Idol Chatter - Second Elimination (3/20/08)

It’s Wednesday night and that can only mean one thing:  we are going to say good-bye to the second would-be Idol and get down to the American Idol Top 10!

 

And as usual, it’s never that cut and dried with Idol.  Instead of ripping the band-aid off in one fell swoop and telling us whose dreams of Idol stardom are doomed, we were dealt a steady dose of water torture by Ryan and the gang.

 

Highlights of the evening’s events included a mini Beatles medley, a behind the scenes look at how the Idols make those wacky Ford commercials, a segment on Idol Gives Back, and finally a performance by Season 5’s Kellie Pickler who teased Simon and Randy as she strutted on and off the stage while singing her hit “Red High Heels”.

 

When the dust finally settled and we were ready to get down to business, Ryan had the Idols come out from backstage one-by-one to learn their fate as determined by the voting public.  Tonight’s elimination was of particular interest to the contestants because the results would determine who would be touring this summer as part of the Idol Top 10 and which Idol would be buying tickets at an arena near them.

 

Instead of putting you through the same excruciating process that I endured, I’ll tell you that the bottom three included one pretty big surprise (at least in my humble opinion). 

 

You might recall that last night I predicted Amanda, Ramiele, and Kristy Lee Cook would make up the bottom three—well, for the second week in a row, I missed the bottom three by a single member.  Instead of Ramiele sweating it out, it was Carly Smithson!  I guess the luck of the Irish ran out on our lass from the Emerald Isle.

 

So to recap, making the Top 10 so far are:

 

1. Brooke White
2. David Archuleta
3. Michael Johns
4. David Cook
5. Jason Castro
6. Ramiele Maluby
7. Syesha Mercado
8. Chikezie

 

To relieve a bit of the tension for at least one of the contestants—and to restore some order to a huge mistake by the voters, Ryan sent Carly over to the couches and by doing so assured her that she would be touring with the eight other Idols already seated and breathing easy.

 

That left Kristy Lee Cook and Amanda—and wouldn’t you know, I was wrong again!  For the second week in a row, I predicted that American had seen enough of KLC and her KFC-styled singing.  But that wasn’t the case tonight—and I can’t really say I was too disappointed with the decision.

 

I think America got it right because Amanda can’t sing—at least not in the style expected of our American Idols.  Case in point:

 

During the mini Beatles medley that featured all of remaining Idols, Amanda was noticeably silent during the ladies portion of the show.  While the girls sang “Here, There, and Everywhere”, Amanda was nowhere to be found—as a matter of fact when she finally was spotted off in the distance, she was seen holding the microphone up to her mouth, but her lips weren’t moving.  It appears to me that the producers of the show were finally aware of what many of us already knew—the chick with the skunk ‘do stinks as a pop singer!  When they finally let her sing it was like nails on a chalkboard, but thank goodness it only lasted long enough for her to grunt the line “and in the end”…

 

And in the end, she is heading back to Indiana to ride her Harley, provide care to her nursing patients, and play smoky bars on weekends where no one can hear a thing anyway.

 

With our Top 10 revealed, the Idols turn their attention to new songs, better performances, and a 10% chance of becoming the next American Idol—it’s getting quite exciting!

 

Tune in next Tuesday to see from what genre they have to choose their songs.  Until then, I will continue watching TV so you don’t have to…

 

Charlie