American Idol 7 - Carly Goes Home

This was a bigger shock to me than Michael Johns' early exit. The fact that Carly Smithson was in the bottom two (rather than three, since there were only six contestants) with Syesha Mercado after they both gave stellar performances last night was unbelievable, but to wind up there over stoner Jason Castro and woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown Brooke White makes me wonder if American Idol is rigged.

Simon called his praise of Carly "the kiss of death" and he was right. She was much better than Syesha and in another hemisphere compared to the double train wrecks of Brooke and Jason. America got it wrong in a big, big way. There were 38 million votes and the tween girls who think Janice Muppet Jason is sooooooo dreamy must have been up speed dialing all night while he was hitting the bong. "Duuuude...duuuuuuude...I just sang a song by a cat." Ugh! Carly was never going to win, but I expected her to be in the Top 4. I'm still guessing the two Davids -- Cook and Archuleta -- will be the Top 2.

Before Carly was cut, there was 58 minutes of filler, including the obligatory group sing. Andrew Lloyd Webber played piano while the Top 6 sang All I Ask of You. It was pleasant, probably the best group song of the season. Another 10 minutes was wasted with clips of Clay Gayken performing in Spamalot and Tamayra Gray in Rent. The only bright spot was Leona Lewis singing her hit song, Bleeding Love. She won the X-Factor show in the UK and was coached by Simon. This girl is the real deal. Even the over-the-top pyrotechnics couldn't diminish her big voice and the pop perfection of Bleeding Love. There was also a taped message from Dubya and Mrs. Dubya thanking everyone who donated money during Idol Gives Back. Hey, it's Fox, the state run television network, so no surprise seeing the lame duck squawking and looking like a moron as usual.

Next week the Top 5 will be mentored by Neil Diamond. I still wish Amanda Overmyer was around to sing Love On the Rocks.

Comments

Kate Evans said…
The kiss of death did not come from Simon but from the radical xian right who nixed any reference to the hippie Jesus.
Hi there, Coll...and Kate--I think you may have hit it: I think JC Superstar is too progressive for middle-America. As is Carly.
Anonymous said…
its official --- never watching this show again. EVER! I was running around the den screaming like a crazy person when they voted off Carly and Brooke and that fucking muppet were safe. I blame you.

GAV
Anonymous said…
makes me wonder if American Idol is rigged

it's taken you this long to figure that out? ;)

i don't think it's overtly rigged, but there are subtle things to keep some contestants on, and help push others out the door.

the best singer on this show doesn't always win -- i don't think kelly clarkson was so hot -- which is one reason i stopped watching. fantasia barrimo was the only time i thought that the voting public really got it right.

so for neil diamond, who gets to sing "sweet caroline"?
Karen Head said…
So your blog is the reason I've been watching this show when I can. Last night was a farce! Clearly the bottom two should have been Jason and Brooke. It is one thing to lose because you give a bad performance, it is quite another to lose because people pity the worst performers. At least that is the only explanation I can think of for why this happened. The consolation is that Carly will get a record deal.
Collin Kelley said…
Hmmm...I thought there would be a Pavlovian response by middle America to the word "Jesus" and they would ignore the actual lyrics. Ah, well...
Diane Lockward said…
It was a complete shock, first to see that both Syesha and Carly were the bottom two, then to see Carly booted off. Yes, somebody has to go, but it's a killer to see someone so talented get kicked off while two really weak performers are safe. I'm so tired of Brooke
playing on people's sympathies, looking so ultra sensitive. And how many times have the judges, Simon in particular, said if you forget your lyrics you're going home? Jason is awful. He should have been gone a long time ago. He received, in the past, way too much overly inflated praise from the judges.
Anonymous said…
Carly getting the boot is a real bummer. Further evidence that cell phones are idiot friendly.

Thanks for posting the results Collin, I watch performance nights but can't bear to sit through all the blather of the results shows just to find out who went home. I prefer to get my info here.

Cheers,
Dave
Jennifer said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lydia said…
Yea, and one more thing: Simon has gone from, "This is a SINGING contest" to "(Brooke), it just showed that you're human" speaking in reference to her obvious pass by viewers after losing the lyrics.
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