idol top 7 - up close & personal

The best thing about the Up Close & Personal show is that it was judge-free and vote-free. This made it a good forum for showcasing some of the contestants original work. Only five of the seven are songwriters - Jess and Ricky worked more on an original arrangement of a cover. I found some merit in all the original songs. I liked Chris' and Damien's the best. Ricky's arrangement of Michael Jackson's 'Off the Wall' was good, but Jess turned 'What the World Needs Now' into a slowed down vocal gymnastic exercise, which was pretty but boring. Here is a link to the video snippets.