American Idol 2, May 7: Stayin' Alive?

It's the Results Show and Ryan Seacrest welcomes us back to American Idol. This time last season, we got the big (and horrible) news that Nikki stuck around while Tamyra was sent home. This season, the big shock came last week - will there be another? Will Josh, this year's Nikki, beat out Clay, Ruben, or Kim to make it into the final three? Last night, I said no way - Josh will be going. The fans of the other three have been put on alert and would not fail. I still hold to that. We'll find out in a few minutes.

Ryan says there were 22 million votes last night. I'm thinking: Great! That must mean fans of Clay, Kimberley, and Ruben came through! But then, I haven't exactly been dead-on in predicting results based on vote totals before, so I'd better just sit back and relax. After all, it's only a half-hour results show, so we don't have to muck through too much filler.

As Ryan introduces the judges, Paula mentions that Ryan has apparently been named one of 50 most beautiful people. Where? On what planet? OK, moving on.

We finally get to the contestants - the final four. As they sit and await the results, Kim looks the most nervous of all of them. Josh looks fairly happy. After seeing him last night and just now, I think he knows he'll be going home and he's alright with that.

So now it's time for a recap of last night. If you clicked on the link above, you already know what happened. From there we go into the usual group song. We get a BeeGees medley that begins with "Stayin' Alive" - definitely not in the usual high register - by the guys. I'm hoping the song title doesn't refer to Josh, but I also have to wonder if the reason they aren't in the high register is Josh himself. I know Ruben can hit those notes and I'm pretty sure Clay can as well. I also know that Josh cannot. After a little while Kim comes out to lead another song with the guys as her backup singers. And so the medley goes on for a few more minutes. Nothing else stands out in particular.

But then we get a commercial for American Juniors. Some kids singing. Pretty good. Oh. Wait. We get to look forward to nasty stage moms screaming about how somebody else's child was picked instead of theirs. And it gets worse. With her daughter standing there, one mom starts making fun of another child. Nice. Real nice. It figures, though - they can't really make fun of the kids, so they need something to keep us occupied for the first few episodes. Nasty stage moms will fill that need.

Now it's time to pull down the bottom two. Kim… is in the bottom two. Not a surprise. Clay… obviously won't be in the final two because we still have Ruben and Josh left. And indeed that's the case - he's safe. So now it's between Ruben and Josh. If it weren't for what happened last week, I'd say it's obvious that Josh is going to the bottom two. In fact, I'll still stand by my prediction. And… we have an embedded commercial for Ford in which Ruben is dressed like a pimp and Clay like a nerd who then turns into a pimp. Then commercial. And finally… Ruben is safe! Phew. Scattered cheers from the audience. It's one thing to boo when somebody other than Josh gets put into the bottom two, but you don't really want to cheer somebody being picked for the bottom. Well, maybe a little. Sometimes.

Ryan asks the judges for their opinions:

Randy: It's down to wire, but I think the two best are still sitting on the couch.

Paula: This is the toughest job, tonight it's especially hard. I look at it as America rooting for the entire final four because all four are champions. Well, Paula, maybe I'll forward you some of my e-mail. America is definitely not rooting for all of the final four. Anyway, she says now it's the luck of the draw. What?! You know, Paula has said some inane things, but this has to be near the top. Does she really think Kelly Clarkson won last year by luck? Does she really think this year's one, two, and three will be picked by luck?! It's one thing to not want to say something bad, but another to insult the others with ridiculous comments like this.

Simon: Honestly, I personally thought Josh should have gone last week. This week, I think Kimberley should go. Both of you deserve be there in the bottom two.

We go to commercial. But I sure hope nobody left the room for a moment, because as soon as the commercial is over, Ryan says, "Josh, you're out. Kim, you are safe." BAM! Just like that. No intro, no nothing. Looks like they are running a bit behind on time. But man, give us half a second to breathe!

So we get the retrospective of Josh and see his wife in tears in the audience. Josh says a few more parting words. He thanks Randy, Simon, and Paula (in that order, in case it means anything). He thanks his wife and baby girl, and he thanks the Marine Corps for giving him this chance.

Then he sings us to the credits. His wife passes his daughter up to him on the stage and he holds her as he sings to her about loving somebody. A very nice moment to end with.

For the second week in a row, we have seen somebody go out after arguably their best performance show. Frankly, I think this is better for Josh - people will remember more about his performances last night and perhaps the memories of some of the earlier ones will fade. We have the final three that should be there. And, in the end, we have to remember that it wasn't Josh's "fault." His fans kept him in. If we can interpret the signs from last week, he knew he should have been gone. Yes, he said some things he shouldn't have said (like the crack implying he would beat up Simon), and he was not as talented as some of the others. But he still deserved a nice ending moment. He deserved it a little sooner, but still, that's over and done with.

Now it's time to concentrate on the final three! We'll see you next week, but if you can't wait that long, remember to hop over to Foxes On Idol for more articles all week long!

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

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