American Idol top 4 revealed
Brooke White was revealed to be the eighth finalist eliminated from American Idol’s seventh season during last night’s live results show on Fox.
The 24-year-old from Mesa, AZ who currently resides in Van Nuys, CA was ousted from Idol’s seventh season after host Ryan Seacrest said “over 45 million” home viewer votes were cast immediately following Tuesday night’s live performance broadcast that saw the Top 5 finalists each sing two Neil Diamond songs.
“I just want to say thank you,” said White as Seacrest wiped tears — lots of them — from her eyes following her elimination. “It’s going to be terrible for me right now, but thank you.”
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White sang “I’m a Believer” and “I Am I Said” on Tuesday night. Randy Jackson had commented “I’m a Believer” was a “better” performance than last week but thought it was “still a little karaoke.” Simon Cowell was a bit more direct.
“Brooke, a nightmare…” he said on Tuesday night.
“No!” she responded from the stage as the audience booed. “No, no, no, no, no!”
After White sang “I Am I Said” later in Tuesday night’s broadcast, Cowell reiterated his displeasure with her first performance.
“Brooke, I really, really hated the first song,” he said. “It was sort of like a girls night out at the karaoke bar.”
However all of the judges enjoyed “I Am I Said,” with Jackson saying she did a “nice job” on a “tough” one to sing, while Paula Abdul thought it showed White’s “vulnerability” and allowed her to “connect” with the audience.”
“This is the Brooke we like,” said Cowell. “Sitting behind the piano, singing a very good song. It wasn’t incredible, but it was a million times better than the first song. Well done.”
Prior to White’s elimination last night, Syesha Mercado, a 21-year-old from Sarasota, FL who currently resides in Miami, was revealed to be the finalist who received the second lowest amount of home viewer votes following Tuesday night’s episode.
Also during last night’s broadcast, Seacrest briefly addressed the confusion during Tuesday night’s live show — specifically Abdul’s confusion when he asked the judges to offer their comments on the first round of performances without prior notice.
“Last night, the judges were thrown a curveball on the air, which is just part of a live show. But it sparked a lot of gossip about Paula,” explained Seacrest, presumably referencing online rumors that Abdul had been drinking prior to the performance episode. “I read some of this online this morning and just for the record, the rumors, they’re not true. She’s part of our family and we love her.”
“Here, here,” responded Jackson. “Here, here.”
In addition, Diamond performed “Pretty Amazing Grace” and Natasha Bedingfield sang “Pocketful of Sunshine.” Before she departed the stage Bedingfield went and said hello to the finalists and also gave David Archuleta a kiss on the cheek.
“Natasha, I don’t want to embarrass anybody, but David would like to ask you to the prom,” said Seacrest.
Idol’s four remaining seventh-season finalists — Archuleta, Jason Castro, David Cook and Mercado — will all take the stage and perform during next week’s live one-hour performance episode on Tuesday at 8PM ET/PT.
On Wednesday beginning at 9PM ET/PT, another finalist will be eliminated from the competition based on home viewer votes, revealing the season’s Top 3 finalists.
American Idol is the top-rated show every single week. It currently has more spin-off series than even I can name, and gets more media buzz than the presidential election (sadly, it’s true). The three judges and all contestants enjoy intense celebrity, the performances are downloaded and re-viewed thanks to mobile devices and the Internet, and eventually one of them will win a recording contract which could rocket them to super stardom. So…what could possibly be wrong with Idol?
After seven years, American Idol is noticing a sharp decline in ratings. Sure, the show is still ruling the weekly numbers. Sure, the show is still commanding all sorts of public attention. But FOX also knows they can do better. Expect changes for American Idol’s eighth season - I promise, they will come. A new marketing research survey recently put out by the powers-that-be behind the show all but guarantees something’s going to happen. And that something could just be a host change.
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This late in the game, is it a good idea to replace Ryan Seacrest? Depending on how the results of the survey shake out, it’s possible Idol could decide to do just that. The survey - which I’ve seen - asks a myriad of questions, with strong emphasis on the early weeks of the show. Questions ask viewers to sound off on what they like/dislike about Hollywood Week, how much they like seeing the audition weeks, and how they would react to possible changes. One question asks viewers if they would rather see audition flashbacks during Hollywood Week; another asks if the week should be extended.
But many of the questions draw attention to Ryan Seacrest, suggesting that the show is considering at least one major casting change. With corresponding pictures, the survey asks respondents to rate the importance of each judge as well as the host. It also asks leading questions like “I like the interaction between Ryan and the contestants,” and “I like the interaction between the judges and Ryan.” The survey also asks about the banter between the judges and how enjoyable that may or may not be to viewers.
Ryan Seacrest has received his share of bad press during Idol’s seventh season. The host sparked fury from fans during the elimination of popular contestant Michael Johns. Many viewers felt the host handled the situation badly. The increasingly antagonistic comments between Seacrest and judge Simon Cowell, once amusing, are now becoming more and more boring with each passing episode.
But is a hosting change really what’s needed to save the show that really doesn’t need much saving? It’s still number one - a big deal for reality and an even bigger deal for FOX. Eliminating Seacrest could further alienate long-time viewers and even piss off the younger crowd who finds him attractive and fun to watch. The Idol formula has rocketed the series to un-dreamed-of success…so, does it even need “fixing” in the first place?
