'American Idol' makes its first four eliminations
Just one more hour until the first batch of American Idol eliminations are announced and just 60 minutes til a week of flu-addled Idol recapping is complete. Better health next week, but 'til then, join me for a minute-by-minute tour of Thursday (Feb. 21) night's show.
8:00 p.m. ET. It's a wide-open race. As the evening begins, the only person on either side I'm absolutely convinced is toast is Amy Davis. The occasionally reliable tacticians at DialIdol can only say that David Archuleta, Jason Castro and Michael Johns probably are safe. That's impressive. That being said, nothing on the first two nights have left me with any conviction that when Ryan Seacrest calls these "the best contestants so far" he isn't lying to my face. Why would you lie to my face, Ryan? You seem so sincere.
8:01 p.m. After announcing that 28 million votes were cast over the week (that sounds low to me, actually), Seacrest introduces the judges as "The very talented Randy Jackson, the back-in-a-big-way Paula Abdul and the monotonous Simon Cowell" before making the latest effort to cut off the ever-circling Ringer Conspiracy talk. If I hear one more time about Kelly Clarkson's record deal... Oh and last year's finalist was Brandon Rogers, not Brandon Davis, Paula.
8:04 p.m. Oooh. It's the photo shoot that yielded all of our official FOX press photos. Set to song by Daughtry and featuring lots of grainy black-and-white close-ups and name-card IDs, it looks like the contestants are auditioning for a mid-'90s FOX drama. I half-expect a closing title reading "And Joe E. Tata as Nat."
8:05 p.m. It's the season's first Group Sing! In this case, you'll excuse me while I have a painful coughing fit. The problem with these early season Group Sings always boils down to the fact that usually at least half of the Top 12 men can't carry a tune. This year that isn't the case and even the men who looked weak on Tuesday (like Luke Menard) are capable of harmony. I love that Kristy Lee Cook is dressed up at least three different '60s fashion archetypes and that Danny Noriega can't resist twiddling his fingers on the microphone like he's Asia from the first season of The CW's The Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll. I don't love how little Amanda Overmyer is given to do. Boo.
8:12 p.m. Ryan promises it's time to get down to business, starting with the guys, but not without flashing back to Tuesday's show, as I go grab a huge glass of orange juice. Argh. Add Jason Yeager to the list of people I really want to see go home. Do we figure Paula's statement about "doing her first ballet recital" to "Moon River" was euphemistic? I hope not.
8:16 p.m. Garrett, in a suit and fedora, is called to the stage first. With almost no ceremony, he's sent home. Bye Garrett. Jason Castro expresses Muppet-like amusement, while Danny showcases pantomimed shock when he senses the camera is on him. Four male contestants received no pre-Top 24 screentime and one is already gone. While there's a tradition of performers coming across as more relaxed and natural when they sing their exit songs, this isn't the case for Garrett. He's brutal.
8:20 p.m. Sell more products? Well sure.
8:24 p.m. Remember how the women performed last night? I do too. I'll use this time to remind you that the first four semifinalists eliminated last season were Paul Kim, Amy Krebs, Nicole Tranquillo and Rudy Cardenas. There's no shame in finding yourself in that company.
8:28 p.m. "This night is no fun, believe me," Ryan says. Oh, I do. Ryan starts by calling Kristy up and telling her she's safe. Then he turns around and, before even inviting her on stage, tells Amy she's done. That seems right. Paula tells her that this is an amazing platform, adding mysteriously "You've got to go paint that door and that knob." The performance by Amy's white leggings is superior to anything she does vocally.
8:31 p.m. "Paula Abdul is going to shake what Mama Abdul gave her," Ryan threatens before going to commercial. Paula gives him a look that says, "Um, I thought we were just running a video clip."
8:33 p.m. The triple-thick bacon from Chili's either terrifies me or arouses me. I can't tell which.
8:35 p.m. We're taking a break from the commercials... er... the eliminations for premiere of Paula's "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow." It's a decently produced song, but given its title, who do I feel like Paula does little enough dancing that she's counting on there actually being a tomorrow? The real dancing is mostly done by the people in the background. Lyrically, the song has less variation than "Rush Rush."
8:41 p.m. Ryan calls Amanda Overmyer and Joanne Borgella to the stage and says that everybody sitting on the couch is safe. I know I have to do this for a living, but if Amanda's gone already, I may need to quit.
8:45 p.m. See, I'm suddenly a little nervous here.
8:46 p.m. Whew. Amanda's safe. I'm not surprised that Joanne is the second woman going home. Randy blames her nerves. Ryan asks Simon what's going through his mind as he sips his drink, getting "How much I love Coca-Cola" as a quip. It's unfair, but viewers had certain expectations from Joanne, expectations fueled by Mandisa and LaKisha and Frenchie and, frankly, by just a little bit of institutionalized racism. She didn't live up to those expectations. There's an awful lot of crying going on on from Joanne's fellow Idol women.
8:53 p.m. How are we going to kill the next seven minutes?
8:54 p.m. Ryan calls Colton and Chekezie to the stage. I think Chekezie has lost six pounds since Tuesday. Colton looks nothing like Ellen DeGeneres.
8:55 p.m. Colton is done. Paula tells him to never give up. Simon tells him to get a good job, but to enjoy singing. He warns Colton that he'll never have a professional career at this.
8:56 p.m. So that's good-bye to Colton, Joanne, Amy and Garrett. Is anybody miserable?
What'd you think of tonight's results?
And check out all of our Idol coverage at Zap2it's Guide to American Idol.
I have absolutely no problem with these four eliminations.
Interesting that both the last man and the last woman to make the top 24 were cut tonight. I have to think that Cardin McKinney and "Clay-light for Governor" would have lasted longer.
Not getting the strange obsession with Amanda. Not at all.
Did that mean Amanda was in the bottom three?
I guess so. I think she's real good but Rockers sort of have a disadvantage on idol for three reasons.
1) Most Pop singers perform covers or have songs written for them. Rock singers shine when they write their own material.
2) Let's face it (and I know I'm going to take a lot of heat here) but the majority of the audience isn't very hip. And most people who consider themselves hip would never admit to watching IDol.
3) Simon doesn't really like or understand Rock N Roll.
As for her in the group performance. She looked like she couldn't believe she was taking part in this cheesy song and performance and looked like she's wanted to be anywhere else. She'll probably end up getting what I expect she wants next week.
Okay last thing I'm going to say about the "Ringer" thing.
What it boils down to is this. The "Vote For the Worst" website broke the story thinking they were "Woodward and Berstein" and thought they had discovered the scoop of the century when in reality they should have discovered this and wrote about in 2001 or 2002.
Thena bunch of tabloid "journalists" (Sorry Daniel) ran with the story and kept beating it like that proverbial dead horse.
Now Idol is laughinghly shrugging it off and rightfully so. They are pointing out that the competition is about and always has been about discovering a recording star not coddling amateurs who aren't ready.
And as Simon says I can't believe I agree with Paula that if they haven't already been trying to make a name for themselves already they don't belong in the competiton.
And that was proven a bit with the two guys who went home. They were the amatuers form the small towns and they wer not recording stars. Not to say they couldn't worjk at it a few years and get better.
I don't have any problems with any of the 4 eliminations and I'll say that I think the 2 worst females were definitely eliminated. The remaining 10 females all have a legit shot at the top 12 IMO. Well maybe not Alexandrea, but the other 9 will all be fighting hard the next 2 weeks.
Of the guys only about 2 deserve a spot in the top 12. I really wish the producers weren't so set on having 50/50 splits for the top 24 and top 12. I've said this before, but I think it's very obvious that there is a lot more female than male talent in this year's Idol.
Purely based on ability and performance, I would have subbed Luke and his thin, whiny, barely there voice for Colton and Kady and her pitchy, pretty awful and boring "Groovy Kind of Love" performance for Joanne. I have a bad feeling Luke is gonna get far just based on his looks. Simon was probably telling Randy and Paula (and her blended, T-Pain'd voice) "I told you so" after the show, noting Colton's dismissal and his earlier insistence on the Gl***es/Governor guy. I guess you have to look at it that eventually, all but one will be gone. I still don't see anyone there who blows me away. Daniel, even when you are sick you are hilarious. It's great to look forward to your reviews!
Nothing wrong with these eliminations.....although I think they should have cut Amanda before Joana. Amanda's a one-trick pony and definitely does NOT have the look (yes, the look is needed along with the sound) of an American Idol. She looks like trash.
Danny needs to go next week, and needs to take a swift baseball bat hit to the head and face with him as he does. Perhaps next year he'll try and compete on the women's side.
Wow what a sad commentary Todd M.
"She looks like trash"
"Danny needs to take a swift baseball bat hit to the head and face"
You sound like a pig.
Just my opinion, you don't have to agree with it.
I usually like the rockers of the group...but Amanda does absolutely nothing for me. I hope she picks better songs.
No surprises on these eliminations but how much must it suck to be the first ones voted off and then have to sing your exit song dressed like Petula Clark circa 1965?
I think the producers really missed a big opportunity on the group sing. For 60's week they should have gone with 'I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing!'
...subliminal plug for the sponsors, enough singers to carry it off, and a Great message for Idol wannabe's!