Andrew Leahey
Wow. Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the Beatles songbook…

American Idol gained enough momentum last week to almost justify the show’s oversized, Wembley-Stadium-gone-haywire makeover. Unfortunately, “Beatles Night II” followed in the tradition of most sequels, meaning that it lost the energy of the original version and called the whole series’ integrity into question. So while it’s sorta fun to block out last night’s offenses by turning the whole thing into a movie metaphor (possible film titles: How Archuleta Got His Groove Back, or Lord of the Sings: The Return of Syesha), the fact still stands that this episode was — to be very kind — subpar.

There were, of course, some positive moments: Brooke’s calm acceptance of the judges’ criticism, David Archuleta’s return to form, Carly’s dependable awesomeness, David Cook’s rock & roll bombast (with the exception of that silly talk box solo), and Syesha’s rare display of restraint and skill. Syesha narrowly dodged a bullet last week, and she’d be a shoo-in for the Bottom 3 if she hadn’t chosen a tasteful arrangement for “Yesterday” (no sappy keyboards or melodramatic strings = two thumbs up) and supported it with her best vocal to date.

But let’s not forget the show’s faults: Brooke’s dress (which looked as if bananas were sprouting from the fabric), Kristy’s inability to save herself from impending elimination, and Michael’s bunny-hop dance (just in time for Easter! cue the corporate tie-in with Cadbury Eggs!). Jason Castro and Ramiele both stumbled, Chikezie did a watered-down imitation of last week’s routine, and Amanda wiped “Back in the U.S.S.R.” clean of the surf rock undertones that made it such a fun song in 1968. Oof.

Matt Collar
So, it was Beatles Week Two and the choices were even worse than last time. I’ll give the brass ring to David Archuleta for once again picking a song he has no business singing and then totally owning it. Similarly, I begrudgingly must give props to David Cook who, despite his smug delivery and silly talk box solo, picked a good tune and delivered on it. Syesha was the only other performer who made a good song choice, but I didn’t really think her voice fit well with “Yesterday.” Frankly, I don’t think she really has the technical skills to reinterpret a Beatles tune with any contemporary R&B flair –- but she looked phenomenal. By contrast, Carly’s “Blackbird” was the most technically proficient of the evening, but that really didn’t translate into an emotionally moving performance. I liked Brooke’s “Here Comes the Sun,” even with the hippie-dippy dance, and she sang it quite well. But I disagree with her argument that it was unavoidable. She easily could have delivered another heartfelt ballad — or picked a slightly less dated song. Which was exactly Ramielle’s problem in picking “I Should’ve Known Better” — yeah, she should have. Jason Castro’s “Meeeechelle” allowed him yet another typically goofy stoner cornball moment which will get him through to next week. Similarly, Chikezie is cornering the market on WTF performances that are more memorable and unique than actually good. But he knows he needs to set himself apart from the pack, and in that sense he’s jumping out ahead of the other Idols. In writing this, I almost forgot to mention Michael Johns, which I think says more about his impact in this competition than anything I can really write about him. All tolled up, this was perhaps the least interesting week in the competition, and more than ever I wish they’d hurry up and be done with the theme weeks.

Heather Phares
Doing another week of Beatles songs on American Idol sounded like a bad idea, and … it was. Pairing it with the “What has been your most memorable moment on American Idol so far?” interviews made for a self-indulgent, uneven night, with some of the most lackluster performances coming from last week’s best singers. As with other talent reality shows like Project Runway and even America’s Next Top Model, the main challenge is for the contestants to develop consistent yet versatile identities. Do the same thing week after week and you’re predictable; change it up too much, and you don’t have a strong personality. For many of the Idols, getting in that sweet spot between repetitive and erratic was almost as difficult as breathing new life into the Beatles’ music.

The best: It takes serious guts to do “Yesterday,” and even more guts to not overdo it by piling on the strings and melodrama. Syesha’s simple, beautiful, affecting performance showed that she really connected with the song, if not the audience (a few times it looked like she was hiding her eyes from the crowd because they were about to fill with tears). Every once in a while, singing this vulnerably peeks through the AmIdol machinery; with any luck, her “Yesterday” means that she’s found her groove on the show. Carly did nearly as well with “Blackbird” — like Syesha, the song has a personal meaning for her, and her singing was as sensitive and emotive as it was technically flawless. If the arrangement backing her hadn’t been so overdone and distracting, it would have been the evening’s best. David Archuleta recovered from last week’s surprise plug for “Don’t Forget the Lyrics!” with a strong, if somewhat restrained, version of “The Long and Winding Road,” which is such a natural fit for him that it’s a little surprising he didn’t do it last week instead of “We Can Work it Out.” Even though it would be great to hear more versatility from him, he needed to shore up his strengths this week by getting back in his ballads niche.

The rest: Quite a few contestants seemed complacent in light of how well they did during the first Beatles week. David Cook did “Day Tripper,” which he modeled after Whitesnake’s 1977 cover (which he announced as though it were a rare vintage wine). While his slow, talk box-laden take was flashy and entertaining, it was also more than a little smug, and as Simon said, it wasn’t “as good as (David) thought it was.” Jason’s version of “Michelle” also felt a bit complacent, and perhaps herbally enhanced, but his charm and pretty voice sold the performance despite its goofiness — it actually felt like it was sung by a guy trying to get a smile from the cute French foreign exchange student. The night’s most disappointingly complacent performance, however, belonged to Brooke. In her pre-song interview, she seemed a bit too pleased with how well she did last week with “Let it Be,” and that seeped into her “Here Comes the Sun.” Given that she’s essentially a walking sunbeam, this should have been a no-brainer, but her somewhat brassy singing was a surprise not only because it didn’t match the song’s delicate, hopeful feel, but because the vulnerability that won her so much praise for “Let it Be” would have been much better for this song, too. Chikezie also paled in comparison to last week’s excellent performance, although he tried to recapture it with a version of “I’ve Just Seen a Face” that went from a ballad to a hoedown. Undoubtedly, he adds something unique to American Idol, but he can’t do these almost schizophrenic performances each week.

Who might be leaving: This was another week where a bottom four, or even five, would come in handy. Even though perpetual bottom-dweller Kristy Lee turned in one of her best performances with a pretty — and pretty safe — “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” it probably won’t be enough to keep her from turning up in the bottom three again, possibly for the last time. Likewise, Ramiele let the sassy side of her voice come out on “I Should Have Known Better,” but that may prove to be a prophetic song title: The trite arrangement held her back, and the song was another stumble after her terrific “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me.” She’s still one of the show’s most engaging female singers, but it’s looking like she may have peaked early. Michael Johns may be another early bloomer; his performances have been going downhill since the semi-finals, and making the the brave, if wrong-headed, choice to condense the epic “A Day in the Life” into 90 seconds didn’t help. The judges, especially Simon, seem exasperated by him, which doesn’t bode well for his stay on the show. Finally, it’s about time for Amanda Overmyer’s reign of shouty-yet-breathless-yet-indecipherable singing to come to an end. “Back in the U.S.S.R.” should have been perfect for her — and while it wasn’t “Carry On My Wayward Son” bad, it wasn’t great, and it shows just how little potential she has to expand on what she does.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Amanda: Amanda proved once and for all that being a rocker chick doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a rocker, as she delivered a ham-fisted, close to clueless version of “Back in the U.S.S.R.,” interpreting Paul’s Chuck Berry homage as straight-up blooze — meaning, she randomly elongated and clipped notes, all in an attempt to inject soul until she lost the meaning of the poetry, making it sound like a cacophony.

Kristy Lee: Last week, Kristy Lee was humiliated for attempting a risky arrangement — one that didn’t really work, but at least it was a risk. This week, she responded by turning “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” upside down, trading intimacy for spectacle. It was a horrible overblown arrangement and Kristy Lee struggled mightily with its gigantic scale and only wound up seeming small and girlish. To me, this is a greater stumble than taking “Eight Days a Week” too fast — at least that fit her persona; this pitched her as a big ballad singer, something she just isn’t.

David A: You could call David A’s “The Long and Winding Road” a comeback after last week’s disastrous “We Can Work It Out.” You could also call it a perfect fit, as its unapologetic schmaltz is ideal for little David’s perfectly coached showbiz moves. Thing is, that coaching is already starting to unravel, as it is now clear that David A is only good at Vegasy ballads and his “aw shucks” persona doesn’t change, no matter what he’s talking about. That persona winds up being alienating, not endearing, at least to anybody that’s not a tween.

Michael: Michael continues to be the most bewildering contestant in this competition, the one that fails to live up to his clear potential. At least this week, he tried by tackling “A Day in the Life,” the hardest Beatles song outside of “You Know My Name, Look Up the Number” or “Revolution 9″ for an Idol contestant to deliver, as the song cannot be easily condensed into a 90-second highlight. Michael attempted to shove that mini-suite through a food mill, grinding it into a series of highlights that nonsensically bounced between John’s verse and Paul’s bridge, going through so many changes he lost his way on the final verse — a slip-up the producers attempted to remedy in the show-closing recap by playing his portion from the soundcheck, when he got the words right. It was a mess that he sang passably, but the whole thing did nothing but play into suspicions that Michael doesn’t really know what he’s doing now that he’s gotten this big break.

Brooke: I. Love. This. Girl. Love her. Love her like I love Lauren on Top Model, who moves as awkwardly down the runway as Brooke does when she stumbles across Idol’s big stage. Maybe she looks a little lost without an instrument, maybe it wasn’t the greatest idea for her to dress in blinding yellow (all the better to match her choice of “Here Comes the Sun”) but Brooke is now one of the only contestants that sings the words as if she understands what she means. She has a warm, distinctive voice, and is the only one to have enough guts (and sense) to shout down the nitwits that boo any time a judge says a mildly negative word. With each week she seems more confident and sure of herself, and each week I continue to hope that she gets far enough to give us a full album once this whole ride is over.

David Cook: I. Hate. This. Guy. Hate him. Hate him like I love Brooke, who always seems genuine where Cook always seems supercilious. He acts as if it’s blindingly obvious that he’s the only real rocker that’s on this stage, or ever was on this stage, when he’s really such a tool that he hauls out a talk box (which none of the judges could name) and wanks away at it during an arrangement of “Day Tripper” that he poached from Whitesnake — who, you know, did it funkier than the Beatles. That performance played even worse than it reads, especially since he winked at the camera after Simon called him “smug,” proving once again that he doesn’t know what words mean, something that was evident from his awful “Eleanor Rigby” last week.

Carly: As always, Carly is a pro, picking songs that suit her voice, giving them big performances without a missed note. Not that “Blackbird” really is suited for a big performance -– like “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away,” it needs intimacy, but unlike Kristy Lee, Carly knows how to fill up the stage and she once again did it well this week, if not quite memorably.

Jason: To me, this is the trainwreck of the week. The Beatles songbook — and this week it was the Beatles songbook, even if Brooke was the only one that picked a George song — is filled with sweet, melodic songs that fit Jason’s hippie-dippy persona, and what does he do? He picks “Michelle,” the song whose verse is partially in French, a move that only somebody as smooth and skilled as Paul McCartney could pull off (it also seems that only he could pull off its liquid bass solo, as it was transposed to guitar for this performance). Jason hammed it up, pulling faces whenever he reached a word that wasn’t in English, and the worst thing about it was, he didn’t realize how silly and cheesy he was. It was all kind of embarrassing, the opposite of his assured reading of “Hallelujah” a couple weeks back.

Syesha: Syesha slowed “Yesterday” down to a big ballad, as it so often is. She tried hard to turn it into a big Whitney ballad and while she sang it well, it didn’t really demonstrate a deep understanding of the song, and so the whole thing wound up being forgettable despite some nice isolated vocal moments from her.

Chikezie: Who would have ever thought that Chikezie would be the true bizarro in this competition, the one contestant that demonstrates some real musical chops and deep musical understand and is willing to take risks? Not that his version of “I’ve Just Seen a Face” worked as well as “She’s a Woman”: there, the jump from country to rock felt natural, here the quiet-storm opening and country-soul conclusion felt disjointed and no amount of amateur harmonica could tie them together. But the very fact that he tries, the fact that he’d pick up a harmonica and play it for the first time on national TV, counts for a lot — and his bent for country-soul is not only unexpected but also quite wonderful, as he really can tear it up when the dobros start kicking.

Ramiele: Well, at least Ramiele realized that she needed to liven things up a bit and step away from the big ballads that have been her bread and butter, but she doesn’t know how to change it up, picking “I Should Have Known Better” — a song that cries out for the lean, rolling beat of a rock & roll band — and flopping through it, trying to muster up some cuteness but just sounding kind of sleepy. She would have been better off picking something that is truly uptempo, not something that is an amiable mid-tempo folk-rocker.