Taking a Look Back: AI7

Season 7 of American Idol gave us some truly memorable performances...performances that really touched us, or made us take a second look. Sometimes performances that simply made us say "Wow."

I'm going to try to take a look back at the performances from this season that I found to be memorable, for various reasons. I hope you enjoy the trip down memory lane.

One of the first performances that made me take a second look was by Alexandréa Lushington, with Spinning Wheel. She didn't make the Top 12 and the big stage, but she really wowed me with this one.



My favorite performance from David Hernandez was in the Top 20, when he did Papa Was a Rolling Stone. He showed a lot of personality and really let his vocals shine.



Brooke White turned Love is a Battlefield on its head in a way I never would have expected, but I loved it.



David Cook took me by surprise with Hello. It shouldn't have worked. But it really, really worked.



Brooke White came out in the first week of the Top 12 and took my breath away with an emotional performance of Let it Be.



Also in the first Beatles week, Chikezie did a version of She's a Woman that was surprising, refreshing, and unique. I'd love to hear more from him along this line.



Michael Johns showed off his amazing rock abilities with Queen's We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions. I loved him already at that point, but I seriously thought he could have a chance to win with this one.



Taking a Dolly Parton song and turning it into a soul song doesn't sound like it would work, but Michael Johns proved that it could with It's All Wrong But It's All Right.



Another singer who turned a Dolly Parton classic on its head was Carly Smithson with Here You Come Again. She made the music and vocal suit the lyric in a gorgeous and breathtaking performance.



And yet again, on Dolly Parton week, David Cook did his own arrangement of Little Sparrow that should never have worked, but which quickly convinced me that he not only could, but should, win.



Jason Castro gave me one of the biggest and most pleasant surprises of the season, with Somewhere Over the Rainbow. I still get chills when I hear it.



The next week, David Cook once again surprised us all with his own arrangement of Mariah Carey's Always Be My Baby. Wow. Just wow.



And how do you follow a performance like that? Well, Jason Castro got to find out, by doing his own version of I Don't Wanna Cry.



Syesha Mercado really turned on the heat during Andrew Lloyd Webber week, with One Rock and Roll Too Many.



Brooke White really touched me again during Neil Diamond week, with her performance of I Am, I Said. I really love her the most when she is sitting in front of the piano and doing her thing.



I was scared...seriously scared...when I found out that David Cook would be performing The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. I shouldn't have been. He did an amazing job with it, and it is actually one of my favorite performances of all time from American Idol now.



David Archuleta was simply amazing throughout the competition, but the one performance of his that really stood out to me as his best, was one of his last. When he did Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me during the finale, he gave me goosebumps and made me nervous that he might win.



But I needn't have worried...because David Cook followed with The World I Know, and gave what could be his quintessential performance on the show. I seriously cried when he performed this that night. He did an amazing job with it.



So...there you have my *quickly counting* 18 favorite and most memorable performances from Season 7 of American Idol. Yeah, I realize that I completely left out Ramiele Mulabay and Kristy Lee Cook. Frankly, they didn't have any performances that struck a chord with me. I could have gone on to do a number of others...because I am leaving out some that I truly love like Archie's Imagine, Castro's Hallelujah, Carly's Superstar, Michael Johns's Dream On. Hell, I am even leaving out David Cook's Billie Jean and I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. I could go on and an. But I think 18 is enough for now.