AI9: Two Weak Singers Eliminated

I was relieved to find out that the two singers who were eliminated from American Idol last night at least were two of the weakest competitors. Andrew Garcia, who made Elvis spin in his grave with his performance of "Hound Dog" Tuesday night, was the first to be cut. I don't think anybody was too surprised by that, although Lee DeWyze, Andrew's best friend at the competition, looked stunned. I liked Andrew, but his singing just wasn't that great.

Ryan nastily left Katie Stevens and Michael Lynche standing on the stage together, waiting for the axe to fall. Nastily because he said that one of the two of them wasn't even in the bottom 3. Obviously, it was Big Mike, because Katie was sent home. Crystal Bowersox and Siobhan Magnus looked stricken. I can sympathize with them; now they're the only two women left in a competition where strong women were eliminated and weak men were retained. Too many tweener girls voting. All they care about is how "cute" a contestant is.

Ideally, we'd have a Top 7 that included Didi Benami and Lilly Scott and didn't include Tim Urban or Aaron Kelly. But - and I hate this expression! - it is what it is. We'll see what next week brings. "Inspirational" songs is the category, in honor of Idol Gives Back. I hate the thought of "inspirational" songs, expecting schlock like "The Wind Beneath My Wings" or "God Bless the USA." But in the past it's been some really interesting stuff, like Jason Castro doing that Hawaiian version of "Over the Rainbow" and David Cook doing one of the best pieces I ever downloaded, "Innocent" by Our Lady Peace. So who knows what next week will bring?