American Idol: Jason Castro Ready for Elimination

Jason Castro delivered two songs from Neil Diamond tonight, and they were serviceable renditions. They were very pleasant and safe and bore no resemblance to the Jason Castro who sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". One gets the feeling looking at Jason sing these songs, that he's doing what he thanks he ought to. It is painfully obvious, that even after meeting Neil Diamond that he really has no reference point with which to make these songs his own or to make them current. It feels like he's a guy with a pretty good voice just singing, not a very talented musician vying to win the highly coveted title of American Idol.

Granted, recent news reports lament the falling fortunes of the American Idol franchise. I would not sound the death knell just yet. I don't quite know what has gone wrong with Jason Castro. Someone who started watching the show last night would have wondered how he even made the cut. He is quietly slipping into mediocrity. He is like a kid in school. He could do more but he's just doing enough to get by.

One would think that the Neil Diamond songbook would be tailor made for Jason. Easy going songs with some serious melody; seems like that would be the ticket. In fact, his first number "Forever in Blue Jeans" could have been written expressly for him and seem to fit him to a T. It could have been a stellar performance if he'd found himself in the lyrics. The gist of the second song "September Morn" also seemed elusive. His delivery was competent, but he had no emotional connection to the song. With both songs, he had the opportunity to create something elegant and uniquely Jason, but instead he took the easy way out and played it safe.

I've remarked in the past that Jason's coolness comes off as disinterest. More and more it appears that Jason is losing interest. I can't speak to his reasons. However, I would imagine that to be on American Idol is a beast and if they are privy to the news reports as we are then they know as well as you or me that it is slated to be the David and David show. However, that's no reason to give up and sing like you'd rather be fishing. The good and the bad thing about American Idol are the voters. If they like you, they will keep you around long after your sell by date. If you give up on yourself then they will give up on you too.

I hope that if Jason does stay around for another week that he takes an honest assessment of how committed he is to pursuing this dream. Mind you, it's his dream to relinquish. I'd hate see him come this far and then just let it slip away.