject some new blood into the program. Seacrest's answer was no but this is an issue worth watching for future development.

As the supposedly number one television show in America popularity grows so does Cowell's ego. It's to the point where it appears that he feels that he's BIGGER THAN THE SHOW. Stay tuned….

King is scheduled to interview the American Idol winner on his show this coming Friday that will be televised in America and interview the other contestants the following episode.

NOTE: The Larry King program airs on a delayed basis in Southeast Asia. King's schedule is below so the best bet is to check in at the top of the show and see if the American Idol contestants are appearing on that day.

AMERICAN IDOL RESULTS

12. David Hernandez

11. Amanda Overmyer

10. Chikezie Smith

9. Ramiele Malubay

8. Michael johns

7. Kristy Lee Cook

6. Carly Smithson

5. Brooke White

4. Jason Castro

3. Syesha Mercado

NBA GAMES ON TV

NBA (National Basketball Association) playoff games are televised in the Southeast Asia region on the Star Sports television Network on Friday and ESPN Saturday's. Start times vary depending on the start time in the region of the USA from where the games is televised. Playoff games are now being televised Wednesday morning's on Star or ESPN Sports. The networks are related and they flip the programming around. Check your local listings for the time.

TV SCHEDULE

Note: The shows listed are for the Cambodia - Thailand time zone. Check your local listings for time and date in your area.

MONDAY

5:00 PM - LARRY KING - CNN - Airs daily

TUESDAY

5:00 PM - LARRY KING - CNN - Airs daily

WEDNESDAY

??:?? AM - NBA Playoff GAME - Star or ESPN Sports

5:00 PM - LARRY KING - CNN - Airs daily

5:00 PM - AMERICAN IDOL FINAL - Star World

7:00 PM - AMERICAN IDOL FINAL - Star World - repeat of 5 PM telecast

10:30 PM - AMERICAN IDOL FINAL - Star World - repeat of 5/7 PM telecast

THURSDAY

12 NOON - AMERICAN IDOL FINAL - Star World - repeat of previous day

5:00 PM - AMERICAN IDOL ELIMINATION SHOW - Star World

5:00 PM - LARRY KING - CNN - Airs daily

7:00 PM - AMERICAN IDOL ELIMINATION SHOW - Star World - repeat of 5 PM telecast

10:30 PM - AMERICAN IDOL ELIMINATION SHOW - Star World - repeat of 5/7 PM telecast

FRIDAY

??:?? AM - NBA GAME - Star Sports

12 NOON - AMERICAN IDOL ELIMINATION SHOW - Star World - repeat of previous day

2:00 PM - TOP MODEL - CYCLE 9 - Channel V

5:00 PM - LARRY KING - CNN - Airs daily

9:00 PM - NBA GAME - Star Sports - Replay of earlier game)

SATURDAY

??:?? AM - NBA GAME - ESPN

7:30 PM - HI NET WORTH - (financial magazine show) - CNBC

9:00 PM - JAY LENO - CNBC

SUNDAY

5:00 PM - LARRY KING - CNN - Airs daily

8:30 PM - HI NET WORTH - (financial magazine show) - CNBC

9:00 PM - JAY LENO - CNBC

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