Friday, April 22, 2011

American Idol Top 7 Results

Who should have been eliminated (based on last night alone) : Scotty McCreery

Who I predicted would be eliminated: Stefano Langone


Who was eliminated: Stefano Langone


Of course, I really did not want to see Scotty, one of the top front-runners, eliminated. I do not really enjoy the kind of music he does, but he has been one of the most consistent contestants this season and I want to root for him because I am seeing evidence that left-wingers are really starting to hate him. So, I want to hope he manages to keep surviving in the name of red-state (and otherwise) patriotic country music fans and young GWB lookalikes! Hopefully, Scotty will challenge himself and "shake things up" a bit on stage, at least to keep my interest.

On this week's results show, we might have learned that David Cook joins the ranks of past Idol celebrities, such as Elliot Yamin and Kelly Pickler, to return to the stage with some work done. In Cook's case, I think he just got hair transplant surgery. This season's kids had some for fun this week with a trip to the spa and to Dodger Stadium, where they were thankfully not harmed by hooligans. They also seem to be pretty lousy bowlers. I might even be able to beat them at something. Odds are that if Haley Reinhart has been bowling in her neighborhood before, it might be the same lane I sometimes go to.

Anyways, as I predicted, it was at last the "End of the Road" for Stefano. Multiple times, he stood at the end of the broadcast waiting to hear what name could be called, but his chances finally ran out, and it was his time to go. Maybe they should have just brought David Cook back out to sing the boot song live, or was he really pissed off at Steven Tyler for kissing his mother?

Stefano was the last remaining wild-card contestant to be booted, and considering the serious car accident he was once in, he has to feel lucky to both be alive and to have gotten as far as he did on American Idol. I did think earlier on that he could have lasted even longer in the competition, as he does have a very good voice and the potential to be marketed as a young, "hip" artist.

While his "sing for your life" wildcard performance was one of the highlights of the season, once he made it to the Finals, his performances were not as on the money as they needed to be, and Stefano might have come across as a bit too cheesy and a bit too sure of himself, to have gained a lot of new fans along the way. There is also some serious negative tension going on between Stefano and Haley (and perhaps some others and Haley too.) I hope to one day find out the real story behind that.

The truth of the matter is that Stefano is probably not going to be signed to a major record label any time soon. Seventh place finishers, who are not exactly unique niche artists, will have a bit of a tough road reaching massive stardom. I think though that Stefano will be able to make a living from doing music and perhaps will join other Idol also-rans from past seasons on various tours across the country to somewhat smaller audiences than what he will be performing in front of this summer. If he works hard enough in the years ahead, maybe he will catch a big break.

Taking Stefano's elimination the toughest tonight was his roommate James Durbin. Their "bromance" in Idolville is over, at least for now. James appears to be a very straight forward, honest guy, who cannot hide his emotions. A lot of people may find that appealing about him down the road as they go to vote, while other creepy Idol fans will pen disturbing James/Stefano fan fiction, as they are apt to do.

Next week, the kids will take on the songs of Carole King. I guess they want the old people to not tune out from the show.