Few highlights in second week of Beatles tunes

A second week of Beatles classics may have been too much of a good thing for the final 11 “American Idol” contestants.

While Tulsa musician David Cook, Utah teen David Archuleta and Florida singer Syesha Mercado garnered some praise from the show’s judges, many of the contestants struggled to capture the magic of the previous week’s performances of songs from the John Lennon/Paul McCartney songbook.

Cook, who performed a guitar-wailing version of “Day Tripper” with talkbox effects, won over judges Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul.

“Another solid look for David Cook!” Jackson cheered.

“You’re ready to go sell records,” Abdul agreed.

Judge Simon Cowell wasn’t as sold on Cook’s performance, saying he looked “smug” while singing and that the performance was “predictable.”

“I don’t think that was as good as you thought it was, actually,” Cowell said.

Chuck Stikl, morning radio show host at Tulsa’s KMYZ 104.5 and a friend of Cook’s, said he enjoyed the performance but understood that it was a bit “risky.”

“The issue was that he tried to do something which was not singing (with the talkbox effects),” Stikl said. “But they need to change it up on that show. He took a chance, and he got two out of three judges to like it. And he did a lot better than some of the others.”

Many performers had a rougher time with the second week of Beatles songs, a theme that “American Idol” producers decided to continue after the success of last week’s first-ever performances of Lennon/ McCartney songs.

Archuleta bounced back after a shaky performance last week with a pitchperfect “The Long and Winding Road,” and Mercado may have bounced back from the brink of elimination with a solid performance of “Yesterday.”

But several other singers were criticized for pitch problems, poor song choices or bland performances in general.

Cowell seemed especially unthrilled with Tuesday’s performances, and his criticism of Cook seemed tame compared to comments he dished out to several of the other contestants.

After an uneven performance of “Michelle” by Texas singer Jason Castro, Cowell summed up his feelings: “This is a very weird show tonight, and I’m not sure it was such a good idea doing Beatles again.”

Cook, 25, sang “Eleanor Rigby” last week, and it was considered one of the standout performances, earning an important compliment from Cowell: “If this show remains a talent competition rather than a popularity competition, you could actually win this entire show.”

A bartender and musician who played in local bands such as the Midwest Kings, Cook grew up in Blue Springs, Mo., but moved to Tulsa a few years ago to follow his music career.

Fans will find out whether he’ll make it to the top 10 when the results show airs at 8 p.m.Wednesday on Fox channel 23 (cable channel 5). Former fifth-season “American Idol” competitor Kellie Pickler will perform on Wednesday’s show.