Jason Castro Eliminated Tonight…
Your Final 3:
- David Archuleta
- David Cook
- Syesha Mercado
Click links for Video:
- The judges talk about Syesha Mercado’s tears.
- The Top 4 perform “Reeling in the Years”
- David Archleta is safe. The director screws up.
- The Idols see Love in Las Vegas
- David Cook is Safe, Jason Castro and Syesha Mercado are not…yet.
- Ford commercial, “Ring of Fire”
- America asks dumb questions
- Maroon 5 perform “If I Never See Your Face Again”
- Bo Bice performs “Witness”
- Jason Castro is eliminated
I Shot the Tambourine Man…
Here are the stats: There were 51 million votes last night. Were the fanbases energized to keep their fave from being Daughtried? Ryan Seacrest tells us that there were only 1 million votes separating the Top 3 vote getters. Last night he mentioned that three of the contestants were Top vote getters at one point in the Season. I have no doubt one of those contestants was Jason Castro. And not because of his sweet smile and pretty eyes. He took the top spot because he truly had the most memorable performance of the night. I’m thinking he was #1 the nights he sang “Hallelujah” and “Over the Rainbow”. There were other great performances. Let me tick them off: The easygoing, charming “Daydream” introduced us to Jason, “Traveling Through” a testament to Jason’s faith, was sung movingly and with much conviction and the beautifully rendered, Spanish inflected “I Don’t Want to Cry” and “Fragile”.
More Recap after the Jump…
That Jason Castro could turn from a promising Idol candidate into the next coming of Sanjaya/John Stevens-all- rolled-into-one, practically overnight, is a testament to how the opinions of the judges and the journos turn on a dime around here. Outlasting Carly Smithson, who seems to be the darling of AI pundits everywhere (Overrated!) probably did not help him. At All.
Anyhoo, that’s all water under the bridge. Jason looked like he clearly had enough this week for whatever reason. Though I have to say, pundits stick to black and white thinking because it makes for awesome headlines. Sure, I’m guilty of that very thing myself. However, there’s a thing called “mixed feelings” and it’s a little more complicated than a sound bite. It’s not odd that Jason declares that he’s tired in one interview, but then looks utterly relieved when he’s declared safe that same week. I’m thinking if you asked Jason how he felt about still being in the contest during the last few weeks, the answer would have depended on what he was feeling at that given moment. And then when it’s finally over, as it was last night, the feeling is relief, because sometimes it really is just too damn hard.
The show starts off with the judges picking apart Syesha Mercado’s breakdown the night before. Ryan says Randy was hard on Syesha. Randy defends himself again. Is this really necessary? Randy’s critique of Syesha wasn’t all that tough. Oh, but it turns out that it was Paula who made her cry when she allowed Syesha to have her beautiful rainbow colored moment! Whatever.
Group song is next, and I’m telling you, these numbers haven’t been the same since Michael Johns and Carly Smithson left. The cheese has been absent from my TV for too many weeks now. The solos are nice, but the chorus sounds suspiciously sweetened by pre-recorded background vocals. Hm… Props to David Archuleta for attempting a half-hearted pointy-pose at the end of the song.
Afterward, little Davie is brought out first to be declared safe. It’s not presented exactly that way, but still. Ryan asks David how he’s feeling:
*giggle* “Every week I’m really nervous” *giggle* “Just because…you know…” *giggle* “No matter how well you do…there’s always a chance…but..I’m just glad I have the songs I sing last night ’cause I really loved to sing them and I really connected with them.” Does Archie want to be the next American Idol? *giggle* “uhm…that be really” *giggle* “I’d love to be” *giggle* “I just hoped that everyone connected with the songs…you know” *giggle*
That script writer that feeds Paula Abdul all her critiques? Archie needs to hire him stat.
Ryan introduces a segment and it all goes haywire as the wrong pictures are flashed up on the screen at the wrong time. “Hello in the booth..” says Ryan as he throws to commercial.
After clips from the Idols’ trip to Las Vegas to see the Cirque du Soleil Love (Can we please officially retire the Beatles from Idol?) where we see poor Jason Castro being attacked by crazy fans, It’s David Cook’s turn to be declared safe.
On his own lackluster performance Tuesday night, David says that when he got out of bed that morning, he didn’t feel right and the feeling stayed with him the rest of the day. Hm, maybe it’s dawning on him that winning American Idol might not be all it’s cracked up to be, particularly for someone who wants to be a rock musician. Dance with the Devil, baybee! David accepts his fate as Ryan declares him safe.
Jason Castro and Syesha Mercado are called onto center stage. As Ryan starts a fake out that will lead into a commercial break, Jason asks earnestly, “Are you going to tell us right NOW?” Ha ha. I’m going to miss Jason when he’s gone.
PETA is gonna love this! The Idols are dressed up as matadors as a Ford Focus plays the part of the bull. Stupid!
Argh, Dumb ass viewer questions are next. The producers let through a call from a viewer who asks David Cook out on a date. Awkward! A young fan asks all four what the biggest challenge is they’ve had to overcome. Learning how to answer dumb questions? Syesha: “Stage Fright.” Archie: *giggle* “I don’t know!” *giggle* Jason: “The brain being dead.” Ok, moving right along… Syesha uses the word “pimpmercial” to answer a question, and it gets censored. Or at least that’s what the peeps who have zaprudered the clip are saying. And I thought Syesha didn’t read the boards!
Next, it’s Maroon 5 with their new single “I screwed you. I’ll never see you again. Yay.” Or something like that. Adam Levine can sing REAL HIGH! Best moment: Adam sushes the annoying tweeners in the mosh pit. Something we’ve all wanted to do–thank yew Adam!
After the break, it’s Bo Bice! Bo is one of the best performers to ever grace the Idol stage. I’m not a big Southern rock fan, but I’d go see him perform in a minute. He shows the Idols how it’s done. Go Bo! Afterward, he tells Randy that it was cool that the contestants were able to play instruments, but that some took risks, and others hid behind those instruments. Hm. Bo gives Cookie props for taking some risks. Bo’s wife is expecting their second little boy. Aw.
Finally, it’s time to eliminate Jason Castro. We don’t actually know that yet, but we know it. Kwim?
When Ryan says that Simon told Jason to “pack his bags.” Jason answers, “I did” and then he says that someone called his performance last night “I Shot the Tambourine Man.” Jason finds this hilarious. I love Jason. Ryan asks Jason why last night was so tough for him. He says, “It’s just getting tough for me, I think my inexperience is coming in. Just learning two songs…this week I tried to pick two I knew, and even that I screwed up.” Jason is clearly overwhelmed at this point. I feel really good about NOT splitting my votes for the first time Tuesday night.
Ryan asks Syesha about why she was so emotional the night before. Not content with merely mentioning the civil rights movement, she’s got to throw in the current political election as well! “It’s 2008, we might have the first female president and the first black president…” Thank you Miss America! Now STFU.
Time to get down to it. “America has voted” says Ryan, “And Syesha, you’re in the Top 3.” Syesha closes her eyes. Jason grins. He hugs Syesha and says, “Congratualations.” Ryan says, “I almost feel like you’re relieved.” “A little” says Jason, “There were three songs next week. I don’t know what I would have done!” Big smile, Jason sings out, “All around my hometown…they are trying to take me home…”
