American Idol Results: Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad
Some American Idol eliminations are real shockers, like last week's out-of-nowhere ousting of onetime favorite Alexis Grace. Eliminations like that, you don't see coming.
And then there are others that are so obvious, even Scott McIntyre could see 'em coming. Like tonight's eliminated singer, Michael Sarver. Not exactly a shock, there. The real surprise was that the judges still forced the poor schlub to sing in vain, in the hopes of getting a Judges' Save.
Yeah, right. Like that was going to happen.
Come on, now--if the judges let Alexis go last week, there was no way they were going to rescue Michael tonight. Many people--myself among them--didn't think Sarver deserved to be in the top 13 (or even in the top 36) in the first place, and his "Aint Too Proud To Beg" performance this week was nothing to be proud of, so it made sense that his time was finally up. The fact that Michael had to sing "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" again--that is, reprise his WORST performance of the season, the very one that actually put him in this vulnerable position--in an attempt to convince the judges that he did deserve to stay...well, that was indeed akin to begging.
Honestly, at-risk contestants battling for that precious Judges' Save should have the option of singing their BEST song of the season, the song of their choice--not their WORST. But let's face it, Sarver didn't have many good performances this season to choose from. So there really was nothing he could do to keep himself from ultimately being sent back to the oilrig with this cold Cowell kissoff: "Michael, you're going home. Sorry."
Scott McIntyre's placement in the bottom three was no huge shock either; I predicted yesterday that both he and Michael would be up for elimination tonight. Scott had never been in the bottom before, but his awkward and amateurish performance last night of the Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love" was anything but supreme. I suspected in the end he'd scrape by due to sympathy votes (viewers probably pitied him for those fleshy-pink pants that the Idol stylist stuck him in, if nothing else). But the fact that he came close to getting cut this week was to be expected.
But you know what I didn't expect? For MATT GIRAUD to almost get eliminated tonight. What the heck? Was America watching the same show as me this week? Did the people in TV Land watch last night with the sound off? With the SCREEN off? Matt was at his best on Motown Night. He sang "Let's Get It On"! What red-blooded female in America didn't appreciate that? Simon and Randy even declared Matt a serious new threat in the competition after his killer, confident performance.
I'm utterly baffled that Matt was in the bottom three this evening. And I'm even more baffled, when I think about it, that he was in the bottom TWO--Scott was sent back to safety first, which means the lowest two vote-getters of the evening were in fact Michael and Matt. This would have made sense if Matt had stumbled through "Viva La Vida" this week...but he's long since redeemed himself since that earlier misstep, and he deserved to be in the TOP three tonight, not the bottom.
I dunno, maybe today was Opposite Day or something...
Anyhoo, America ultimately made the right decision and sent Michael, not Matt, packing. I have a feeling if it had been Matt in last place, the judges might have deliberated a little more seriously over whether to exercise their Judges' Save veto power (I don't for a moment think they ever considered using it on Michael, since Simon had emphatically declared last night that Sarver had "no chance of winning").
Let's just hope America gets it right next week, so the judges don't have to almost rescue Matt again.
SCOTT MUST GO NEXT WEEK
Good to see that Scott looks like he could finally be up soon.
I just want to note that this season almost every remaining idol is different...they all have a certain niche that would be different if they made their album. I hope Scott or Anoop are gone next week, then Lil and Megan, then we get to the top 5 and the real contenders.
p.s. love, love, love Joss Stone!
No crowd, no judges or Paula dancing- it was just wrong!
What Sarver could probably use in the future are some lessons to strengthen his voice, since he runs out of air quickly. His biggest handicap is that he has a small singing voice relative to other contestants, and winning AI seems to require a certain amount of bombast. I certainly prefer Sarver to Gokey, who I find smarmy, and Allen, who is utterly bland.
I actually like McIntyre. His problem is that his style is easy listening, which isn't a winning formula for AI. Nor does he have the best singing voice of the remaining competitors. He seems to be more of a natural instrumentalist, perhaps by necessity, than a performer, and that doesn't bode well for him either.
Iraheta is the best singer of the remaining competitors, and I'm currently rooting for her. Corkey is an interesting performer, but she lacks stage presence, as does Giraud, which is too bad because he's arguably the most serious musician of the remaining competitors. While Rounds is very talented, she's not a distinctive performer.
Lambert is a little too musical theater for my taste. He is not, as Parker apparently hopes, the second coming of David Bowie circa 1973. That's not Lambert's fault. I just don't find him particularly edgy, although he is compared to other AI contestants--an easy accomplishment, all things considered. Based on how he performs in subsequent weeks, maybe he'll prove me wrong and demonstrate that he is a real rocker.