American Idol Top 10 Results

Who should have been eliminated: Megan Joy

Who I predicted would be eliminated: Michael Sarver

Who was eliminated: Michael Sarver


This week, the prediction made by myself and many others Idol followers turned out to be prophetic. I never quite understood why Michael's semifinal performance was considered good enough to get him voted into the Finals. However, over the past three weeks, I did come to feel that his vocal and performance skills were stronger than Megan Joy and Scott MacIntyre. Nonetheless, the other seven hopefuls are still far better.

This week also marked the first trip to the bottom three by Scott, who was also the first sent back to safety. Still though, I think he probably was the second lowest vote getter, and that the surprise placement of Matt Giraud on the silver stools caused the producers to want to set up a more dramatic finish. Matt certainly did not deserve to be in the bottom three, but I think he must have made it there because he did have the "dead man's spot" kicking off the show, on a special Wednesday edition (thank you PBO), and then at the end of the show, the recap clip they showed of Matt from dress rehearsal also happened to be pretty bad. How Megan has continued to avoid the bottom three (for now) is really something to me, but I guess the folks at Vote for the Worst may have something to do with it. Megan seemed a little smug last night when she said something like "my fans are still there." Yes, many of them may have liked it in a bad way.

I never expected that Matt could actually be eliminated after he was announced in the bottom three, but the dude does not have much of a poker face and looked pretty miserable for the rest of the show. By contrast, Michael Sarver seemed calm, happy, and resigned to his fate the entire hour. Of all the contestants to ever be booted from American Idol, nobody may have been more gracious and cheerful seeming about it then him, so I hope he gets some credit for that. A few months ago, he supposedly was working at the "fifth most dangerous job in the world", and suffice to say, he will not have to go back to that, even if he winds up singing at bars or cruise ships. This was great exposure for him and he is a nice guy and a decent entertainer. He simply was fodder from the get go though. Back in the auditions his job was mentioned in regards to making him the complete opposite of showbiz maven and AI host Ryan Seacrest. I saw a comment though last night that Sarver sort of looks like Seacrest. I agree, he could pass as Ryan's huskier, straighter brother.

Michael's cheerful enthusiasm throughout this whole process has been pretty obvious, which is maybe why it was a bad move for him to be sort of smiley last night during his performance of "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" which is supposed to be a song about desperation and all that. Instead, it just looked like someone having a good time at a karaoke bar. I think it was better vocally than my bottom two last night, but it's not any great surprise or tragedy that Michael is leaving.

It certainly was evident to almost anyone with a brain, including Michael himself that the judges were not going to act to save him, despite the faux deliberations during their dancing. So, Michael reprised "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" and seemed to have even more fun than last night, perhaps because despite the twist this year, the pressure was already off. It wasn't Idol worthy or "save worthy" but it was a really energetic performance, so after the charade of them pretending to not have made up their minds and Simon told him the news, Michael still left on an upbeat note.

For the second week in a row, a young parent will be headed back home to their family, but at least the 10th place finisher will be going on tour and presumably opening that show, as fans of the others may not feel the need to rush through traffic to see him.

As of now, I do not know the theme for next week, but I have to assume that Megan and Scott will have the most to prove. It will probably take a really bad performance by one of the other seven, or a way too complacent fanbase to really put anyone else at risk of being voted off next week.

But if Idol really wants to cover their bases, they should make sure that Scott and Megan start off the night at the beginning of the show.