Neil Diamond was the guest of the evening on American Idol tonight. Diamond may have been some sort of idol many years ago but I doubt many young people today know his music at all. I found it rather bizarre that they would choose Diamond for a show with a demographic that is mostly under the age of 25. But then again, Neil is about to launch a worldwide tour. American Idol is all about cross-promotion these days.

Onto the “Final Five” contestants…..

Jason Castro was up first with “Forever in Blue Jeans”. He had his guitar at his side for this one and it was a rather sweet version of a sweet song. His second song choice, “September Morn”, was slowed down, perhaps in an attempt to make it “his own” but all it did was nearly put me to sleep.

David Cook sang “I’m Alive” with his usual rock and roll swagger. What is left to say about Cook? He’s well on his way, folks. Next he sang “All I Really Need is You”. Somehow he managed to make this song sound fresh and current. I think we may have our winner.

Brooke White was next up with “I’m a Believer” (covered by the Monkees in 1966). She too played guitar but with a lot less talent. Sans guitar, it would have been a terrific Karaoke moment. The second tune was “I Am, I Said”. This time she whipped out the piano (at least she can play some instruments because her voice isn’t quite up-to-par for this batch of contestants). And hey, she remembered the words.

David Archuletta sang “Sweet Caroline” and “America”. Archuletta does really well with the ballad-y type songs that make the young ladies swoon. And who can resist that smile of his? But the song was tame and uninspired. Considering David was not even in the womb when Neil Diamond was at the peak of his success, who can blame him? “America” was definitely unexpected, and probably not the best performance of the evening, but there were a couple of high spots that redeemed him.

Syesha Mercado chose “Hello Again”. She too does well with the ballads. This was a decent song choice for her. Syesha has some pipes on her and they were highlighted with this song. She also sang “Thank the Lord for the Night Time”. She seemed to have a lot fun with this one, but Simon told her that she might be in trouble tonight. I have to disagree. If I had to guess, I would say Jason Castro will be hitting the road tomorrow night.

But I’ve been wrong before.

Update:  Wrong again.  Brooke White was sent packing tonight.  In my defense, I thought she would be gone sooner but might have been saved by "I Am, I Said" this week.  White was simply not of the same calibur as some of the other finalists.