Despite the awesome power of the DOUBLE ELIMINATION, tonight’s Idol was something of a snoozer.
Whoever arranged the group medley tonight must have some grudge against Elvis Presley. They were the cheesiest, wimpiest, saddest, most soulless renditions of "Burning Love," "Teddy Bear" "Return to Sender" and "Viva Las Vegas" I've ever heard. Siobhan is still an awful lipsyncher, I think because her mouth is too expressive. Mike as usual was corny as hell and I think of the group, Lee seemed most embarrassed.
In as surprising twist, the Ford video featured a chilling vision of the future when it depicted the aftermath of World War III, as the cars disintegrated into dirt and trees grew in the cities.
Ryan brought Andrew, Aaron and Casey onstage to start off the eliminations and in an unusually speedy cut, Andrew got the bad news, which wasn't much of a surprise. I was surprised that he didn’t do his signature "slow down a pop song and play an acoustic guitar" move with his final performance. He made a classy exit though and somehow didn't look too ridiculous in a plaid bow tie and matching plaid shirt.
The next several segments of the show were good for getting up and doing other things. We saw a look at the work of Idol Gives Back, with Kara and Elliott Yamin heading to Angola, where they distributed mosquito nets, danced and held babies. Then Brooke White and Justin Gaston (who, in addition to being Miley Cyrus' ex-boyfriend also appeared in a Taylor Swift Music video, was in a CMT music competition and stars in his very own web series) performed "If I Can Dream". It was a capable duet, unexciting and a little plodding but not unpleasant. Gaston's outfit was sort of goth-cowboy but not in a cool way.
Ryan brought the contestants out to determine who was safe and who was in the bottom three. I tried to figure out if there was any meaning behind the fact that he had a conversation with some of the contestants, and not others (specifically he didn't chat with Siobhan, Crystal or Tim). He noted that Chris Daughtry happened to sing "A Little Less Conversation" the week he got sent home but that was just a way to fake Lee out: the bottom three were Tim, Katie and Mike. I guessed Katie would be heading home since I figured Mike was still riding high on the save and Tim on his face and pecs.
Adam Lambert performed "Whataya Want from Me," and of course since it was Adam it was all smoke and lasers and drama. I liked his nod to the King with the metallic jacket and pompadour. "Whataya Want from Me" isn't my favorite Adam song so I wasn't super-excited about the performance, but as I said last night, I like Adam, especially how gracious he is about his experience on the show.
Back to the elimination: Ryan told Tim he was safe and then revealed that between Mike and Katie, one of them wasn't even in the bottom three, so, not surprisingly, it was Katie who got sent home. She sang "Let it Be" and seemed pretty upset about her departure (not that I blame her) but I think it was a fair elimination. Onwards and further onwards
—Is the term "Vegas, baby!" just something I just need to resign myself to?
—Next week Alicia Keyes is the mentor, which fills me with all sorts of "Well then OK."