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by Raul Burriel Published: March 2, 2007
This week was much more even than last, as the men stepped up and some women stumbled. Unfortunately, as the contestants were all called to dedicate their song to someone, we ended up with a whole lot of junky power ballads and very little of the good stuff. Song choice, as always, is important. So you have to wonder what some of these kids are thinking when they go out there and give us snoozers. The first seven minutes of tonight's show are filled with recaps from the past two nights. This is followed by the obligatory group number. In this case, the 20 remaining contestants belt out a lively rendition of Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World". It's good enough that you have to wonder why several of the contestants just didn't sing this song earlier this week. Some of them are going to wish they had. A commercial break leads us straight to the first elimination. Rather than calling them on stage, Ryan goes down the back row of male contestants. One by one, he asks them to stand up, recaps the opinions of the judges, and then tells them if they're safe or not. Phil: safe. Chris Sligh: safe. Sundance: safe. Blake: safe. Jared has the displeasure of getting called down to the stage. It's a tense moment, but he's sent back to his seat. Nick... not safe. Nick was better than half the men this week and doesn't deserve to go home. But his singing style and image just aren't what the voting 'tweens are looking for. That's too bad. As if to prove just how wrong America is (his own personal "up yours!"), Nick's farewell performance of "Fever" is even better than Tuesday night's. Two seasons ago, Nick dropped out of the Hollywood round before returning this season and making it to the voting rounds. I wonder... can Nick come back again next season? And should he bother? As with the men, Ryan goes down the row of women, telling each one if they're safe or not. Stephanie: safe. Gina: safe. Sabrina: safe. Melinda: safe (did Ryan need to tell us this?) Alaina: not safe. Alaina Alexander had the misfortune of being too similar in appearance to Antonella Barba and, for some inexplicable reason, America has decided to pick Antonella as their favorite of these two. During her farewell performance, Alaina breaks down, but she's not the only one. Sundance is crying. Let's cut to Sundance crying. Let's cut to Sundance crying again. We just can't get enough of Sundance crying! Oops, someone just cut off Paula's mic during her farewell comments. Finally, something makes sense! Tonight's special guest is Kelli Pickler. Oh my God! Kelli's hiding two very large bald men in her dress! After the obligatory discussion of sushi, Ryan asks Kelli if she's spent her money on anything since leaving the show. "Shoes," Kelli replies. "Just shoes?" Ryan asks. Perhaps he's aluding to some other - more cosmetic - expenses. Kelli performs "I Wonder," a sappy country ballad. Moving on... Time to revisit the men. Chris Richardson: safe. Give the man credit. On dedication night, he rocks out with "Geek in the Pink" and dedicates it to grandma. Brandon: safe. Brandon should be thanking whatever devil he made a deal with that he's still in this competition. After this week's piss-poor performance, he should have gone home. He gets another chance to show us that great singing voice we all know he has. Sanjaya and A.J. are called to the stage. At this point, there's no question who's going home. Sanjaya was a top vote-getting last week, and regardless of the car wreck he delivered this week, he's safe. A.J.'s version of "Feeling Good" was utterly stunning. But A.J. is going home. The judges are starting to revolt. America should revolt, too. On Tuesday night, more people voted for Sanjaya than voted for A.J. (a lot more people, if some web sites are to be believed.) Something is clearly wrong with America. Oh, look! Sundance is crying! The night is almost over and it's time to return to the women. Lakisha: safe (as with Melinda, do we really need to be told that Lakisha is safe?) Haley: safe. Antonella, Leslie and Jordan are all called to the stage. Antonella is the first sent back to the safety of the group (after those risque pictures of her surfaced on the Internet this week, I'm sure everyone wants to see more of this self-involved Celine Dion wannabe.) Finally we're left with Leslie and Jordan. Jordan is safe. Leslie is not. Gina breaks down in tears, losing any tough-girl cred she may have had left. The judges are even more aghast at the results. Clearly, singing "Feeling Good" was not the right decision for either A.J. or Leslie. I wonder how long it'll be before anyone ever sings this song on the show again. Before Leslie gives us her farewell performance, we get the obligatory montage with clips from the eliminated contestants, set to the music of Daughtry's "Home". Chris Daughtry has made no secret of his disdain for American Idol but one way of getting him to come back on the show is to stroke his ego - and his record sales (not that he needs help) - by playing his song over and over again. I wonder if he's contractually obligated to do whatever the producers ask him to do. For that matter, I wonder if Jennifer Hudson has to give her Oscar to Simon Cowell. It's a disappointing week for American Idol. There were some bad - even atrocious - performances. But in the end, it wasn't the bad singers who went home. Still, some of the best singers - and greatest personalities - survived. Let's hope that this week's results were anomalous and not par for the course. Previous Episodes: Week 1: Men's Night | Week 1: Women's Night | Week 1: Results Week 2: Men's Night | Week 2: Women's Night |
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