Heejun Han was eliminated from American Idol 2012 on Thursday night but it almost didn’t happen, according to Han and E! News.
Heejun explained that after the elimination show ended he was approached by Lopez who explained how close he came to being saved:
Heejun reveals that Lopez tried to get the other judges to use their one save on him. “She came up to me, with the teary eyes, and said, ‘I was convincing them to save you, but I lost,’ ” he says. “But only her vote counts for me I guess, but Randy and Steven can just…whatever.”
The singer says he wasn’t surprised that the judges decided not to use their save to keep him in the competition: “It was too early. It was way too early to use their card. I’m pretty sure they’re saving it for some other people. It was fair and square.”
I imagine I wasn’t the only one scoffing at the display the judges put on while Heejun performed his “Save Me!” song on Thursday night. As much as I enjoyed Heejun’s antics during the season he’s right that it was reasonable for the judges to let him go. I don’t doubt that Lopez said what Heejun claims she did, but I do question how sincerely the idea of saving him was pushed. Considering Steven Tyler appeared to relish the announcement of no-save to Han I don’t think he would have ever been convinced to use it and Randy was likely realistic enough to know avoid it. But if nothing else, I’m sure it made Han feel better to hear it.
Do you think the judges should have saved Heejun Han or was it the right choice to allow his elimination this week on American Idol 2012?