The goal tonight was to get down to the Final 4 Idols. So who would it be? After last night’s mostly mediocre performances, they could very well have eliminated not one, but two of the Idols and no one with two working ears would complain.
Kicking off the elimination show, the remaining five Idols sang a little tribute to Neil Diamond and his wonderful songbook. If this was supposed to serve as a preview of the type of performances the Top 10 Idols will put on during the annual Idol Summer Tour, you might want to go to Disney instead. The Idols sounded off their game—with the exception of David Cook who was channeling Neil, but for the rest of the Idols and especially Brooke, it was embarrassing to think they were in the Final Five.
The medley of Neil Diamond songs included “Cracklin’ Rose”, “Song Sung Blue”, and “Hot August Nights”—and all I can say is some of the Idols must have smoking crack, I was blue watching their sorry performance, and I was looking forward to saying good-night to one of the Idols; I just hope America didn’t pull any surprises with their voting like they have in two of the last three weeks.
Returning Idols
After watching the remaining Idols struggle to entertain, Ryan found a couple of former Idol wannabes who just happen to be sitting in the audience. Constantine from Season 4 and Gina from Season 5 were there to promote their Fox Reality show, American Idol Extra. Before leaving them to enjoy the rest of the show, Ryan pleaded with Constantine to do his famous pout—creepy.
And with Ryan walking and talking toward the judges, we caught a glimpse of Ace from Season 4 who was sitting with his brother—who was a permanent fixture in the audience when Ace was busy breaking hearts.
There was also a Kristy Lee Cook sighting—don’t these guys have anything better to do? It’s essentially the equivalent of college-aged kids hanging out at their former high school—acting the part of the BMOC (Big Man on Campus).
Elimination Time
We were “treated” to a quick recap of the previous night’s performance, which was both painful and cringe worthy.
Before Ryan brought out the first Idol to learn their “safe or danger” fate, he tried to put to rest the Paula snafu from last night when she attempted to critique the two songs sung by Jason Castro…the problem: he had only performed one! That’s our Paula! You can imagine the water cooler discussions going on in every office this morning—and if you can’t, just pretend.
Safe or Sorry
Jason was invited to join Ryan on the stage. Ryan repeated the judge’s comments from last night and then sent Jason to the safety sofa.
David Archuleta strolled to the stage and Ryan did his thing with the judge’s critiques. No big surprise, David was safe.
Before throwing it to commercial, Ryan teased us with next week’s theme: Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. Then he reminded us that one of the three remaining Idols—Brooke, Syesha, or David Cook will be going home tonight.
Shameless Fox Plug
We were reminded that after Idol crowns their Season 7 champion on May 21st, Fox’s other ratings juggernaut, “So You Think You Can Dance”, premiers their fourth Season. If you haven’t watched the first three seasons, you should tune in to see some really awesome talent.
More Eliminations…
Ryan asked David Cook to come out and learn that America got it right and voted him to safety.
So if you are doing the math at home, you know that there are only two Idols left—and only one safety spot. Out walked Syesha and Brooke, judges comments repeated, small talk with the bottom two, and then…they were both sent to the couch because Ryan had a little professional entertainment in store for everyone.
Guest Singing Sensation
British singer/songwriter Natasha Bedingfield graced the stage and performed “Pocket Full of Sunshine”. The song had Paula shaking her grove thing, but Simon looked positively bored—I think he may have been working on a hangnail. When the performance was over, Ryan made meaningless chit-chat with Natasha asking her about her start in the business—which was not all that inspiring. But Natasha was a big hit with the contestants—especially David A. who she sat next to on the couch, gave him a couple of kisses, and then dashed his hopes of being his prom date by reminding the world that she has a boyfriend.
Filler Phone Calls
As with all the previous elimination shows, Ryan opened the lines for America to ask their silly questions. The only one that was of mild interest was from British lady named Tara who now lives in Petaluma, CA. She wondered if Simon remembered his first kiss. He turned a lovely shade of red as he recalled that special moment all those many years ago when the precocious nine-year-old future Idol judge shared a special smooch at the bottom of his garden back in England with the very caller who posed the question, Tara. What are the odds?!
More Entertainment
This week’s guest mentor, Neil Diamond, took to the stage and performed his new song, “Pretty Amazing Grace”. Not exactly the next “Sweet Caroline”, the song just never got going for me. But watching Neil do his thing on stage was pretty amazing—especially when you consider this guy could just as easily be collecting a Social Security check sitting in his basement and listening to any number of his hits from his storied career.
A quick shout out to Neil’s mother who was in the audience was followed by a plug for his new album which “drops” on May 6th—that’s next Tuesday for the calendar-challenged out there.
Before leaving the stage, Neil encouraged the Idols to NOT listen to what Simon says—which got a few cheers.
The End of the Road—and our Final Four
Final judgment for one of the bottom two was swift—it was Brooke. Not real surprise—she lasted several weeks longer than she probably deserved, but that didn’t stop Brooke from crying a river. And then she had the stage to herself—and pulled a Brooke: she forgot the words…again! It looks like America got this elimination right.
The Final Four Idol wannabes in order of how they should finish are:
David Cook
David Archuleta
Syesha Mercado
Jason Castro
Tune in next Tuesday as these four take on songs from the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame—which in itself is an interesting theme. It promises to be a very exciting and entertaining night of action.
Until then, I will continue watching TV so you don’t have to…
Charlie
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