Tuesday, May 20, 2008

David vs. David: Clive is Back and a Big Twist

Warning: If you don’t want to know anything about tonight’s show, stop reading now…

You guys know how I feel about Clive Davis, so I was thrilled (read that with TONS of sarcasm) to find out that “Idol” has gone back to its old ways and allowed Clive to pick one of the contestants’ three songs tonight. I know he and Simon are best buds now that Leona Lewis is a big success, but look at all the Idol careers he’s crushed. Shouldn’t that stand for something?

And to prove my point, the buzz on the Internet (via Digital Spy and IdolLive is that Clive has chosen “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” for David A. How stale can you get, Clive? Sheesh! Didn’t you already pick that for Clay (after he picked it for himself in the wild card round) AND Bo? However, that pick is unconfirmed, so maybe he’ll surprise me, but I doubt it…

The big news is that apparently the Davids got to choose their own “coronation” song from the 10 most popular songs from the Songwriters’ Competition. Although ETOnline.com reported that the Davids would both sing the songwriting winner, MJ’s Big Blog, Digital Spy and IdolLive are all reporting that Nigel announced them having a choice on a radio show (Remember that Simon promised us a twist.). You may recall that when I critiqued the ten finalists, I said there were good songs for both Davids that were not necessarily winner’s single material. Apparently, the producers recognized that as well—if indeed this is true…

So then the point of the whole Songwriting Competition is what? Why not let the Idols write their own songs?...

The third song is their choice and is usually a rerun of something they’ve already done during the season. Therefore, David A. is doing “Imagine,” according to Nigel, who revealed the choice on Ryan’s radio show. But David C., according to FOX News, is doing U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” which he did not do during the competition, unless he did it during Hollywood and we didn’t see it. MJ’s Big Blog reports that David C. is the first Idol to get a U2 song cleared for the show.

“Imagine” is a great choice for David A., as I said last night, but I’m not sure about “Still” for David C. It’s a great song, but if he wanted to do a U2 song, I would’ve gone with “Without You.” Maybe he’s got some cool way to change it up…

Interestingly, David A. told USAToday.com that he couldn’t get a song cleared for tonight. “Hopefully, the song I ended up with will work. I’ll do the best with it.” Rumors are flying on the Internet that David A. wanted to do “Crazy,” which he reportedly brought the house down with in Hollywood. You’ll remember it went unseen because both members of Gnarls Barkley would not approve it. I really wish they would’ve changed their minds because I would’ve liked to have seen how he did that one…

Back later with more updates…