American Idol 2, March 26: Third Time's the Charm

I have to commend the producers on giving those of us who watch seating placement a bit of a surprise. After Julia and Kim were announced, it looked like the two on the end of the top row - Corey and Carmen - would be the focus of that "last two" question of which would be in the bottom. But then Ryan skipped to Carmen and instead posed that question of Corey and Rickey. Obviously, most people thought it would be Corey. We were wrong.

The judges are asked their thoughts. Randy says American kinda got it wrong - the audience applauds. He wouldn't have put these three in. Paula agrees. She is asked if she means all three. Yes. Simon, however, says America got it right. He tells the three contestants that they let America down and they let themselves down. Out of 70,000 people, these were the top 10; they are capable of better and we expect better. Paula and Randy are falling over themselves to disagree, but they really need to shut up and listen. He's not insulting them or saying they were dreadful or anything - just that they are better than they showed. Randy does admit that some of the songs they sang were boring and that certainly hurt them.

Let me again state what I said last week - I really wish Ryan would put Paula and Randy on the spot when they say these should not have been the bottom three. Who should have been, in their eyes? I think Paula would self-destruct if she actually had to provide the names, because that would mean she's saying something bad (or at least not great) about somebody. I mean, she gave Clay a standing ovation, so we know it's not him. She told Ruben he would run for governor and win. She told Carmen that she "brought it," told Corey he was really "on it" and his voice is refreshing, said Kimberley Locke was haunting and gave a touching performance, said Trenyce had great quality and control, and told Joshua that he took the stage like a pro and had a true Southern Comfort voice. Where in there is anything indicating who she believed should be in the bottom three? Meanwhile, she said Julia was a teeny bit pitchy - the closest thing Paula generally comes to a critical statement. So it at least sounds like she thought Julia should have been there, but that's not what she said here. Sure, she said Rickey's was his best performance yet and Kimberly Caldwell had "vocal muscle," but where do those fall in her line of compliments?

Ryan, if you're by some chance reading this - please put her on the spot!

Yeah, yeah. I know. It'll never happen.

Anyway, where were we? Oh yeah - Rickey is quickly dismissed, leaving Julia and Kim. This is ironic because I suspect it's exactly what the producers were hoping for back when they portrayed the two as enemies. Yet here they were, hugging each other.

Julia looked like she was about to be run over by a truck. And, indeed, she's right. After two weeks of being a regular in the bottom three, that bottom finally dropped out. Kim cries, then she goes to lean on Ruben and cry some more. Later, she cries even more. Her makeup turns to liquid, causing Mike DeGeorge to suggest to me that for the next article on what AI contestants need to learn, we should add, "If you're going to cry on the results show, don't wear makeup that would make Tammy Faye say, 'Jeez, lighten up on the mascara!'"

Julia says that for never having performed before in her life, this was quite a way to start a career. She sings her song from last night again. Then, still having a couple minutes to fill, Ryan asks the 10 to reprise their group rendition of "Proud to Be an American." Thus we close out the show.

So much for my predictive abilities. The only one of the bottom three I thought would be there was Julia, and I hadn't picked her to lose (I thought she had more of a hardcore group of fans and that Corey would lose). Oh, and I also thought Alex would be voted out on Survivor Wednesday night, so I was 0 for 2 this Wednesday night. Good thing I didn't try to make any predictions for The Bachelor!

For more discussion on Julia leaving, watch for "Why Julia Lost" coming soon to Foxes On Idol.

David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline and can be reached at rno@pobox.com.

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