The American Idol Results show for week 8 of Season 7 live performances came a day later than usual which must have been an excruciatingly long wait for the Idol hopefuls. The show was postponed for it’s usual spot on Wednesday night because of the Idol Gives Back charity event which was so successful last year.
Unfortunately for the organizers, it doesn’t look like this year’s event was nearly as successful. Despite lining up more stars than a rap music video, the show was only able to pull in 17.5 million viewers, down from the 26.9 million that watched it last year. Last year’s show raised over $76 million was raised for underprivileged children while they’ve only garnered a little over $60 million thus far this year (although donations are still being accepted). I blame the show itself. By the fifteenth thousand time I heard a celebrity read (badly) a cue card with the IDOL AID phone number on it I wanted to shoot myself. By the second Miley Cirus performance, that left me feeling confused and a little dirty, I changed the channel.
Anyway, back to the results show. It was a doozy. We all knew an upset could come at any time, of course, but I don’t think anyone was expecting THIS upset at this point in the competition. If you’ll remember, this week was Inspirational Song week and our usual slate of favorites got turned upside down. If you missed the performance show on Tuesday night you can always watch the performance videos and read our recaps right here:
As I mentioned, this was an upset week. I still did pretty well on my bottom picks since I got two out of three correct. The one I missed was the upset and the big surprise. Just to refresh your memory, I placed the Top 8 performances in this order:
- Jason Castro – “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” by Braddah Iz
- David Archuleta – “Angelsâ€Â? by Robbie Williams
- Kristy Lee Cook – “Anywayâ€Â? by Martina McBride
- Michael Johns – “Dream Onâ€Â? by Aerosmith
- Syesha Mercado – “I Believeâ€Â? by Fantasia
- Brooke White – “You’ve Got a Friendâ€Â? by Carol King
- David Cook – “Innocentâ€Â? by Our Lady Peace
- Carly Smithson – “The Show Must Go Onâ€Â? by Queen
For my picks of who would be in the bottom three I didn’t go with who I thought were the bottom three. I felt like David Cook had a bad performance but would be able to dodge this bullet on the strength of his past performances. Therefore, I felt that Syesha Mercado, Brooke White, and Carly Smithson would be the bottom three contestants and that this would be the week that Carly Smithson went home.
The actual bottom three ended up being:
- Syesha Mercado
- Michael Johns
- Carly Smithson
I thought Michael Johns had one of his better performances this week so I was stunned when he was named as being in the bottom three. I thought with David Cook’s poor performance this week, Michael had really shown that he was improving and that he had a chance to get even better. You can imagine my surprise then when I heard that Michael Johns was the one who was actually voted out! Crazy. I personally don’t agree with it, of course, but it happens pretty much every year. There’s always someone who gets voted out that we think shouldn’t. That’s just the way it works.
Why Syesha Mercado and Carly Smithson Made The Bottom Three
- Syesha Mercado – Syesha is trying to do too much with her song choices. She needs to pick songs that people recognize and enjoy (like Yesterday), but not songs that make people compare her to Whitney or past Idol winners like Fantasia. Syesha loses votes every time Simon tells her that she didn’t stack up when he compared her to the original artist. She needs to take songs that are a little less known and turn them into her own version of a Whitney type song. She has the skills to do it and if she pulled it off it would be incredibly impressive. At this point she simply isn’t standing out enough as a personality. People don’t feel like they know her or have a connection to her so they aren’t going to vote for her.
- Carly Smithson – Carly is just doing all kinds of things wrong right now. Her wardrobe is still a disaster and her song choices aren’t any better. She needs a makeover and she needs someone else to pick her songs. Carly has a really strong voice, but if she doesn’t pick exactly the right songs she’s never going to stand out. At this point, I think she’s waited too long to find her musical niche. She should have found her audience and established her musical style weeks ago. She didn’t do it and now it’s going to come back to bite her.
Why Michael Johns Lost American Idol
Michael simply waited too long to bring his game. Early on he was plagued by bad song choices while his most direct competition, David Cook, was establishing himself as the creative (and more talented) rocker. It didn’t help that the judges kept telling everyone that Michael wasn’t really a rocker and should be doing blues. Had he done blues he still wouldn’t have won. Michael wanted to do rock, but he almost looked like he was “rocker light” compared to the stuff David Cook was doing for the past several weeks. Since most of that niche was voting with someone else, Michael simply couldn’t get enough votes to keep him in the game.
The American Idol Top 7
- David Archuleta, 17, Murray, UT
- Jason Castro, 20, Rockwall, TX
- David Cook, 25, Tulsa, OK
- Kristy Lee Cook, 24, Selma, OR
- Syesha Mercado, 21, Miami, FL
- Carly Smithson, San Diego, CA
- Brooke White, 24, Van Nuys, CA
Michael Johns, 29, Los Angeles, CA(Top 8)Ramiele Malubay, 20, Miramar, FL(Top 9)Chikezie Eze, 22, Inglewood, CA(Top 10)Amanda Overmyer, 23, Mulberry, IN(Top 11)David Hernandez, 24, Glendale, AZ(Top 12)
If you’re keeping score with the little side contest Jeff (from Static ThinkBox) and I have going… Jeff and I both guess that Carly Smithson would be the contestant voted out this week. We were both wrong, of course. We have now fallen below .500 on the season. The current score is below.
For a quick recap from a slightly different perspective, swing by Static ThinkBox and see what Jeff has to say about the ousted contestants.
Michael Johns sang with more passion on his exit performance than I ever saw from him before….should have done that all along.
And I was pretty surprised at the “Shout to the Lord” song they sang..a very Christian song to do on American Idol.
Very Christian song – that is a typical worship song that I put in the rotation and sing probably close to once a month for Sunday service. It was pretty crazy to see it on Idol, not once, but twice – wow.
Michael should not have exited at this stage in the competition, he was still too good, though not good enough to win it. I think Syesha or Kristy should have exited this week with the other one next week…oh well.
The Trousered Ape’s last blog post..Who was Jesus of Nazareth? – Part 2 of 10 with Dr. Craig
As I have mentioned before, this is my first year actually watching Idol on a weekly basis. I was worried something like this would happen, but not to Michael Johns. Terrible. He is (was) one of the three most talented people on the show.
How can he do a terrific job in the eyes and ears of the judges on Queen songs, but choosing an Aerosmith song was a mistake? Thought he did a great job. He was robbed.
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Carly needs to leave. She reminds me of a female version of Michael Bolton, the singer, not the guy from Office Space
– everything is way over the top. The show shouldn’t have gone on for her.
Steven’s last blog post..Top 100 Movies: Hooky, A Conspiracy Theory, and Laverne’s Masterpiece
I don’t know about that – she has a pretty good voice. She is better than several who were on the show and several who still are on. Probably not good enough to win it either – but she can definitely sing.
The Trousered Ape’s last blog post..Who was Jesus of Nazareth? – Part 2 of 10 with Dr. Craig
Oh she can sing, but she almost always over does it and consistently chooses the wrong songs. The judges were right on about her this week – she sang The Show Must Go On “angry” when it should have been “inspirational.” Too much. She just doesn’t seem to get it.
Kristy should have been gone before Chikezie. Actually, she should have been gone immediately after she “sang” Eight Days a Week.
Steven’s last blog post..Top 100 Movies: Hooky, A Conspiracy Theory, and Laverne’s Masterpiece
true dat…double true
The Trousered Ape’s last blog post..Who was Jesus of Nazareth? Parts 3 and 4 of 10 with Dr. Craig
The Christian song was a little surprising simply because the producers actually embraced it. The show itself has a long history of performers who have a Christian background and went who have since gone on to careers in the Christian music industry. This season alone we’ve seen several songs that could certainly be labeled religious.
As for the disappointment of seeing Michael Johns leave…well…the show must go on…(Carly Smithson pun intended)
@ Jason – we (me, the wife, and some friends) were batting that question around last night. The show has never been open to this in previous seasons, if anything Simon “Nips” Cowell has ridiculed contestants for singing overtly Christian songs. So it was surprising to see the Jonas Brothers do “This Little Light of Mine” (old Christian campfire/youth rally song) and the Dolly last week sing her song. I don’t know what’s going on.
The Trousered Ape’s last blog post..Who was Jesus of Nazareth? Parts 3 and 4 of 10 with Dr. Craig
Im in total disbelief over Michael Jonhs being voted out…
Now I dont want to call shenanigans but there was an odd thing about voting ths time around. Normally, when you call Idol you are limited to the number of times you can vote. the first weeks before they got down to 12 you could vote 3 times, then it was reduced to 1 vote every since. This week it was unlimited?!?!?! It didnt stop you from voting 4 billion times…why all of a sudden, what changed. And though the whole Idol gives back program is a great idea that certainly and hopefully helps a ton of people in need it is a bit misleading. Idol doesnt give back, you do. They did a good job at hosting a telethon for you to give, but Idol wasn’t abou to give up any of its meal ticket money for this, so Idol doesn’t really give back…but… although not raised as much as previous year, this is a nice chunk of change to go to those in need…Nice to see people step up especially with everything going on in the world…
How about when Seacrest said that last year they didn’t eliminate anyone during Idol Gives Back week last year, but this year . . . sorry Michael. Nice. First the guy and his fans have to wait to see if he is in fact eliminated and then they get everyone’s hopes up that he isn’t gone.
Steven’s last blog post..Top 100 Movies: Hooky, A Conspiracy Theory, and Laverne’s Masterpiece
@Steven.. YEAH, WHY EVEN MENTION THAT PART SEACREST!?!?!.. I couldnt beleive that, he gave instant hope to everyone, I cant imagine why he did that, what a dolt…. Any chance anyone recalls who that elimination saved last year when he did this (to see if it mattered?)
@Ape – If I had to guess, I’d say that the producers just now woke up and realized that a huge chunk of their audience is a Christian audience who have been supporting the Idol contestants for a long time now. Playing to that audience is a good way to ensure the ratings stay up (and I’m sure the openly Christian Jonas Brothers were probably involved in the decision as to what song they sung).
Yeah, Seacrest would win the Ultimate Ass award right now if we did one on this site…that was a joke way to do it.
@ Mike LOL….
I thought it was a pretty strange contrast to have Fergie with the Wilson sisters. It was just wrong somehow. I noted that the creature that ate Ann Wilson seemed to be smaller. It was weird how Fergie’s pants were so tight (I was mesmerized) but she could still move around all freaky and stuff. At least she didn’t pee in them.
@ Jason – well, it is a multi-billion dollar industry, so it makes business sense for them to tap into it.
The Trousered Ape’s last blog post..Who was Jesus of Nazareth? Parts 3 and 4 of 10 with Dr. Craig
Michael Johns definitely got robbed. He is most certainly a final 3 candidate. OK, he had one not great week, but he has a great voice and an honest to god great chance of selling albums post Idol. I really could give two shits for the country crap that Carly pumps out, or the Gospel crap that Syesha sings. Yes, thery have good voices, but who cares if what they are singing is garbage, no one wants to buy that shit. If Idol picks another country singer I will never watch the show again. The south’s vote should count as 1/10th the final vote. Or American Idol should start having electoral vote system. I’m not f#@#ing kidding either. Don’t even get me started on Kristy Lee Cook. She should have been axed 3 to 4 weeks ago. Jason Castro is chill and I could listen to his stuff, because its chill, but he doesn’t have a great voice and plays it safe every week. He changed his pitch once last week for the first time ever, and all the judges kissed his ass because he has the emotional stamina of a 5 yr old. David Archuletta has a Great voice, but he does have a lisp, and I really don’t care for the types of songs he sings. He should sign a contract with Disney, and do their movies soundtracks, but that is as far as he’ll go. Which leaves us withe My final 3 of David Cook, Brook White, and the late Michael Johns (people who truley have a chance of being an actual Idol) Yes Brooke needs to step out of her shell a little, but she has true star qualities and presence. David Cook could leave the set today and put out a song and it would land in the top 10. And Michael Johns had the confidence and style, as well as voice to probably make it the farthest career-wise than any of them. I don’t think America could be more ignorant.
Yeah!!! what he said!!
Michael was totally robbed. This just fuels my theories that Idol is rigged somehow, someway…
Ok, but how adorable is Jordin Sparks? She has an amazing voice and awesome lyrics. I like her songs so much I downloaded a ringtone of an exclusive cut from her new song “Young and In Love (Intro)” on this website called Thumbplay … here’s the link: http://www.thumbplay.com/join/Jordin+Sparks-artist-Young+And+In+Love-realtones-bonus
I totally agree–WOW what a horrible upset!!!! I looked forward every wk to Michael Johns performance right along with every one I spoke with. I surely thought he would be in the top 3. I think a lot of people give a lot of extra votes to some of the under dogs they think should stay another wk or so. Every one thought Michal would be safe for sure so they were not worried about him , thinking he would get a lot of votes anyway. WOW, I still can not believe it. I do think Brook should have been in the bottom 3 this wk though especially if it were between her an Michael Johns. I also think that David Cook is going to walk away with the whole thing though. America definitely did GET IT WRONG THIS WK–YOU ARE RIGHT ON THAT ONE.
I’m still taking it personally Michael got voted off…
My question on Jordin Sparks is, if she won American Idol due to her great singing voice, why on earth would there be a need for her to lipsynch last night!?!?!
The only part I see as a legit conspiracy theory is last year during Idol Gives Back, they didn’t eliminate someone, this year they did.
Why?
Obviously, someone knew too much…
Mike, I don’t know if I can wait any longer for Lost to continue. Thank God for Baseball season.
Almost time for the NBA playoffs Zach! Go Suns!
You’re all THAT upset that MJ got voted off? Really? He’s good and I liked him, but he hadn’t been bringing it consistently. Pluse, let’s be honest, this is a Pop Idol competition. Anyone who’s not a teeny bopper is better off not winning. See Daughtry as an example. My fave this season is David Cook, but the best thing that could happen to him is to get ousted in the top 3-4. Outside of Kelly and Carrie, the rest of the winners have had very limited success. So good luck MJ, let’s hope someone like David A or Syesha wins it. Prob David A.
Scotty Dub’s last blog post..Casual Dress Friday: The most un-wonderful time of year
@ Scotty – I totally agree. The object, if you are a rocker, is to stick around long enough in the competition to get really good exposure and then get booted off. If you are a straight-up rocker/bluesy type of singer, you do not want to win Idol. You definitely want to make the top 10 and probably fight for the top 3-5 positions. After that – coast, get voted off, and let the rest take care of itself. Daughtry has been blowing up since his album came out – there was no need for him to win. As a matter of fact, he has done better by not winning in my opinion.
The Trousered Ape’s last blog post..Who was Jesus of Nazareth? Parts 3 and 4 of 10 with Dr. Craig
Most seem to do better, although only a few have really made it. I agree with Scott too.
@ Mike – I think this holds true for the rocker-types. Not so much for the Pop/R&B types.
The Trousered Ape’s last blog post..Who was Jesus of Nazareth? Parts 3 and 4 of 10 with Dr. Craig
@ Scotty… yeah I’m that upset over it. I normally dont even watch AI, this year I got sucked into it. NO WAY Johns should have left this week… no way… but what am I gonna do?! I’ll tell you what I’m gonna do…. nuthin
Did you vote for him Cap’n?
The Trousered Ape’s last blog post..Who was Jesus of Nazareth? Parts 3 and 4 of 10 with Dr. Craig
@Zach – You must be watching a different idol than the rest of us. As far as I know, Carly hasn’t been singing country and Syesha hasn’t been doing gospel…
Your ranting is meaningless as this happens every single season. Idol doesn’t pick anyone so it’s pointless for people to get mad at the show. America isn’t ignorant; they just have very defined tastes. If you read my article you’ll see that I explain how it is that Michael came to get kicked off of American Idol. It was his own fault.
Most of the people on the show now are talented. You can’t just perform well and expect to win. You have to know the audience that watches the show and the audience that will like you and you have to build a niche for yourself. Anyone who hasn’t figured that out by now doesn’t deserve to win.
Michael didn’t win over the rock niche that he was trying to fit in (David Cook won over that crowd) so he was left without a voting block. Even if Michael had tried to switch to a blues niche or something he likely would have met the same fate. He never really had a chance once David started doing well and he lagged behind.
Cap’n is pissed because he spent 3 hours on Tuesday voting for MJ on his cell phone
@ Jason – I agree with the majority of what you wrote. However, I think it will be better in the long run if David doesn’t win the competition.
The Trousered Ape’s last blog post..Who was Jesus of Nazareth? Parts 3 and 4 of 10 with Dr. Craig
@ Mike – lol – poor Cap’n. He’s a voter without an idol now…
The Trousered Ape’s last blog post..Who was Jesus of Nazareth? Parts 3 and 4 of 10 with Dr. Craig
@Ape – I don’t disagree. I actually don’t think David Cook will win.
Mo… it wasnt 3 hours.. it was 2, come on now, I’ve told you a million times to stop exaggerating!!
David Archuleta will win because of the ridiculous amount of votes that little teen girls will give with their spoiled little unlimited messaging plans their parents give them. I wouldn’t be surprised if a few soccer moms that want David to meet their daughter throw in a few votes as well.
David Cook will sell the most CDs – and I’m going to stick with that prediction and Michael Johns will get a record label to sign him. But I was totally shocked he was eliminated at this stage.
Well, I hate to call it so early because things could still change, but I think you’re probably right.
Spot on Jeff!
Scotty Dub’s last blog post..Casual Dress Friday: The most un-wonderful time of year
FYI- this little light of mine was performed by the clark brothers not jonas brothers (they’re a cheesy boy group from disney or something.)
michael was robbed but like we said it was bound to happen to one of the contestants just like every season.
i’m going to make my pitch for everyone to watch “so you think you can dance” this summer. the voting process, elimination, originality and technical level are at a WAY higher level than AI. i have consistently enjoyed it more for the past 3 years. give it a try! i was so happy to see some of the dancers from past seasons at the beginning of the idol gives back show!
nicky’s last blog post..Beauty wants.
@ Nicky – thanks for the correction. By the way, I did not particularly like nor care for their version of that song when they did it. It was very manic and weird – I just didn’t get it at all.
The Trousered Ape’s last blog post..Who was Jesus of Nazareth? Parts 3 and 4 of 10 with Dr. Craig
@ Nicky, if Michael Johns is on that show I’ll watch it!
Yeah, I always enjoy watching “So You Think You Can Dance.” I haven’t decided yet if I want to do the recaps for it or not.
So…we might be looking for someone if anyone’s interested…hint, hint…Nicky who watches it…just a thought.
Did Cap’n just say he would like to watch Michael Johns dance?
Yeah – but he has to dance in flip-flops…
The Trousered Ape’s last blog post..Who was Jesus of Nazareth? Parts 3 and 4 of 10 with Dr. Craig
No I said I’ll watch if he’s on it.. maybe he can sing all the songs they dance too. If they are all instrumental songs, then at least he will know all the words to them and it should be easy….
i can’t see michael rapping to the hip hop ones though!
hmmmmm, guest blogger role, huh? i would be honored!
nicky’s last blog post..Beauty wants.
I bet that boy has some beat box in him yet!!! Ya never know
I’m absolutely disgusted- all the way from people from Kristy’s town calling 600 times each just becuase she’s from there to the fact that the whole US must be tone deaf. All well- now that he’s voted off, he’s hopefully that much closer to putting out an album. I’ll watch just for Jason Castro and if he’s axed then I’m done all together.
The show has only redeemed itself by having two Christian songs preformed over the last two weeks!
Oh my gosh Tiffany calm down!!!!! I bet if you were on a show like American Idol you would want people to vote for you. Huh? Think about it.
Man, Kristy deserved sticking around anyways after his last performance, it was awesome.
[...] Michael Johns, 29, Los Angeles, CA (Top
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Dear My Name,
Sorry for the late reply….
This is a blog- other’s have stated thier opinion and I stated mine. I hate that the show has become a popularity contest instead of a singing contest.
Kristy is not the best one on the show- that’s ok- it’s not personal- it’s an evaluation of her vocal capability in comparison to the others on the show.
Obviously, a week later, others agree since she is now voted off.
[...] Michael Johns, 29, Los Angeles, CA (Top
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[...] Michael Johns, 29, Los Angeles, CA (Top
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[...] Michael Johns, 29, Los Angeles, CA (Top
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[...] Michael Johns, 29, Los Angeles, CA (Top
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[...] Michael Johns, 29, Los Angeles, CA (Top
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I think it’s incredible that Cook ended up winning. From this point in the game, I didn’t see it happening!
[...] Michael Johns, 29, Los Angeles, CA (Top
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[...] Michael Johns, 29, Los Angeles, CA (Top
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[...] Michael Johns, 29, Los Angeles, CA (Top
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[...] Michael Johns, 29, Los Angeles, CA (Top
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Robbie Williams, an artist who has always been the center of attention for his fans.