No Freddie Mercury: A Review of Michael Johns' Performance on American Idol, March 25

With his rendition of Queen's "We Are The Champions," Michael Johns left no doubt that he is not our American Idol. In fact, he's not even American! Isn't that in the rules somewhere? This Australian, we learned from the opening biographical clip, is a Libra, born in 1978.

The top ten contestants, this week, chose songs to perform from their birth year. Unfortunately, most of the hopefuls were born in the late 1980's not lending to a huge variety of choices in the pop world. Mr. Johns' selection of a classic rock tune beautifully belted out in the original version by Freddie Mercury proved ultimately to be his undoing.

Taking the stage - looking frankly, absolutely stunning and, yes, very hot - Mr. Johns began screaming out the lyrics as if a teenager at a pep rally. Sadly as the song progressed to a slower pace it didn't get any better and this viewer began to reach for her Ipod yearning to hear a perfectly pitched Freddie singing smoothly into her ear.

Painstakingly, Mr. Johns continued. Beginning the chorus, the high notes fell flat and it became quite clear that he is no Freddie Mercury. Choosing a ballad so iconic and forever associated with Queen was ultimately his undoing. I was hoping that it would soon be over and was quite relieved that Mr. Johns' version was far shorter than the much-loved original.

It was unbelievable how the judges were united in their assessment of his performance, each giving it glowing remarks ranging from "best performance" by Randy (prefaced with a "Yo"), "your moment" from Paula, and finally Simon quipped that Mr. Johns has "star potential". This reviewer would beg to differ. Maybe Mr. Johns should continue his pursuit of tennis or possibly reconsider the whole mascot gig.