Michael Johns is eliminated.
Video:
- Top 8 sing “Shout to the Lord”
- Celebrities Lip Sync “I’m a Believer”
- Brooke White, David Cook and David Archuleta are Safe
- Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown perform “No Air”
- Jason Castro and Kristy Lee Cook are Safe
- Ford commercial “I Just Want To Celebrate”
- Obama, Clinton and McCain speechify
- Michael Johns is eliminated
The IGB lines remain open during the show. Donations raised so far: Over 60 million dollars. Six of the IGB iTunes videos are in the Top 10. The opener, “Don’t Stop the Music” is at #1.
There were more than 31 million votes Tuesday night.
Mandisa in the house!
Bottom 3 (these were the last 3 standing):
Syesha Mercado- Michael Johns
Carly Smithson
WTF? !!!??111??!
Forget iTunes, forget TIVO (I can’t believe so many news outlets picked up that shiz) Nigel Lythgoe told us exactly who was going home yesterday morning in an interview on Sirius satellite radio. I even posted a paraphrase of his quote on the blog. But did I listen? No I did not. I went straight into denial mode. I couldn’t imagine the rest of this competition without Michael Johns.
More after the Jump…
The oldest Idol was also the most mature, and the most iconoclastic. His insistence on doing it his way was admirable, but it also is probably what did him in. The strategic move for inspiration week would have been to choose another R&B flavored arrangement. Something like Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready”, for instance, could have brought the house down, brought praise from the judges and secured a better performance spot. Instead, Michael chose a song that he loved, rather than one that could advance him in the competition. It’s too bad. Although he flew under the radar for much of the season, I appreciated his low-key and wry sense of humor. Not to mention his raw, gravelly vocals and sex appeal. When he was on, he was compelling. And in a season that’s bound to again be taken by the teens, I appreciated the fact that he was in every way, a grown up.
I have to add, that I need to redesign the banner a bit and add a disclaimer to the site. You wouldn’t believe the people who mistake me for the official site. I don’t know how anybody could mistake my little purple-bannered dog-and-pony show for the real thing, but they do. I got several emails from distraught fans who vow never to watch the show again, who are now convinced the show is rigged, and think that Ryan Seacrest is one cruel SOB.
I don’t think the show is rigged. If it were ever revealed that the producers were messing with the totals, they would lose the entire franchise. Not worth it, peeps. And anyway, what would they gain by ditching Michael at this point? No. It was a combination of bad song choice, performing first, and people being drawn to the bad (David C, Carly) and the good (Kristy Lee Cook - surprisingly and Jason Castro) rather than Michael’s solid, but dissed-by-the-judges performance of “Dream On”. It’s pretty simple Idol math, peeps.
And that Ryan Seacrest. I don’t know whose idea it was to dangle a reprieve in front of an already devastated Michael (”Last year at this time we didn’t send anyone home,” Ryan teased) but that was some effed up shite right there. I did not enjoy that bit of Reality Show Cruelty. No I did not.
I’ll remember Michael’s fine performances. The underrated “Across the Universe” from the Top 12 is my favorite. “It’s All Wrong, But It’s Alright” is his shining moment on Idol. “We are the Champions” and “Light My Fire” prove Michael could, indeed Rock. Funny, the judges didn’t mind his rocker inclinations so much then. The way they suddenly flipped their opinions regarding what box they thought he should be stuffed into did not help him at all.
Bleh. I’ll shake this one off in a few days. I’m just a little pissed off right here.
The rest of the show: Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown make a sweet couple performing their sweet, infectious hit “No Air”. She’s awarded her Gold award for her album, and two Platinum awards for “Tattoo” and “No Air”. I hope Jordin gets a nice sales bump this week.
The Idols open the show with the evangelical tune “Shout to the Lord”. The word “Jesus” is back in this version. Am I horribly offended? No. Do I smell TPTB pandering to middle America? Why yes. Yes I do. That’s a little irritating.
Idol Gives Back leftovers round out the show. There was a cute vid of celebrities lip syncing to “I’m a Believer” (upcoming mentor Neil Diamond wrote that one). Although, some of the scenery chewing in the bit is a tad annoying. I’m looking at you, Rob Schneider. Forrest Whitaker and his wife visit street kids in Angola, and there are more celebrity pledges from Dr. Phil Ricki Lake, Michael Chiklis and Jim Carrey. The presidential candidates finally have their say. I don’t appreciate the political campaigning. I’ll give John McCain props for trying to be funny, though.
After Michael is eliminated, Simon says that his song choice did him in. Michael shakes his head no. Proud to the end, he performs an emotional “Dream On”. Indeed. Carly Smithson, who must surely know she dodged one big, honking bullet this week, cries as he sings out.
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No more vote-splitting for me!
That vote-splitting manages to knock someone off early each
season who would have stayed longer.
Save Federov, knock off Constantine.
Save Castro & DCook, knock off Michael Johns.
I never understood vote-splitting. That’s one reason why I haven’t
voted this season. I adored Michael and really like DCook and Castro
and even Archuleta. May the best man win. (I think the best man
just got eliminated.)
Michael’s a huge talent and will certainly take this opportunity and run with it. What label wouldn’t want him? He is a rocker through and through-I have his music video from when he was in The Rising and he gives David Cook a run for his money as a rocker.
Not sure about the logistics of all this, but when we split votes…aren’t we voting against all the people we’re voting for in a way? If I vote for contestant A, then vote for B doesn’t that nullify my vote for A and A goes against B. The only thing it does do is give a few less for all the other contestants? confused. Im right brained and dont do math.
Getting knocked off early is really not a bad thing. I’m hoping DCook gets the boot before the final 2 are chosen.
What do these 2nd place finishers all have in common?
Justin Guarini
Diana DeGarmo
Bo Bice
Katharine McPhee
Blake Lewis
Only one second place finisher has sold well, and we all know that was Mr. Aiken. Get out early. Second place is not where you want to be if you have vocal abilities.
Just read MJ’s recap. The voice of reason. Nola you are dead on about where you get the boot. Earlier can be better sometimes. But all of these guys are still in the business so in the long run, I guess they didn’t get a raw deal exactly.
I am not a Christian, but Shout to the Lord didn’t offend me, but in retrospect the pandering did. I am just not sure why they pandered. Don’t they already get that demographic?
Ryan really played the guy operating the guillotine to the hilt last night. I was a bit pissed even though I understood he was just doing his job. I just wished it had been Kristy instead of the elegant and kind Mr. Johns. I will never forget his performance on Dolly night, it was so far the performance of the season for me. I don’t think anyone smouldered on that stage any better, making it all seem so effortless. That is the MJ I had been waiting for.
Vote spliting is a problem, but as I really like to reward a good performance, and vote for my favorite, it seems to be what many do. We all see what happens year after year, and yet we are surprised. I think next week though I may just buy the downloads as a reward and just vote for my favorite.
We heard you the first million times you said it. Repeating it ad effing nauseum is not going to make people change their minds.
Oh and point me to that coffeehouse, would ya. I don’t drink coffee (ICK), but my ass would sit in a chair for hours listening to Jason. And Brooke.
Count in this non-little girl who’s a fan of Jason. He’s my #2 fave (behind my dear DCook). Michael was my #3. Brooke is my #4.
Sniff. I’m still in mourning the J of CCJ. And no more chest bumps. :(
ETA: I did listen to Nigel, but I just wasn’t sure whether it was just double-talk or not. But I just had a feeling it was Michael. Yet I still didn’t put all my points on him, dammit.
Wait, coffeehouses are populated with little girls? Not the coffeehouses I’ve been to.
It’s called triple A radio–Adult Alternative. It’s popular with LOTS of adults. That’s where Jason belongs.
I don’t think I’m nuts in thinking this, but I think David Archuleta just won American Idol. Who else amongst this group has a freaking shot? David C probably had the best chance…he could compete vocally, he had a bit of a mysterious heart-throb factor going…but I think this week was a real blow to him. He’ll pick up most of Johns votes if he performs like normal and it should take him to at least the top 3-4. But it’s perfectly clear now that the fanbases this year aren’t astounding like season 5. The casual vote really really counts. David C will have to hit it out of the park every single time from now on…which he can, as he as proven, to get to that top 2. Problem is that he has set the bar so high for himself that it will almost be impossible to reach that pinnacle again. We’ll see though.
I hear Carly will be singing “Without You” this upcoming week. I’m actually starting to like the girl and if/when DC goes, my votes go to her, if I choose to vote at all. I’m 100% sure that she has the capability to knock this out of the park, but she’s got the AI memory of Kelly Clarkson to compete with. I honestly feel though that this is a turning point for her. I felt it during that STL appearance with her and DC singing. But if she doesn’t resonate next week…she’s gone. She has a lot less goodwill stored up than DC (and I don’t get the ‘he’s arrogant bit either…he’s never come off that way to me…has anyone watched MTV lately? Even the crappiest one-hit wonders come off much more smug than him…geez).
Syesha and KLC’s days have to be numbered. Come on. I won’t even get into Jason Castro. I honestly see better looking, more talented singers performing around Waikiki on a regular basis. I’m from Hawaii so Jason’s Jack Johnson vibe is very common here…and let me tell you, he’d be so middle road here.
Exactly. That’s the format I listen to most often, except when I’m trying to catch Blake on the pop station, which is probably not ever happening here.
Dulce, I think I said the same thing about Taylor Hicks and some of the blues clubs in Chicago. LOL. I didn’t think he was doing anything new and exciting. And you know what? He wasn’t. Doesn’t mean he wasn’t good (trust me, I loved seeing him live). What he did do well was bring something new to the Idol stage. People responded to that and now he has a successful career. I think the same thing is happening on a smaller scale with Jason. People are responding to his vibe. It’s fresh to the Idol stage. Personally, I love his voice and I think he has a lot of charisma. His recording voice is love. I’m buying whatever he’s selling!
Well.. Let me tell you if Michael had stayed he would have done a soul version of Mariah’s ” Vision of Love”. can you imagine that. ANd I got to miss that and the recording. Sucks.
The world is unfair…I am not looking forward to the show anymore. It will be boring and predictable. Maybe Carly will indeed get to be in the finale after all.
Bleh.
I am very upset about the way Ryan Seacrest handled the entire ordeal. No class. I have been a very loyal fan and never missed one show since the beginning. I will no longer watch the show. It’s not about Michael being voted off as much as it was handled. Why would you even mention last year unless you intended to do the same this year? Seacrest is OUT as far as I’m concerned.
There is a good article on www.ajc.com
The Atlanta Journal did an interview with him today. Go on line & read it. He is a classy young man. I wish him the best.
Exactly. I work in a coffeehouse and listen to “coffeehouse music” allll day long. What I wouldn’t give to be able to listen to Jason… ohh my.
I’m sure it would have been hot. I’m more than just a little bummed he won’t be doing it (at least on the show).
I wasn’t expecting Michael to win this thing, but I was hoping, and actually expected (before Nigel crushed my hopes and expectations), that I would be watching him and listening to his beautiful recordings for a couple more weeks. Sigh and sigh and sigh…
The only reason why Michael johns was out because he did not had enough really loyal fans to vote for him, no matter how good or how bad his performance is.
This is VOTING competition.
David A for example. Remember his awful act in Beatles week? he even did not touch bottom 3 cause his loyal base fans save him through.
Judging by dial idol.com, only he had the loyal fans who really vote for him, for now.
Other finalist can stay and go depend on their performance. That including David Cook who stay in top 3 for the few past weeks cause he performed really well.
But in top 8 after a lukewarm performance, he fell out of top 3. It mean he did not had enough loyal fans to really vote for him no matter how ordinary his act is.
It will be very interesting to see who win this year Idol which is very unpredictable cause there are no strong candidate except for David A.
At top 8, only 2 people had not been in bottom 3, David A and david C.
It mean this year vote is really closed indeed between one and another.
He was my favorite. :(