America clearly does not want to be pigeonholed this season and it will vote for whomever it damn well pleases on American Idol, thank you very much. Jason Yaeger was the only contestant on the show who got sent home who clearly should have gone home, but the rest were all surprises. Amanda Overmyer's solo during the opening bit was so cringeworthy I wished I'd never hear her sing again, yet I will, but not Alexandrea Lushington or Alaina Whitaker. I believe VotefortheWorst is pegging Danny Noriega as the titular worst but I think by far Amanda is the contestant with the least amount of talent with the biggest support behind her.
Neither Alexandrea nor Alaina had really done anything stupendous this far in the competition but they both seemed like they had some potential and had cute personalities (Alexandrea especially seemed to make it clear, via her clothing choices, that she was pro-peace) so it seemed like they had a few weeks still to prove themselves.
Poor Alaina though: she really seemed surprised that she was the other girl, not Kady, who was being sent home. While painful, it was refreshing to see a contestant on Idol break down after her elimination, as opposed to the strong solitary tear and determined smile. I've always thought making a contestant sing an encore is torture both for us and them, and her shrieking sob of "I can't sing!" proved I'm not the only one. Ironically I think her tears brought forth the teenagery angst of "Hopelessly Devoted" and she sounded more real than she did last night. I wish she had sung it directly to Danny, who was crying rather beautifully I must say.
While I don't think he added much to the competition, I also didn't expect Robbie and his wig to be sent home ahead of Luke Menard, who I really hope not to see in the top twelve. The interesting thing is that this episode did remind me that there was a lot of talent in this group: I listened to Yaeger without watching him and he actually is a good singer. I just hope America doesn't want to push another Sanjaya into the top twelve this year.
Grade: B+
Stray observations
—The group performance was less painful than last week, probably because it opened with mini solos from the strongest performers, but it still seemed pretty awkward. I wouldn't be surprised, actually, to hear that some backing tracks were used on it but don't quote me on that.
—They heard us talking about Simon's antler! Let's see what else we can make them address. Maybe if we pick more on David Cook's hair (nice tux tee, by the way), he'll pick a 'do that acknowledges his actual hairline.
—The commercials for the new shows on FOX and its sister stations do not look good. "Canterbury's Law" looks pointless. "New Amsterdam" can't seem to decide if it wants to market itself as more of a black comedy or a timeless superhero tale. The Parker Posey/Lauren Ambrose show looks like it might be a waste of talent. And "Your Mama Can't Dance", the kid/parent dancing show hosted by Ian Ziering on Lifetime (yes, Lifetime) looks fucking amazing.