American Idol 5, March 2: Bringing it Down To 16

We’re down to 20 now, and these eliminations are starting to get tough. It was pretty clear to me who should be leaving, but how will America see this? For the record, I’ll restate my somewhat shaky predictions up front and promise not to change them. I said Heather, Brenna, David, and Sway will be heading home. Am I right? Let’s find out!

We open with scary music, dim lighting, and the 20 remaining contestants standing on the stage. Everyone is smiling, but not for long. Ryan tells us that 42 million people voted this week, and lets us know that Carrie Underwood, the original “farm girl,” will be joining us to sing her hit single.

Ryan introduces the judges, and then the group takes the stage for this week’s group number. They are performing Stephen Still’s “Love the One You’re With,” and it’s a good choice for this diverse group of voices. Most of them can dance, and the solos are solid. Mandisa tears it up and I am impressed.

Before we get to the results, we must suffer though clips from the two performance shows. This week, the judges were harsh and seemed to question many of the song choices. And there were some errors in judgment, that’s for sure. Mandisa and Chris get the honors as being the showstoppers for this week.

Ryan introduces Carrie Underwood, telling us that she has sold over two million albums and that her song “Jesus, Take the Wheel” was #1 on the Country Singles Chart for six weeks. Carrie joins Ryan onstage and jokes about having her mother in the video for “Don’t Forget to Remember Me.”

Carrie’s performance of “Jesus Takes the Wheel” is solid and convincing. She really sparkles, and what’s interesting is watching the girls, who are on the balcony overlooking the stage, as they watch the reigning Idol perform. Melissa is singing along with Carrie and Kellie seems to be in a trance. Certainly, they are all dreaming of standing in that very spot. When she finishes the song, Carrie steps over to the “judging” spot, but the judges don’t have a chance to comment.

We return from the break and the girls are in the hot seats. The lights dim and Ryan tells us that he will be calling out the bottom three. He starts with Lisa, and after a recap of her performance, he says, “Lisa…” long pause… “you are safe.” He repeats this torment with Ayla, Katharine, and Mandisa, all of whom have escaped elimination.

Kinnik is next, and she is not as fortunate. She joins Ryan center stage. Brenna is next, and she is also in the bottom three. Kellie and Paris are safe, and we are down to Heather and Melissa. No surprise, Heather is the final girl to be in the bottom three.

Ryan asks Randy what he thinks. Randy is surprised that Kinnik is in this group. Ryan then tells Heather and Kinnik to be seated. Brenna received the lowest number of votes and will be going home. I am shocked! This never happens! Wow! Has America finally started voting for real? Brenna thanks her fans and then shouts out to Clive (Davis, I assume) to call Nigel (the show’s producer) so that they can make some money together. As if! She then tells us to get ready for her album because she is going to make some good music. Get her out of here.

Brenna reprieves her song from last night and proves that she totally deserves to be eliminated. She vamps all over the stage, tosses in her own lyrics, and generally makes a fool of herself. She will certainly look back on this someday and shake her head in disbelief. Or maybe not.

Heather and Kinnik return to the center of the stage, and Ryan asks Paula what she thinks. Paula responds, “Simon says one ate pizza and the other ate salad.” They crack up, leaving poor Heather and Kinnik somewhat stunned. Ryan asks Simon who he thinks will be leaving, and he says, “Heather.” Simon is correct. Heather is gone.

Heather is such a gracious loser. She thanks her fans and then sings “Hero” one more time. She does much better, and what’s cute is that she keeps looking at the judges. They are still clowning around, though, and probably don’t even catch this. Heather also recognizes the rest of the contestants several times during the song, which, of course, Brenna didn’t bother to do. When she finishes, the audience stands up for her and she gets a big hug from Ryan.