Television
May 5, 2012

IDOL TOP 5 ELIMINATION RESULTS

In a mild surprise, country singer Skylar Laine was eliminated from American Idol last night.  Based on her two strong performances the night before, I thought she would be safe for another week and so did the American Idol judges.

Her two performances on Wednesday night got strong reviews from all of the judges. Jennifer Lopez praised Skylar’s energetic performance of Credence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son”, and Randy Jackson said “she was born to be on the stage”. Unfortunately, the American Idol voting public disagreed and sent her home. Before leaving, Skylar sang an encore performance of Miranda Lambert’s “Gunpowder and Lead.” When the show started, I wasn’t a big fan of Skylar’s but my feelings for her changed as the show went on. She has a great voice, terrific stage presence and knew who she was as a singer. I expect that we will hear a lot from Skylar in the years to come.

With only three American Idol performance shows left this season, there has been a major shakeup in my American Idol rankings. After strong performances three weeks in a row, Joshua Ledet has moved into the top spot. Jessica Sanchez who has held the top spot in my rankings since the start of the season dropped down to the number two spot followed by Phil Phillips and Hollie Cavanagh. It is important to note, that Joshua and Hollie have been on a roll and are coming off of some really good performances the last few weeks.

On the flip side, Jessica and Phil have been struggling the last few weeks and are limping to the finish line. The good thing is the contest is wide open and one really strong week could earn a contestant a spot in the final show. Next week’s show should be very interesting!!!

American Idol Odds and Ends

• This week American Idol fans cast nearly 60 million votes.

• Ryan Seacrest announced that this year’s American Idol Summer Tour will kick off in Detroit, Michigan on July 6th. Tickets go on sale May 11th.

• I really enjoyed the banter and chemistry between mentors Jimmy Iovine and Stevie Van Zandt. It is obvious they are good friends.

• Hollie Cavanagh survived her 5th trip to the “Bottom 2 or 3”, this season. While I wasn’t surprised that she was in the bottom again this week (in fact, I predicted it based on her strong performances the night before), I truly thought she deserved to remain in the contest another week.

• Despite having his worst night of the season, Phil Phillips managed to stay out of the “Bottom 2” once again. With only four contestants remaining, he is going to have to get his act together next week if he wants to keep that streak intact.

• Coldplay performed the hit single “Paradise” from their new Album Mylo Xyloto. Coldplay followed that up with a great performance of “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall.” Coldplay will be kicking off their summer tour in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Bowl on Friday, May 4th, 2012.

• Carrie Underwood returned to the American Idol stage and sang the title track from her new album Blown Away. It is hard to believe that it has been 7 years since she won American Idol.

• My predictions for next week’s “Bottom 2”are Phil Phillips and Hollie Cavanagh.