If you're reading this, American Idol is over, and four young (ahem) singers have had their dreams dashed in front of 30 million people. My guess is Jason Yeager, Robbie Carrico, Amanda Overmyer and Kady Malloy. I know, I know, this is totally against what I said last week, but that's the issue with live TV. This experiment isn't being conducted in a vacuum. It's being conducted in front of the entire country, every week. Things change. People can't handle the pressure. People get exposed for wearing wigs when they pretend to be rockers.
Oh, you didn't hear? Robbie Carrico, according to TMZ, is wearing a giant wig. That said, this came out after he performed, terribly at that. So his exposure as a fraud won't hurt him until next week....if there is a next week.
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Regardless of who goes this week, I want to talk about who these people are. Each year, the judges (and producers) try to find a cross section of talent that will appeal to the widest range of people. But lets go back to the beginning. The talent was terrible in the first few seasons. It was a fun show where someone came from nowhere to stardom, but the show really had no viable talent. And a show with no talent could only last so long, right? After a few years, the show would have fallen off the map without viable, and marketable talent.
The producers decided to raise the age limit to get people on the show with more polish and professionalism. The problem is, it didn't work. The talent was still too thin, and the show's popularity hinged on the interplay between the judges. In recent seasons, when that interaction got stale, producers decided to create a back and forth between Seacrest (out) and Simon. The good thing about that 'rivalry' is that they are both very good at playing their parts. There aren't any 'dogs' 'mans' or 'yo yo yo's. And since neither of the two are consistently doped up on pain killers, the banter is somewhat coherent.
Flash forward to this year. The producers became move involved this season to make it "the most talented final 24 in the history of the show." Did we mention the talent is the best ever? Seriously, it's the best talent ever.
If we say it enough, you'll start to believe it. I am a handsome man. Just wanted to throw that one in, in case you are THAT impressionable.
I say this all the time. The show has gone from mid-season replacement to the number one show on TV. The contestants went from finalists we can't remember to people not even in the top 24 getting gigs on Ellen. The show is nebulous. It grows bigger and bigger each week as the cast gets smaller and smaller. And as Simon said this week, it's not about the criticism, but rather, what the contestants do with that criticism. Well, contrary to what the judges want us to think, their opinions aren't the only ones that matter.
Think about how different a person performs the week after he or she is in the final two, yet found safe for another week. Some come out shell shocked and are quick to go. Some take it as a challenge and come out on fire the next week to prove America they deserve to stick around.
it goes both ways as well. Contestants can become fat with praise and come out too cocky a week after being one of the best. The show gets inside their heads. But for this season, it's too early for these singers to hold on to positive praise from week to week. Nobody in America knows anything about half the cast yet, so it's hard to figure from week to week. You have to be good each time out, and if you're not....we'll you're going home.
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So with the popularity of the show, comes each year a bevy of contestants looking for the quick path to super stardom. I guess you can't blame them. Fox and the producers are using them to make billions, so they may as well use Fox and the producers right back. But the younger crop of contestants are a little different. There are eight people in the top 24 under the age of 20, which means that some of them were younger than 10 years old when this show started. Take David Archuletta...he's been singing since he was a tiny boy (well, tinier boy) and shows like this – and a less successful incarnate of Star Search – in hope that he'd be...you guessed it...the NEXT American Idol. Hell, he even sang Imagine on a TV show in Utah when he was 13. He isn't real. He's been bred to be a professional celebrity, from the time he was able to speak, let alone carry a tune. He's reached his literal pot of gold at the end of this magical rainbow he calls Idol. And he's not the only one.
For many of these contestants – those who got into the finals and thousands who didn't – THIS has been their dream since they started having dreams. American Idol is all they know. It's kinda sad. But in a way, sweet.
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Okay........I've been watching the show while writing this. So let's get to the recap. Yeager is gone. Thankfully, that's no surprise. Next, it's Overmyer and Alexandrea Lushington. I thought they both might be the bottom two, but I figured Lushington would stick around another week. Well, I was wrong. Overmyer is safe.
Back from the break they keep the girls on the couch. It's down to the two teens, Alaina and Kady. Everyone in America knows Kady is gone. Kady even knows Kady is gone. Her body language is as bad as anyone ever in the history of the show. And she's safe. In the first shocker of the season, Alaina is gone. There goes my (and Simon's) dark horse. She can barely stand, let alone sing. I know she's only 17, but does she realize she has the chance to sing in front of 30 million people? She MUST sing. And after many, many tears, she sings with the help of the rest of the ladies. I think Kady just threw up in the back. Wow.
Seacrest (out) announces that the final 12 will FINALLY sing the Lennon McCartney song book. Finally, after six years. He also announced that Idol will be giving back again this year. Awesome.
Final guy out is in fact Robbie. Now he can get that hair cut. The video montage showed a few interesting things. Jason Yeager's hair was normal when he auditioned. He PUT THAT BLONDE STREAK IN BEFORE HE WENT TO HOLLYWOOD. Did he think THAT would make him stand out? Wow. Just wow. I'm so happy he's gone. I'm happy Robbie's gone (even though I figured his planted nature would give him a free pass into the finals). I'm shocked about Alaina, and a bit surprised about the Lush (I didn't even get enough time to give her a good nickname). But I was close with the women, as both the women I thought would be gone were in the respective bottom two.
What does this teach us? Well, it teaches us that no matter how many people you have in your corner...no matter how many of your agents get you in front of the lines of 10,000 people...no matter how many judges used to be your A&R reps...nobody is safe.
And that's a good thing.
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