An Emotional Elimination - 4/30/08

Well tonight was certainly more laid back than the rush marathon we went through last night. Once again I was somewhat stunned with the results based only this week's performances. However, we know with so few people left in the competition someone has to go. I will save the actual results for the end of my recap. In the meantime let's cover the rest of the show. Here goes:

Ryan welcomes us and the judges after briefly talking about the strangeness of last night. All of the judges appear calm and composed with Paula looking almost like a school girl in her garb. Later in the show, Ryan once again covers how the judges were thrown a curve ball and lots of rumors were said about Paula. He informs us she is part of the family and they love her. He does take the edge off the situation by adding that he thinks Simon still wants to hook up with her. I was so glad to know that they have her back. Also we learned that 45 million votes came in.

Then comes one of the worst group sings I have ever heard as our group sing a few songs from Neil Diamond. I am wondering if he was cringing backstage. Songs that were croaked out were "Cracklin Rosie", "Song Sung Blue" and "Brother Love's Traveling Show". Definitely pure torture on this one.

Idols are in the audience tonight with the first shot of Kristy Lee Cook. Then Ryan has a chat with Constantine Maroulis and Gina Glocksen who are hosting the Fox reality show "American Idol Extra". Ryan chats with them for a moment about their show and wants to see the Constantine look. What comes next was downright rude on Ryan's part. He starts walking toward the camera and is talking about the Grammy Award winning artist Carrie Underwood and her stamp this week. However, right beside him is Ace Young and he totally ignores him. What the hell? Does Ryan not realize that Ace was nominated for a Grammy as a co-writer for one of Daughtry's songs or that Ace has a new cd coming out this July? This was a travesty on Ryan's part in my opinion. Shame on him!

More filler time as we see the new Coca Cola design on the judges cups. Also we see a clip of the new season of " So You Think You Can Dance" which starts on May 22nd. I am looking forward to this show. Also a small recognition of Nigel Lythgoe is shown.

Now for the real entertainment of the show:

First up is Natasha Bedingfield who sings one of her new songs "Pocketful of Sunshine". It is a good performance although I really like her other song "Unwritten" much better. She obviously adores David Archuleta as she gave him some hugs and kisses before she leaves the stage and wants to be his prom date.

A little trivia here. Her brother is Daniel Bedingfield who in 2001 had a hit single entitled "Gotta Get Thru This". The album itself was #1 on the U.K. charts and the single of the same name reached #10 in the U.S. The album sold over 4 million copies. I actually saw this young man in concert and he is fabulous and I love his album. Sadly, he was severely injured in a car accident on New Year's Day in the year 2004. It took him over 6 months to recover. Since then he has released a second album which peaked at #8 on the U. K. charts. He took a hiatus for 3 years and now has 3 albums waiting for release. I hope to get them as well.

Looking good for his age, Neil Diamond performs his new single from his "Home Before Dark" album entitled "Pretty Amazing Grace". I thought this song was awesome and now am interested in getting the album. Neil sure knows how to write great music and definitely still has the pizazz to pull it off. Bravo on this performance. Before he leaves the stage, Ryan chats with him about the album. Neil hopes the people like it, he continues to perform because it is fun and he loves it and tells our contestants to stay with it on their careers and do not listen to Simon. I got a laugh out of that one. He also mentions he thought the judges were a little harsh with their critiques.

Our Ford commerical is to the song "Catch The Wind". All I got out of this is that our contestants were making drab things look colorful.

Phone Call Time

1. Michael wants to know why Paula always gives the contestants a break with their performances. She answers "someone has to".

2. Miranda want to know if Paula and Randy will work together again and produce more videos. Lots of banter and never a clear cut answer on this one but it could be a maybe.

3. Tara Miller calls with a question for Simon and wants to know if kissing Paula was better than kissing her when Simon was 9 years old. He is definitely surprised to hear from her and let's her know she was his first crush and is she still cute. She of course says yes after complimenting him that he has aged well. Lots of banter between Ryan and the judges on this one.

:( Now for the dreaded results:

Goofy Jason Castro is called out first. He admits he is nervous, hears his re-cap with Ryan saying he is safe. I am dumb-founded!

David Archuleta is next and seems almost stunned to learn that he is once again safe.

David Cook comes out next. Ryan wants to know what David thought when Paula said she was looking at the next American Idol. He does say he was thinking it might be the kiss of death as he remembers what Simon said when Carly was eliminated.

Once again Syesha is in the bottom 2 with Brooke as the second one. Syesha looks composed and happy but Brooke seems quite tense as she says she is just happy to be there. They get a small reprieve on the couches before it is announced that Brooke is being eliminated tonight. I really felt for her tonight as she is crying and very upset. Sure I think she should have gone last week but it is always painful to see anyone go. She takes it very hard and can barely sing her swan song. She ends up not finishing the song and the show ends with Ryan giving her comfort at the back of the stage. The two Davids and Syesha try to give support to her during her song but I was just livid watching the goofy Jason grinning in the background.

So now we are down to 4 and frankly I wish Jason had been the one to go as I feel Brooke has more talent even though she is not one of my favorites. No doubt, Brooke's fans will be there for her when she releases a new album and I have no doubt she will. As for the theme next week, well nothing was mentioned so guess we will find out then.

I welcome your comments and now bid you

;) Hello again. Just an update on my prior posting. Seems next week's theme is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Hopefully the contestants get to choose from a wide variety of music. Hear that Clive, get those clearances!



Have a great day everyone!

Thanks CC As always great recap.. I loved last nights result show, one of the best for me, but that was mainly because of the Great Neil Diamond, I do really like this guy and I so agree that he does look great, How old is he anyway?? Anyway his voice is spot on perfect and his song is wonderful I'll be buying it as well.

So that's the gal that sang Unwritten huh? I didn't know that, and I agree I love that song, the one last night was just (as randy would say) just ok for me ha.. I remember Ayla Brown singing Unwritten in season 5 and to be honest I thought she did a heck of a job with it almost better than the orginal, I was really surprised she was voted off at that time. Oh well..I hear she's doing pretty good now.

I to could not believe that Ryan passed up Ace, OMG, what an insult!!! Ace with his ready smile and deep eyes What was he thinking??? Sad. I Sometime wonder if they are trying to wipe season 5 out of their memorys, kind of hard to do with Elliott and Kat and Kellie all being on this season and maybe later even taylor but sometime that seems like what they are trying to do.

Now for the results, Honestly I was a bit surprised that Jason was first out and first save, I thought right away that 1 of 2 things happened , either the voters felt sorry for him for Paula's blunder on Tuesday night and voted for him BIG TIME or AI has a hand in who is going where, I honestly think we will be looking at a 3 guy semi-final Next week will tell the story..

Wasn't surprised with David C being save at all, I think he is one of the choicen ones and he is good and he does have a lot of fans,

David A, another one I was not surprised by he'll be in the Fianl with David C I'd almost bet that, Good kid Good voice, just not for me and again he has no emotione when he sings,

Brooke and Syesha, I was surprised that Syesha was in the bottom 2 really was, I thought she hit it out of the ball park Tuesday ngiht and was pretty sure she was save and was pretty sure it was Brooke going home, all though she is not my favorite I hated to see her go, she is beautiful and does have a good voice and yes someone has to go and even though she was the logical choice between the two it was hard to see and harder to see her tears But I think she knew it before hand, she didn't look to suprised..

Next week should be very interesting, I do believe that David and Syesha will do very well with the Rock theme, I do not see Jason or David A doing well but then I'm always surprised by this show and season 5 Kellie really did a knock out performance on Queen night.

Thanks again CC....
Oh and I checked my memory and season 5 votes for the same time (TOP 5) was 47 1/2 million...

They seem to have shot up pretty good this week from last weeks 38 million.. Hummmmmmm

:D Hello Sandi. Yep, last night was entertaining with Neil. By the way he is 67 years old. Amazing how time flies but I did enjoy his performance a lot.

Also got another bit of news to report. On the results night both Maroon 5 and our wonderful Bo Bice will be performing. Sure will be good to see Bo again.


As for the theme. I do think you are right that Jason and David A. may have some problems with it. Of course since the music is from artists who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, they should have a wide variety to choose from hopefully.

Anyway, have a great week and be talking to you soon!

Don't know Maroon 5 all that well but BO BICE OMG, That is so great, I'll be there watching watching watching.
67! Wow he looks GREAT for that age but then look at Cher she's 62 and next week opens in Vegas for 3 years, still looks great as well but think she looks better in dark hair instead of the Blonde.

:waveing: Hello again. I actually saw Cher's Farewell Tour live a few years ago and yeppers, she looks and still sounds great. No doubt she will do well in Las Vegas. She happens to be my all-time favorite female artist.


As for Maroon 5, I have also seen them live and just really like this group alot. There music is pop-oriented and as you might guess I own all their music. Strange but true on their latest album I actually liked every song which is unusual as many times I only care for a couple on a new cd.

I agree seeing Bo will be awesome!

I was shocked to hear the Jason was safe and Brooke got voted off. She wasn't one of my favorites but I trully feel Jason should have gone by now.

Can't wait for next week. Sounds like it's goin to be fun musically.

:( AHHHHHHHHH!!! :( Brooke had by far the best performances of the night. She should not have left yet. I think mainly it was the show. It was way too fast and they always stick her in the middle, she was spot 3 the week before for cryin' out loud and 4th before that! If she went last instead of Syesha I feel Syesha would've been the one to go. It was all about song order. The whole show was so fast that any of the casual voters are going to remember Syesha's the most since it was good and it was last. I thought she would be top 3 for sure but deserved a win. I thought Castro was going for sure as he was in the first spot and his performances were the worst of the night. Forever in Blue Jeans wasn't bad but I thought it should've been him and either David in the bottom 2. I like David Cook a lot and he disappointed me bigtime. Archuleta did well with America I thought but his first song sucked. I cannot believe Jason is still in. Fanbases are definitely at work here. Brooke even said that she knew the guys had bigger fanbases as they would get these big sacks of fanmail every day and that the girls would get about 3 pieces of mail a day so she wished she was a guy this season.
This is really depressing, I think she'll be fine as her pre-idol cd was just re-released and made it up to spot #12 on the itunes pop charts and was 42nd overall.
I think she'll do great later on I just wish she could've made the top 3. :(
I don't like that people vote for him because of what Paula said. That's just dumb as Paula was confused since she didn't think she was supposed to judge until after they performed both songs and she did see the rehersals so this was rather dumb for people to vote because of her blunder. That has got to be the worst reason I've heard to vote for someone's performance.
Oh well it's not like I can change what happened no matter how many times I watch the results ryan won't change his mind and say Syesha. :(

If we had seasons based on most talent then it would've been Taylor & Daughtry at the finale in season 5 and David Cook & Brooke in the finale this year.

This was the first time I ever considered not watching an Idol performance show. I'm going to now but I could care less what happens. Syesha shouldn't have made the top 12, and Jason should've been out instead of Michael or Kristy. This sucks tremendously. The top 2 are so obviously Brooke & Cook which is why I didn't think it'd happen, but I am so mad and sad now. :(

geewind, Honestly I don't think it would have mattered one way or another how Brooke did last week. Ok this is my way of thinking. Gota follow close....

Lets get down to it like this, First when they were advertiseing this season it was THE BEST EVER then all we heard about was David A and how great he was and even when he missed words, missed whole sentences NOTHING was said to him he was the prime pimp and the one that AI wanted as their next IDOL, I'm sure of this, Now lets see first of was David H, like him or not the kid had a great voice and I loved his style and can still hear both "Papa was a Rolling Stone" and "It's all coming Back To Me Now" they were the stand out performances in those two weeks BUT his reputation got in the way and he was a threat to David A, off he went, Next up is Amanda, the Rockers loved her, so what happen again another Threat to David A, now i the mean time David C is starting to make waves and showing what he has and what he can do, next up is Chikeze, I truly think he was a casualilty of the AI wars, not enough vote to keep him alive, Who's next Rami, I knew she was going just knew it, there was nothing keeping it from happening, now moving on to MJ, BIG SUPRISE But now we have the remaining 2 Davids as front runners and MJ was getting WAY to good and way to many votes off he went, Kristi came next, I was truly surprised that she lasted as long as she did and as far as I know she never did "knock" Simons socks off, Carly, another BIG SURPRISE did not expect that and I think they couldn't risk keeping her any longer, Last week Brooke, She has a great voice and is beautiful to be sure but for her to win the Davids would have had to be gone and no way is that going to happen, So who do we have left???? Jason no way can he win nor would they let him, Syesha, again she'll get close but it won't happen. Which will leave them with a David vs David final and just what they want. A honest to goodness hoedown between the two, let the chips fall where they may, they see dollar signs looking at both of these kids, the rest were just in the way. It MIGHT be Syesha's last night tonight, Why, because there has never been a 3 guy Semi Final on AI and it MIGHT bring in a few more viewers, and if they are looking for the 4th Place SHOCK either one of the Davids will go, Chris D went home in 4th place as did Melinda last season,
Regardless of what happens the next two weeks they'll get one of the 2 Davids in the Final that's what they want. I wonder sometime if we vote for nothing, sure seems like it most of the time.

So what do you think of my reasoning?? I know I know way to much time on my hands and No I do not trust this show to do what's right, look at the treatment of Taylor enough said...

Sorry this is so long, I just couldnt' stop myself :)

wietzema I thought this funny but I think you are totally off the mark here.

I predicted David H. to go when he did as after his first performance (which was good) he went on a huge downhill spiral. Kept getting worse and worse.
Amanda shouldn't have left then but she was becoming very predictable.
Chikezie shouldn't have made the top 12 and then when he did and he changed up his game he stayed a couple more weeks.
Ramiele should've left instead of Amanda she was on a huge downward spiral as was Hernandez.
Michael Johns wasn't the biggest shocker, yes Syesha or Carly should've gone then but one of his notes was more than cringe-worthy and he went first.
Kristy was doing really well and she was getting better and better but she was too boring on Mariah week, again should've been Syesha.
Carly and Syesha bottom two and deserving. I cared less which left but now I'm thinking it should've been Syesha as she stole Brooke's spot as the final lady. But I was happy to see Carly go.
Brooke White should've been in the top 3 at the very least. Deserved to duke it out with Cook in the finale.

Jason should've left a while ago and his fanbase is way too huge. Brooke even said that the guys fanbases were incredibly huge as they got this big sackfull of fan letters everyday when the girls maybe got 3 letters? She thought she had to be a guy to win this year.

I think she would've been the final girl if Jason didn't get sympathy votes from what Paula said I could understand if he messed up and they were for him but from something that Paula said that bemuzes me.

Anyways Brooke should not have gone but it wasn't entirely A.I.s fault she got the boot. The only part that they did that affected her was that they kept sticking her in the middle and they did a rush of a show last week. But they weren't intentionally saying Brooke needs to go or anything like that. Or any of the other contestants for that matter.

Theres that difference of Opinion again but at least we can say it and not be worried about being bashed and hated on right.
I do agree with you that Syesha should have been the one to go last week and that Brooke should have been the only gal in the top 3.

But in my mind I do not think that the TPTB will let anyone but a David to win this and after watching tonights show that's going to be David A. How he lose with Randy and Simon telling him that he did so much better than the other 3, they could just as well have told the 3 to stay in their dressing rooms. David can do no wrong in their eyes and I think that is SO WRONG.... JMO of course but there it is...

I do think that you're right in that some think that Archuleta can do no wrong. Randy IMO always has a favorite every season that can do no wrong. I think that they do need to replace him. At least Paula is there to encourage them and Simon will say what he thinks, though sometimes I wish he would just shut that mouth of his.

Oh and I like the difference of opinions, makes the world go round.

You noticed that to G. Randy does seem to pick a favorite every season, doesn't he?





A difference of opinion makes the conversation more interesting.

I think it's got to be hard for them NOT to pick their own favorite but this season Randy has been very very vocal about who that favorite is and that is crossing the line in my opinion.

Randy really did seem to fully support David C. Hmmm!!!! :tsk:

I think he's done it other years to but yeah he is a little more obvious this year. If I remember correctly he heavily favored Paris Bennet in Season 5. Last year I'm not sure as there was only 3 really good ones in my mind and they made the final 3. Yes the others weren't bad but they weren't great. Overall this season seems to have a ton of talent even if they don't always use what they have. I think I'd blame the producers for that. Anyways I think it must be hard for them not act on who their favorite is. Simon really liked Brooke yet he still called her performance a hamburger without the meat, and a nightmare. He tries to be as impartial as possible regardless. I think they need to replace him just for that factor. I couldn't have been a good judge this season as I like Brooke way too much. Once somebody lets their opinion get in the way too much they need to be replaced and Randy has done that. I wouldn't mind at all if they replaced him. I like Ryan and Simon and think they should stay but Randy NEEDS to be replaced and I'm not sure about Paula if they do replace her they need to find someone that can be encouraging to the contestants.

I think Paula is the "little angel" of the three judges. You know she'll say something encouraging to the contestants to make them feel they did a good job. As much as I dislike Simon, I feel he lets the performer know where they stand on how they sang. (harsh as it may be) If we didn't have anyone to boo the show would be boring. Randy, for me, is just cool. I like him.