Idol Chatter - Someone's Gotta Go, Right?!

It's Wednesday night and that means that by the time you are done reading this entry, we should be down to a six-pack of Idols. That's right, it's Elimination Night on Idol and you can thank me for saving you an hour of your life by watching the show while you do whatever it is you do on Wednesday nights.

In the event you decide to read not watch what happened, you missed Miley Cyrus (OK, "missed" may be a bit strong) and former Idol contestant and Oscar winning actress, Jennifer Hudson perform while the seven remaining Idols sweated it out on the Idol couch.

For the group performance, the Idols lent their lips to the '80's club standard, "Maniac" from the Flashdance soundtrack. There were no Jennifer Beals sightings, but Allison did her best to channel the Flashdance look by wearing purple stretch pants and Matt did a little Michael Jackson twirl as the Idols (finally) ended the song.

As often happens on Elinination night, the Idol producers pack the show with time wasting events. This week we followed the Idols as they attended the world premier of 17 Again, the Zac Ephron/Matthew Perry remake of about a million"back in time" movies including Big, 13 Going on 30. and Like Father, Like Son. But this one is different!--really! If you want to find out for yourself, hit the multiplex on Friday because I am not likely to make it there for you.

At the 16 minute mark, Ryan asked Allison to stand up and face the music. He ran through Paula and Simon's comments from last night, built a little lame drama, and then told her she was safe. Adam was put through the usual Elimination Night treatment before he was invited to sit back down. Anoop, as predicted (by me), was ushered to the Bottom 3 stools where he was to be joined by two more Idols in due time.

While Anoop wondered what he has to do to remain in the contest, Ryan introduced former Idol finalist and Grammy award winner, Jennifer Hudson. Before she could hit the stage, we watched a retrospective of all of Jennifer's success starting with her turn on Idol. When she finally graced the stage, she was flashing a huge engagement ring and sang "If This Isn't Love" off of her first album which included a spelling bee (L O V E) and instructions to "put your hands up" to which the audience did--but I'm not sure they needed the encouragement because, like the Idols who preceeded her, Jennifer sounded awesome and very Grammy worthy.

In an effort to find playmates for Anoop, Ryan asked Kris and Lil to stand up. While Ryan rehashed the comments that Randy made after Kris' performance last night, Simon spoke up and said Kris was "brilliant"--which may or may not be too late. Then he turned his attention toward Lil and they chatted a bit about her exchange with Simon at the end of the performance show. Nothing new was offered or explained and in the end, Kris was asked to take a seat...on the couch and Lil was sent to the stools.

The final pair of Idols, Matt and Danny rose from their comfy seats and Ryan ran through the normal drama before he sent Matt to join Lil and Anoop meaning that Danny was safe--as expected.

BTW: For those keeping track at home, I was three for three in picking the B3 this week! Anyone want to go to Vegas?! :)

Ryan gathered the B3 to center stage, asked the judges if the voters got it right--Paula and Kara hemmed and hawed before Ryan sent Anoop to safety meaning the end of road is coming for either Lil or Matt. Anybody's palms getting sweaty? Well take a minute to gather yourself because up next is Billy Ray's little girl herself performing for your pleasure, but not your votes--which is a good thing because I'm not sure she would be able to out sing any of our Idols.

I could only make it through about a minute of her performance before fast forwarding to the end of the song, but before Ryan sent us to the break, he asked Simon if the judges would consider using the Judge's Save for either Matt or Lil. Simon said they might for one of them, and he added a bit of drama and mystery to the situation by saying that the person on whom they would use the safe might be a bit surprised...but he stopped short of saying which Idol might benefit from the judge's clemency. It's starting to read like an Agatha Christie novel, isn't it!

After 54 minutes of mostly wasted activities, Ryan told Lil she was safe and that Matt was the one who received the fewest votes this week--I was a bit shocked, but Matt was completely taken by surprise. But before he had time to process the news, Matt was given the microphone and another chance to remind the judges why he is in the competition. So sans piano, Matt reprised his previous night's performance of "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" As Matt tried valiantly to sway the judges, the only swaying that seemed to be happening was Paula, Kara, and Randy moving from one foot to the other behind their judges table.

Matt finished the song, the judges huddled, and Simon started down the "you're probably not going to win the contest..." line before the rest of the judges interceded by pleading with Simon to use the coveted save...which he did! Meaning that no one if going home tonight, but two people are going home next week...and to add serious insult to injury, he told them that next week is...wait for it: DISCO NIGHT!

So break out your polyester pants, platform shoes, and gold medallions and get ready for some Night Fever! It is going to be like Studio 54 in Studio 57...you have been warned.

Until then, I will continue watching TV so you don't have to...

Peace!