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It’s the first elimination of this season and the unkindest cut. Surely the voters weeded out the worst of the performers, right? WRONG!
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So are you nervous about who made it to the next round? Or were you just so underwhelmed at the debut of this group that you just don't care? Clearly some people cared because 24 million votes were cast over the two nights.
The first group song of the season is "American Boy". They kept it pretty simple so there wasn't much opportunity to mess up, and the result was a pleasant if not exciting performance.
The elimination started with the girls. They were sitting in 2 rows of 6 and Ryan began with the back row. On their feet were Siobhan Magnus, Haeley Vaughn, Michelle Delamor, Kaitlyn Epperly, Katie Stevens, and Janell Wheeler. Siobhan is -- SAFE. Yay! Haeley is -- SAFE. Huh? Michelle is -- SAFE. Kaitlyn is -- SAFE. With two left, Ryan says either Katie or Janell will be going home. Ryan asks Randy which of these girls he thinks will be going home, but he says it's too close to call. And it is. Neither of these girls did a good job and both have potential so either scenario fits, except that Katie has had a lot of exposure since her audition and already has a fan base. And this proves to be the deciding factor as Janell is the one to get the boot. She reprises her performance and it's OK but doesn't stand out as proof that this was a big mistake or anything.
Taking a break from the "fun", last year's 4th place finisher Allison Iraheta comes on stage to sing her latest single "Scars" from her debut album "Just Like You". She sounded great on this ballad. I'm hoping this appearance boosts her sales because the album has not sold well. The last numbers I've seen put it at about 80,000. If you haven't picked one up, if this song and performance are any example, it would be worth the purchase price.
Back to eliminations, the girls in the front row stand up. In this row are Paige Miles, Lacey Brown, Lilly Scott, Crystal Bowersox, Ashley Rodriguez, and DiDi Benami. Paige is - SAFE. Lacey is - SAFE. Yay! Lilly is - SAFE. Yay! Crystal is - SAFE. Yay! So the 2 left are Ashely and DiDi. Hmmm. Ashley has been touted as a possible winner this year, but I really like DiDi so this doesn't make me happy at all. Ryan asks Ellen about these two but she just gives the "you're both great" and "it's not the end" kind of speech. And going home is ---- Ashley. Wow! DiDi is SAFE!! Yay! But this is an early "shocking" elimination because I'm sure TPTB thought she would be going on tour this year. I must say, though, I cautioned in my review of her performance that her obvious annoyance with the judges' opinions wouldn't sit well with the voters and I guess it didn't. She displayed that arrogance again tonight in fact. Her encore was better than before although she still hit a couple of clunkers but hey, she just got booted so her emotions are messed up I'm sure.
Time to start with the guys. The back row seats Michael Lynche, John Park, Aaron Kelly, Todrick Hall, Tim Urban, and Joe Munoz. This is a tough call because 2 of these guys were awful last night, 2 messed up with song choice, and 2 were decent but not great. In other words, it could be anybody but it should be Tim Urban for sure; he was the worst. Michael is - SAFE. John is - SAFE. (Now please pick a better song next week because I think you can do well on the right song.) Aaron is - SAFE. Hmm. Todrick is - SAFE. Yay! Glad he's getting another shot. That leaves Tim and Joe. As I said, Tim was awful last night but Joe had no prior exposure and while he sang pretty well, it wasn't memorable, so will the voters keep the better singer or the cute guy? Ryan asks Kara what she thinks and she hems and haws before saying she can't predict it. The person staying is - Tim. Are you kidding me? Sweet guy Joe is out; he sings his song and sounds fine once again. He thanks everyone when he's done. Good kid. Tough break.
Ryan announces that Idol Gives Back will air on April 21. Meanwhile, efforts are being made in Haiti and Kris Allen is on the show to talk about his experience with the United Nations Foundation there. He follows that up with a performance of "Let It Be". All proceeds from the sale of this song will go to Haiti Relief. Available on iTunes.
Back to business. In the front row are Tyler Grady, Jermaine Sellers, Casey James, Lee DeWyze, Andrew Garcia, and Alex Lambert. First up is Casey and he is - SAFE. YES! Jermaine is - SAFE. (And he is very relieved.) Lee is - SAFE. Andrew is - SAFE. The two left standing are Tyler and Alex. Logic would tell us that Alex is toast because he was painfully out of his element last night. Of course, logic hasn't exactly applied so far. When Ryan asks Simon about these two, he doesn't dodge the question like the others. He says based on their voices, Tyler will be gone. Not surprisingly, Simon is right. Alex got the pity vote and Tyler is going home. Tyler tells Ryan that he doesn't think he got good critiques from the judges in Hollywood, and what he got last night came too late. I'm sure that raised eyebrows but I noted in his review that he was encouraged in his 70s thing during Hollywood, then told just last night he needed to make his act more current so he's right; they should have told him that from the beginning because now it really is too late.
Next week the Top 20 performs: 10 girls and 10 guys. I'm hoping the nerves settle down and more thought is put into song choice so we as voters have real choices and the entire show has more worthwhile entertainment value.
So what did you think of these eliminations? Is your favorite still on the show? Feel free to comment below.
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