We tuned in on Thursday night, ready to hear which contestants were the lucky ones heading into the Top 12 for “Idol” Season 9. And here’s what we found…
Group Performance
Emmy: The group performed “Haven’t Met You Yet” by Michael Buble. I love that song, and it is perfect….when Michael Buble sings it.
I felt like the group performance of it had too many people, and it wasn’t the best arrangement of it. But I am happy with the choreographer that Lee was (FINALLY) put in the front and not blocked by other contestants (cough cough, Big Mike, cough). But whoever arranged the song had Lee with Big Mike! What is wrong with them? Big Mike drowned out Lee’s very pretty vocals.
Maddie: I actually enjoyed the group performance overall; the group’s voices went well together, and it was nice to see that Lee was actually somewhat visible on stage this time instead of being stuck all the way in the back behind who knows who else. But seeing him in front belting next to Big Mike did make me realize something: Lee, you need to work on your camera face, buddy.
He’s got great vocals and has had a strong showing on the show so far, but when he looks into the camera, he just looks kind of awkward. Like he can’t believe that he’s actually on America’s highest-rated reality TV show. But he is, so get your confidence up, Lee, and smile!
First Girl Elimination
E: OK, America! What is wrong with you?! Didi does NOT belong in the Top 12. She is a flimsy little thing with a story that people love. Yes, her best friend died and that’s the reason why she’s doing music, but that doesn’t mean that she’s good at it. I see the elderly couples, those who watch the show (which apparently is a lot) voting for her. They see her as a sweet and loving gal who is down-to-earth. Well, that down-to-earth-ness is actually flimsyness!
On another note, Siobhan is in the Top 12, and she’s still weird. She creeps me out a little. Yeah, she has a good voice and her fashion sense is quite interesting, but I’m not too sure many people can relate to her like they can to someone like Katie Stevens.
When it came down to Paige and Hooker, I knew that Hooker was going to get into the Top 12. People like her even if I don’t. Hooker had a glow on her face when it came between her and Paige, probably because she thought she was getting into the Top 12; Paige’s performance the other night stunk. Hooker’s face was glowing, and she was very proud standing in her somewhat hookerish outfit (short black dress AGAIN and pink fishnet tights…really?).
But when it was announced that Paige made it, I was ready to have a party with cake and balloons, the whole bit. I was not going to have to see another performance of Hooker’s nor see one of her various outfits with her poor taste in fashion. It was a time to celebrate.
Obviously, people had thought Paige was going home, as did Paige herself. When performing with the Top 16, she looked sad, knowing how bad her performance was and the chances of her going home.
M: Finally! What America (or at least I) have been waiting for since the first Chicago audition: Katelyn Epperly is going home!
While I can say that I at least feel sorry for the other contestants that went home, it’s hard for me to feel anything remotely close to sorrow when one of my least favorite girls (Lacey Brown and her annoyingly nasal voice, of course, being the first) is finally leaving the show.
Not to mention, while Paige had a terrible performance this week, she by no means deserved going home; she may not have performed her best once, but her other two performances were solid, even good. She has more potential by far than many of the girls that are moving on into the Top 12 and one of those that aren’t — and yes, Katelyn, that would be you. So sorry — I guess America wasn’t into your multiple personalities. I know I wasn’t.
First Guy Elimination
E: I am mad at “American Idol” SO much. First off, for all of Thursday, I was very nervous for Lee, and when the show actually started, my heart was pounding fast, hoping that Lee would make it. After all, there really wasn’t a reason why I should be nervous; Lee had a fun, great performance the other night, and I still have it stuck in my head.
But “American Idol” had me flipping out as they brought down Tim, Todrick, Lee and Casey to the stage. Then they have to go and put Tim and Casey in the chairs and leave Lee and Todrick there. Way to make me have a heart attack! If I was about to flip out even more, I have no clue what it was like for Lee.
Todrick had a great, fun performance the other night. According to the judges, he “was back” and “no longer a dancer, but a singer.” So then I started having my doubts. Lee’s performance was great. It was something different, but nonetheless, but it was spectacular.
Of course, Ryan Seacrest has to drag it out a mile before announcing it by talking to Simon. By this time my heart was pounding out of my chest. I was not enjoying Ryan’s build up. Then Ryan gets behind Lee and Todrick, and I’m about ready to yell at my TV, “Tell me, already!”
Ryan then touches Lee shoulder and announces he’s staying and to have a seat in one of the chairs.
Then I threw myself another party, but this time it was bigger and more exciting — because LEE MADE IT TO THE TOP 12!
M: When Casey and Tim Urban (UGH) were sent to the safety chairs, my heart was left hammering as I watched the first guys’ elimination come down between Todrick and Lee. If you had asked my last week who would go home between the two, I would have said Todrick, no problem: He had absolutely terrible reviews during his first couple weeks in the Top 24, and I figured that it was only a matter of time — in this case, one week — until he was heading home.
But it was not the second week anymore — it was the Top 16, the first episode in which Todrick actually showed some potential. Which meant that he might not have been going home.
So I was scared. Scared for Lee, especially — Prospect had been voting for him (those obnoxiously neon “Vote 4 Lee” shirts better not have been for nothing), but was America? I wasn’t so sure.
But I needn’t have worried: America kept Lee in, and Todrick is, as he deserves, the heck out of there. So good job, America: You didn’t let me down.
Second Guy Elimination
E: First off, it was no duh that Big Mike was safe. He had a great performance the other night, even with the cat-screeching high notes. But I will say this: I don’t want him to win, nor do I think he deserves to win. We already had a R&B singer win, Ruben Studdard in Season 2. And might I ask you, Americans: What happened to him? No one knows because he pretty much fell off the face of this earth!
“American Idol” winners should be people who appeal to all ages. Look at successful “Idol” winners like Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, David Cook and Kris Allen. They are all singers that pretty much everyone enjoys and are played on two different radio station genres. R&B singers don’t get played on pop radio stations, let alone country. We don’t see Prospect students whipping out their iPods and saying, “I’m going to listen to some R&B now.” And don’t you dare tell me that Beyoncé is R&B, because she is definitely NOT.
Eventually, the elimination got down to Andrew and Alex. Little Aaron Kelly Big Voice ended up being safe, with which I am fine because he deserves to stay in the competition.
Now, even though Andrew lost his star pizazz and, as they say, “peaked early,” he still has the potential to overcome that Paula song, and that’s why I didn’t want him to leave. Besides, watching him perform is nice. You don’t feel uncomfortable like you do with the other guy standing there, Alex.
Even though his last name might be Lambert, it wasn’t enough to amp up his stage presence. He stood on stage looking like he was going to puke. Or as Maddie mentioned, puke up that mushed up banana Ellen is always comparing him to.
When Alex got eliminated, I was quite happy. I did feel bad for him though. Getting so far in the competition then leaving. That was hard. But honestly, he was soon sobbing, and it got to the point where I wanted to yell at him, “Be a man! Enjoy your last minutes of fame before you go back to your hometown!”
Coming back from commercial Alex was all red and watery-eyed. I still felt bad for the kid, but it was his time for him to go, unlike the person that was eliminated next.
M: Not surprisingly, Big Mike and little Aaron Kelly have made it into the Top 12 for Season 9 — big shocker there. When it came down between Alex and Garcia, though, I knew that it had to be Alex. Garcia may not have been at the top of his game since going live, but ever since I saw him do Paula’s “Straight Up” in Hollywood to perfection, I’ve been waiting for him to come back and show America that kind of phenomenal potential again. And I think he will once he picks the right song.
But although Garcia deserved to stay, I couldn’t help but break down on the inside at least slightly as I watched poor, sweet Alex Lambert look like he was going to throw up that “mushed banana” to which Ellen is constantly referring (metaphorically, of course). The poor kid wasn’t ashamed to cry his eyes out, as it was obvious that he had when the cameras focused on his blotchy face after the commercial break.
But Alex wasn’t the only contestant crying because of his elimination; Siobhan Magnus looked absolutely hysterical. And you know what that means? I think that innocent little Alex and Siobhan just might have had a thing! Or at least will have a thing sometime in the future, because let’s face it, you don’t cry when you haven’t been eliminated like Siobhan did unless you really are emotionally tied to the person going home, which the two of them might be. Hey, it’s Mullet and the Freak!
And hey, who can blame them? I would have been crying, too — if only he’d cut that mullet.
Second Girl Elimination
E: Lacey made it through to the Top 12, and she was over joyed. After coming back and trying again from last season, she is showing the people who she wants to be, even if it’s not an exact genre. When asked before making it through what kind of singer she wants to be, she probably replied with the longest statement without actually specifying WHAT she wants to sing.
She made it through, as I said earlier. I am glad to see Lacey to the next round. She has a unique persona about her, even if it reminds me of Cracker Barrel and how I used to dip their grilled cheese sandwiches in ketchup every time I ate there when I was little.
I was also glad to see Crystal making it through. She is a serious artist who has her mind in the right place when it comes to getting far in this thing. She’s not like some other contestants who seem to be in it just for the ride. If you want to be in this competition and get far, you should be showing it, not hiding it.
As for the person leaving, I was almost positive it was going to be Katie when it got narrowed down to Lilly and her. Lilly was a front-runner in the competition.
But to my surprise and most of America’s, it was Lilly leaving, not the young high school student. I was totally shocked. What happened? Lilly had one of the best performances the other night, and I even thought that if Lee wasn’t going to win, it would have been her.
It was totally shocking. Was it a case that viewers thought that many people were going to vote for her and decided to vote for someone else, I’ve done it before? A good example of this was how Chris Daughtry got eliminated when it came down to the final four in Season 4. That was shocking, and as Simon stressed then, you have to vote, vote, vote for your favorite.
On the bright side, maybe someone will recognize Lilly’s potential and give her a record deal. I wouldn’t mind listening to her.
M: Um, WHAT? Lilly Scott, the only girl with any substantial talent other than Crystal Bowersox, going HOME? In the Top 16? WHAT?
I’m literally in shock, and that’s all that I can say. Lilly 100 percent deserved a spot in the Top 12 — even, I would argue, the Top 2. She couldn’t only sing, but she was an artist in a way that no one else this season ever has been. But when it came down between Lilly and Katie for the final elimination, I knew who was leaving the “Idol” stage tonight.
Why else would Lilly have been saved for last? Ryan has a pattern with the way he chooses to deliver the news of the eliminations: The person called first is always safe, and the last two left over are planned to be as suspenseful as possible in order to keep the audience’s attention. After all, had it been between Alex Lambert and Big Mike for the last elimination, I literally could have turned off my TV before hearing the news and still would have known who would have been eliminated. There would have been no surprise factor.
So when Lilly was saved until the end, there was no way that she wasn’t going home. As a clear front-runner of the girls this season, if she hadn’t been leaving the show, she would have been told that she was safe earlier on, and someone like Paige, who had a terrible third week, would have been tacked onto the end to keep the audience captivated.
But Lilly was heading home. And I’ve never been more upset about an elimination night since Adam Lambert was put into the bottom three in the Top 5 last season, which, by the way, made me want to hit something. Preferably the television.
E: Who to watch for next week: Lee, Crystal, Andrew
Who I think will be out of the competition soon: Aaron, Paige, Lacey and maybe Didi
The guys are going to dominate. No girl’s talent has made me go “wow.”
M: Who to watch: Lee, Crystal, Garcia
Who’s on the way out: Lacey, Aaron, Didi, Tim
– Emmy Lindfors and Maddie Conway
