Jason Castro Gets The “American Idol” Audience Daydreaming

noah | February 20, 2008 8:58 am
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Last night, American Idol kicked off the head-to-head competition, and aside from “where’s Carly?”, “what was the name of the other girl who disappeared from the audience mid-show?” and “are we really going to have this Australian Rock Star reject shoved down our throats all freaking season?” the most important question was: Which contestants’ performances caused the Idol viewers of America to head for their nearest search engine? After the jump, Google Trends brings you last night’s top five Idol-performed songs and top four performers (as of 7:45 a.m. ET).

THE TOP FIVE SONGS 1. what a day for a daydream (No. 10; performed by Jason Castro) 2. suspicious minds (No. 13; performed by Colton Berry) 3. so happy together (No. 26; performed by David Cook) 4. breaking up is hard to do (No. 28; performed by Garrett Haley) 5. one is the loneliest number (No. 35; performed by Robbie Carrico)

It’s not all that surprising to me that Jason Castro’s song topped the list; his performance not only stood out because of its guy-with-guitar anomalousness, it was actually really good! He was charming and kinda goofy, and the fact that he got pretty much no airtime in the weeks leading up to the first performance probably piqued some longtime viewers’ interest. If the Idol judges are smart–or heck, if they’ve just seen Jack Johnson’s sales figures over the past two weeks–they’ll let this kid shine.

Colton Berry’s “Suspicious Minds” wasn’t all that good–unless “drama-club Elvis sung by people who don’t really understand the lyrics” is a favorite genre of yours–but the song itself is still killer; I suspect that like me, a lot of people wanted to hear the real thing in order to cleanse Berry’s version of the track from their ears. Garrett Haley was adorable (oh, those big blue eyes!) but his version of “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do” was total milquetoast; whether he sticks around or not will be a testament to just how many teenage girls are still watching.

I was surprised to see David Cook and Robbie Carrico, two of the other nu-Daughtrys populating the guys’ top 12, especially since Cook turned “So Happy Together” into a Puddle Of Mudd song and Carrico’s version of “One” was all bluster and no substance. And speaking of rock guys–note that the overly pimped Michael Johns’ song choice, “Light My Fire,” is nowhere to be seen on the Google Trends list. Did his performance–which, I should note, was of a song that he also performed during Hollywood week. Fail!–fall as short as I thought it did? Or is everyone else out there as sick of the Doors as I am?

THE TOP FOUR PERFORMERS 1. jason castro (No. 12) 2. danny noriega (No. 38) 3. robbie carrico (No. 41) 4. michael johns american idol (No. 90)

Again, Castro, who seemingly came out of nowhere, tops this list; if he goes home Thursday night there’s clearly something wrong with the Idol phone lines. It’s worth pointing out that Noriega–who’s clearly trying to be a combination of Sanjaya and Chris Crocker, what with his ironed hair and snippishness toward the judges–is the Vote For The Worst favorite.

I should also probably note that “Michael Hutchins [sic!!]” was ahead of “Michael Johns American Idol,” presumably because Randy Jackson dared to compare the two, even though one is the sexiest undead man alive and the other is a hack who had to go back to the well of the goddamn Doors in order to prove that he’s a “rocker.”

THE REST: • David Archuleta, who got the first-hour-closing “second pimp spot” and who’s already getting the Jordin Sparks-like “he’s only 17!!” huzzahs, is clearly another favorite of the judges, although there’s something about his superbreathy voice that didn’t mesh well with his take on “Shop Around.” • Jason Jaeger’s take on “Moon River” was a bit sappy, but his huge smile and seemingly bottomless sincerity made me think that he could definitely attract some dollars from the Josh Groban fanbase. (And again, I question just how “current” the judges’ idea of music is; sure, Groban won’t be collaborating with Timbaland anytime soon, but if you go by his sales alone, what he’s doing is way, way more current than, say, Audio Day Dream. • I wanted to root for Luke Menard, but his lilty version of Harry Nilsson’s “Everybody’s Talkin'” was so Fogelbergy that he almost receded into the background of the song. Thinking he goes home this week, which is a shame. • The other person going home will be either David Hernandez or Chikeze (who’s dropped his last name); not only did the two of them top off the show, the only thing that I can remember about either of their performances is Chikeze’s bright orange suit, which looked like it was rescued from the Fantasy Island wardrobe closet.

PAULA ABDUL OUT-OF-IT SCALE: 6/10. Not only did Paula reveal her synaesthesiac abilities last night and the fact that she performed her first ballet recital to “Moon River,” she appeared to get into a slapfight with Simon near show’s end. Or was that just me, trying to slap the memory of “Light My Fire” out of my head? Goddamn you, Jim Morrison. Goddamn you.

[Photo: AmericanIdol.com]

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