American Idol

Little Sparrow

Having caught heat for repurposing other rock covers in the past few weeks, Cook makes a point of saying this is his own arrangement. Maybe he should have stuck with Chris Cornell. Cook's vocal is fine — excellent, really — but where his Hello stripped down Lionel Ritchie's ballad to its essence, he adds too many toppings to this haunting song, uprooting the bluegrass and transplanting it into a stadium.

— by James Poniewozik