What did we just watch? What kind of Bottom 3 construction was that? That’s not how “American Idol” does it. Why did we get an hour of Ford and Fox fluff and pointless guest performances? And no suspenseful Bottom 3 stuff?
I know the Bottom 3 and the outcome were very predictable. So much so, that my predictions in my recap last night were 100 percent accurate (gloat). But still. Make us wonder. Stretch it out. Don’t give it all away at once.
Early in the episode Ryan “Peaches” Seacrest assumes we noticed Casey Abrams was missing from the Top 13. I didn’t notice until he pointed it out. That’s saying something. Peaches then says Casey is in the hospital and gives us no further information. Gee, thanks a lot. It turns out that Casey is in the hospital for a stress-induced bleeding ulcer (according to Joe’s Place Blog).
Then the Top 13, minus Casey, take to the stage for a Michael Jackson medley. And boy was that awful. It was mash-up pre-recorded vocal tracks, some bad live singing, really bad dance moves and terrible lip syncing. You can’t get 12 people do do a successful production number. Ever.
Ford video is next. And that’s when I get up to grab some water.
Finally, it’s time to build the Bottom 3. Ryan pulls Jacob Lusk, Karen Rodriguez and Stefano Langone to the center of the stage.
*Jacob. He admits that he didn’t do well last night. So to all the people who hated my bad review of Jacob last night, take that! Even he hated his own performance. Regardless, he’s sent to safety. No surprise there.
*Stefano. From eliminated contestant to wildcard to complete safety. Go Stefano. You earned it.
*Karen. She got my worst review last night and America seemed to agree. Bottom 3.
Commercial. Adam Lambert. Filler.
Ryan asks Kieran to dim the lights and he pulls Lauren Alaina, Ashthon Jones and Haley Reinhart to the stage.
*Lauren. Like Jacob, she realizes she “sucked” last night. Hey, those are her words not mine. Ryan messes with her a little before he sends her to safety. As if she was ever in danger.
*Ashthon. Bottom 3. Duh.
*Haley. Nope, she’s not safe. In a surprise twist (time crunch), Ryan tells her she too is in the Bottom. And everyone else on the couch is safe. So we only get to hear from six of the 13 contestants tonight. Thanks, Idol! Because we don’t watch for the current contestants, we watch to see filler, fluff, Diddy and Lambert. Gah.
Commercial. Diddy. Filler.
The end results come fast as Ryan sends Karen to safety. Then he reveals that Ashthon got the least amount of votes. Haley is safe and Ashthon gets a chance to sing for the judge’s save. As nice as they’re being this season, I was afraid they’d actually use it. But even though her performance tonight was better than last night’s, they decide to save it for Casey Abrams in a week or two. Ashthon Jones was officially eliminated tonight.
What were your thoughts? Did you hate or love the show format tonight?