American Idol 5 – Recap – Episode 5-31 (04/11/2006)

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Sorry about the teaser, but I’ve always wanted to do that. Besides which, I highly doubt anyone’s going to sing “Flash’s Theme” – frankly, it’s not a stretch to think that Kellie thinks that the only Flash is Wally West, but let’s not go there.

Can anyone match up to Freddie Mercury? The Idols will be pushed to the limit as they sing the songs of Queen. This is American Idol.

Opening Credits.

The Town Crier is here. Fantasia is as well. There’s something for everyone, and here are the judges, the Knave, the Princess and the Court Jester.

Tonight’s theme is Queen, so of course we get a retrospective of the band, showcasing Freddie Mercury at his most flamboyant. And the Idols (including Mandisa) got to see the group in Anaheim.

First up is Bucky Covington. The band thinks it’s a good sign that he’s interacting with audiences. He’s singing “Fat Bottomed Girls”.

The song lends itself well to country, but in what seems to be a trademark the more enthusiastic Bucky is the worse he actually SINGS. Good enough for government work, I suppose.

Randy – Nice way to start the show. Lot of energy, it was like a Bucky concert.
Paula – Great job.
Simon – It was a good choice of song for you, I guess. Overall I would classify that as quite mediocre.

Rating: 5/10

Ace and Kellie will ruin two anthemic songs after the

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We’re back, and Ace Young, wants to make things sound like Ace singing Queen, and he’s singing “We Will Rock You” with his own twist on things.

I didn’t like the arrangement. The fact is, this is one of the most popular anthems you’ll find out there, and there isn’t that much you need to change, if anything at all. He MiGed it, and I’m not sure that that’s a good thing.

Randy – Dude for me it was like a 5 or 6. It was karaoke for me.
Paula – I appreciate that you know what time it is and you took a risk.
Simon – I think Randy was being generous. I think it was a complete and utter mess. You were all over the place, you were forgetting the words, I’m sorry.

Um, how do you forget the words to this song?

Rating: 5/10

Now singing “Bohemian Rhapsody” is Kellie Pickler, and the band thinks she’s got a tough job ahead of her.

A quick aside – you have 90 seconds to two minutes to sing a song, so why would you sing a song where the money moment is the guitar solo, and you have to hack it to pieces? Suzie McNeil-level awesome this won’t be. Hell, it won’t even be MiG Ayesa-level. Anyway, back to your friendly neighbourhood recap.

The cutting from slow to fast is, as expected, awful. That cuts into the energy of the song, and it’s really disjointed. Suzie McNeil, it’s not. Poor song choice, and it works against her.

Randy – I think you worked it out. I was entertained.
Paula – It was extremely ambitious, but you worked it out.
Simon – You’re a very brave girl. Actually, on paper it should have been hideous, but I think it worked.

Rating: 4/10

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Chris Daughtry is singing “Innuendo”, and apparently Queen has never sang the song live. The band thinks he has a real rock sensibility.

This was pretty much right down Chris’ alley. The only problem right now is he’s in a Suzie Rawn-level rut, where he really hasn’t sang outside of his comfort zone and we’ve yet to see how he can do given something difficult for him. That being said, it’ll be tough to follow that.

Randy – I was expected big things – you did not disappoint.
Paula – I have no idea.
Simon – It’s not a very good song. I will grant you the best believable vocal tonight. I was disappointed that you didn’t entertain the audience with a known song.

Rating: 7/10

Katherine is dressed in red and singing after the

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We’re back, and Katherine McPhee is singing “Who Wants to Live Forever” (from Highlander – I should’ve known), and have the song be about the voice.

Katherine is putting a lot of emotion into the song. A little pitchy on the glory notes, but overall it was a good change of pace for her.

Randy – It was good idea you switched your song. Pitchy in spots but you did a good job all in all.
Paula – You did a great job.
Simon – That was almost the moment, but overall it was one of the strongest tonight.

Rating: 6.5/10

There can be only two after the

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Elliott Yamin had problems keeping a job, and he’s singing “Somebody to Love”, which was apparently inspired by Aretha Franklin. But since it’s got a soul vibe to it, it’s probably appropriate that he sings it.

The problems start right away as Elliott seems to be shouting over the guitars. He’s giving it a Herculean effort, but the song seems to be, as they say, too big for him. I like his twist on it, but that’s about it.

Randy – Probably the hardest song to sing tonight. There was some pitchy problems, but all in all I thought it was really really good.
Paula – The best vocals tonight.
Simon – An in and out performance. Overall I think you pulled it off.

Rating: 4/10

Time for Taylor Hicks, and he was going to sing “We Are The Champions”, but decided to change the song to “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” because he gets to dance. Oh dear.

I’m not sure on what planet that’s considered dancing, but the song fits Taylor perfectly, and it’s the best version of this song so far on Idol. Excellent performance.

Randy – The last two weeks I’ve been wondering where’s Taylor. Tonight he’s back!
Paula – I don’t know whether we should give you a record deal or a straightjacket.
Simon – I thought it was ridiculous.

Rating: 8/10

Paris closes the show after the

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Paris Bennett is our final performer, and the band thinks she’s damn good. She’s singing “The Show Must Go On”.

Rhianna hair tonight, if you’re wondering. The one thing good about Paris is that she really gets into each theme. I don’t know that it’s the greatest performance of the night, but it’s right up there. I really can’t fault anything here.

Randy – It started out rough but you worked it out in the end.
Paula – Keep on rocking.
Simon – I found it all a little weird.

Rating: 8/10

Time to recap the singers, and time to start voting. We’re getting a one hour results show tomorrow. Yippie?

Kevin has been an Insider since 2003, writing on a variety of topics ranging from The Amazing Race to Mixed Martial Arts. His current hobbies include Fantasy Football, Sporcle, travelling, making liberal use of his DVR and wondering what the heck he's gonna do when his two daughters are old enough to date. You can follow Kevin on Twitter (@starvenger).