This year, American Idol has vamped up the results show to look more like the finale. More dramatic buildup, and showing the previous week's elimination, add to the drama of the night voters decide who goes home.
Going over the judges' thoughts on the previous night's performance is something new as well. The judges talk about watching the performances back and reiterating their comments from the night before.
Going into last night's show, I predicted that fans would vote Casey, Andrew, and Paige into the bottom three, with Paige going home.
My pick for the eliminated contestant was correct, although I was dead wrong on the other two. My reason for choosing Casey differ from my reason for choosing Andrew
I thought that voters might agree with Simon that the song Casey chose, Power of Love by Huey Leeis, was "old-fashioned when it first came out". While I disagreed with him, thinking that some fans would remember the song from the movie, Back to the Future, I thought fans might not vote for Casey's performance.
For whatever reason, voters did not put Casey in the bottom.
I cannot even give my thoughts on why Andrew received enough votes to avoid the bottom 3 this week for the third time. Agreeing with Simon, I too thought Andrew "sucked the soul out of the song, I Heard it Through the Grapevine. I thought he was in trouble when he sang the song, "Trouble". I do not think he is good enough to make it into the top 10 finalists.
I liked the group performance of Wham's "Wake me up before you go go", and I thought Michael and Lee sounded amazing together. Michael, by the way, was the only one who appeared to be moving naturally to the song. I think he definitely has what it takes to be a successful performer.
Another thing added this year to the results show, is Ryan chatting with the contestants about their performance. I have a problem already with contestants who talk back in disagreement, to the judges. Having them do it on the night of eliminations just makes it worse for me.
Ryan tells Siobhan first that she is safe, after she defends her screaming portion of the song last night, which Simon disliked. He then has Lee, Casey, Tim, and Paige stand up.
Tim defends his antics on stage and thought he entertained the crowd. Paige admitted that she gave a poor performance, and listed reasons for this, and other performances the judges did not like.
Ryan tells Tim and Paige they are both in the bottom three and tells Lee and Casey that they are safe. Aaron, Didi, and Michael find out they are safe. Didi disagreed with the judges' opinions of her performance, and seemed a bit arrogant to me. The judges were spot on last night saying that she was pitchy all over the place, and trying to be something she is not. I do like her voice, but I like it less the more I hear her talk about herself.
I did not pay too much attention to the guest singers because after about 30 seconds of Miley Cyrus' performance, I muted the television. I agreed with my son when he said that she had no business mentoring anyone on his or her singing ability. I went to get a load of laundry out of the dryer while Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato performed their Disney song.
I always knew that the majority of voters for American Idol contestants were young, but I did not realize they were "Disney" young. I think one guest singer is plenty for American Idol's results show.
A friend of mine actually said they thought that because Simon really wants a female to win the title this year, they deliberately rave about the male contestants who do not belong in the competition. I am not certain that is what is really going on, but I feel something is, because I was shocked when Katie wound up in the bottom 3, after standing up with Andrew to hear Ryan tell them which one was safe.
Why would American Idol producers think that the Disney Rock singers would hold the attention of viewers who voted more for the older contestants, than they did for the 16-year-old girl with the powerful voice, and the young guy with the perfect "teen idol" appeal? I am a little skeptical at this point in the competition. At the end, before Paige sings her way off American Idol, Simon announces that the judges will not even consider 'saving' Paige for another week. Personally, I believe it was because they ran out of time and could not concur with each other over whether they wanted to keep Paige in the competition or not.
I predicted Didi, Andrew, and Paige for the bottom three and with Paige gone, it will be those two who will have to really step it up in the coming weeks. If two of the more talented contestants leave before Didi or Andrew, it will be a real shame.
Next week's theme is R & B soul, with Usher as the mentor for the Idol contestants. I just hope that certain contestants do not "suck the soul" out of any R&B songs they choose next week.
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