There was a great deal at stake tonight, as everyone who is safe tonight is going on the summer tour, and thus knows that he or she at least gets some money from all the abuse they receive from Simon Cowell (and for having to try and figure out what the hell Paula Abdul is talking about every week).
And to open the show, Ryan Seacrest tells us that there were thirty-one million votes, and that the results may shock us.
Ryan then showed us behind the scenes after last week’s double elimination. The thirteen American Idol contestants (and a number of unnamed people) had dinner and talked about how important they all were to each other. Everyone was of course quite gracious.
I can only imagine what that would have been like if Tatiana Del Toro had made it that far and been voted off.
I fast forwarded through the weekly Group Number as quickly as possible, as I like to pretend that this part of the show doesn’t exist. And the Ford Music Video was unusually forgettable tonight.
So, first up were Danny Gokey, Lil Rounds, and Anoop Desai. All safe, as expected (the first two on previous performances and Noop Dog on last night’s great performance).
Next are Allison Iraheta and Michael Sarver. One of them is in the dreaded Bottom Three. Well, actually, both of them are.
Brad Paisley was the first guest of the night, performing his new single “Then” for the very first time. I’m yet again impressed with how solid a vehicle American Idol has become for the release of new music. And with iTunes (and other such services), you can download the song immediately (while you’re thinking about it), instead of having to run to the store (and perhaps never getting around to it).
Back to the results. Scott MacIntyre, Megan Corkrey, Matt Giraud, and Kris Allen are safe. It looks like Vote for the Worst is beginning to kick in for Megan Joy.
Last up are Alexis Grace and Adam Lambert. One of them is in the Bottom Three. Adam is safe, so Alexis joins Allison and Michael alone on the other side of the stage.
Seacrest gets right to it and lets Allison know she’s safe.
The second guest performance for the night is a duet of “I Told You So” by Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis. Duet may not be the right word as Randy hardly sung at all. And Carrie oversang much of the song. It seemed like it was pitched a bit high for her.
They’re running out of time, so Searcrest let’s Sarver know he’s safe.
And in yet another season, one of my early favorites goes down early. But maybe the judges will save her.
Simon, in fact, tells Alexis that they might indeed be willing to save her. Seacrest hands her the mic and tells her to convince them with her performance.
Unfortunately, she has to do the same dreadful song as last night. In fact, her performance of “Jolene” was worse tonight than Tuesday.
And, again, the judges decide not to use their save, and Alexis is sent packing. I would have hoped that her solid performances in previous weeks might have saved her, but last night was pretty bad.
So, the ten American Idol 8 Summer Tour members are:
- Danny Gokey
- Lil Rounds
- Anoop Desai
- Allison Iraheta
- Michael Sarver
- Scott MacIntyre
- Matt Giraud
- Kris Allen
- Megan Corkrey
- Adam Lambert
With Alexis gone, the favorites to win have to be Danny, Lil, and Adam, although the gap closed from top to bottom this week.