American Idol

Dare You to Move

Why do Idol winners want to get sucked into a system where they sign up to have a record producer make their musical choices for them? Maybe because they make such bad choices for themselves when given complete freedom. After David A. and Syesha's duds, David C. goes with another tepid, Five-for-Fighting-esque alterna-anthem. It's actually probably the best of the weak middle three performances. But it makes me worry for the kind of record David C. might make on his own, when he doesn't have someone throwing Lionel Richie songs at him to reinvent.

— by James Poniewozik