The results show began with a very expensive promo for Horton Hears A Who, which Ryan Seacrest said with scripted punk-rock attitude was a FOX movie. Way to read a cue card, Ryan! Then we saw Jim Carrey in the audience wearing an elephant suit, which went on a bit too long. And THEN we saw Jim Carrey sitting with the kids on the bench and joking he should have never sung that REO Speedwagon tune. And that was really one lame plug too many.
Then the kids did their Up With People performance, this time a medley of Beatles songs. Ryan also said the Beatles tunes were so popular they were gonna be the theme for next week as well. I thought Michael Johns had the best spotlight during their various trade-offs of vocals.
In the recap of the night before, they skipped over the negative reviews of most singers, showing only the bad comments for Jason Castro, David Archuleta and the one lock for the bottom three: Kristy Lee Cook.
Syesha -- She was the first announced for the bottom three. No surprise, since her performance the night before slipped by without leaving any impression. This time, her "Got To Get You Into My Life" was a little better. And her hair was a lot better.
Kristy -- Then Kristy joined the bottom three. She knew it, saying "Where's the microphone?" (to sing) even before Ryan announced she was one of the lowest vote-getters. She sang "Eight Days A Week" again and since she didn't bounce around as much, Kristy kept her breathing steady and did a little better on the vocals. Simon said the song wasn't suited for country, even though Lorrie Morgan covered it well in 1987. I've often wondered if the contestants can work on the songs and rearrange them for the results show if they weren't happy with how it went. It would be a great chance to see them fixing mistakes and getting better, a tiny recompense for being on the bubble.
Phone calls -- A cheesy, low-rent low point for Idol was watching Ryan take live phone calls from viewers. My God, please, just make it a half hour results show instead of forcing us to sit through ridiculous padding like this.
Ryan then made a confusing transition by saying that John Lennon and Paul McCartney didn't just write songs for the Beatles, they also wrote hits for a lot of other artists. And here's Kat to sing a George Harrison classic. Huh? What Ryan meant to say was that Lennon and McCartney weren't the only ones to write hits for the Beatles. So did George...etc. etc. Then Kat McPhee came out -- wearing a sexy short dress that would have won her the entire competition if she's worn it to the finals two seasons ago -- and sang "Something," a song Frank Sinatra famously called the best love song of the last fifty years when he began singing it in the Seventies. (He also repeatedly credited it to Lennon and McCartney, even though Harrison wrote it.) She looked smashing and sang well and had hitmeister David Foster accompanying her on piano. Proof that you don't have to win Idol to win With Foster behind her, Kat's second album is sure to be much more commercial.
David Hernandez -- He joined the bottom three as well. I figured it would happen when he was paired with Ramiele since I doubted three girls would get the three lowest votes. I forgot there was a bottom three, but at least my personal bottom four seemed on target: I had picked Syesha, Ramiele, Kristy and David. David sang "I Saw Her Standing There" with grim determination and I had the same sinking feeling that one of my favorites who hadn't reached his potential yet was going home. And he was. He was polite and composed, though I was hopeful for a moment he'd make some bold statement on live television.
Next week more Beatles and I couldn't be happier. But my girl Syesha has to have a breakthrough moment soon or she might slip away soon, while far less talented singers than her and David carry on. Was David the right one to go home and who do you think is headed home next?