The American Idol Results show for week 11 of Season 7 live performances whittled the contestants down by one more and gave the four remaining a 25% shot at being named the next American Idol. Neil Diamond theme week ended up being almost as bad as Andrew Lloyd Webber week, but most of the talk centered on the judges as Paula managed to critique a performance that hadn’t even occurred yet.
I’m not certain if Paula’s “pre-judgement” of Jason Castro had anything to do with the results this week or not, just as I have no idea if Simon’s statement that Syesha Mercado was in trouble had anything to do with them. The end result, however, surprised almost no one who has been watching the show for the past month or so.
If you missed the performance show on Tuesday night you can always watch the performance videos and read our recaps right here:
This week I got it right and picked a bottom two instead of a bottom three like I did last week. It was a good thing I did because my bottom two prediction was right on the money. Of course, at this stage in the game, it wasn’t a tough call. To refresh your memory, I placed the Top 5 performances for April 29, 2008, in this order:
- David Cook – “I’m Alive” and “All I Really Need Is You”
- David Archuleta – “Sweet Caroline” and “America”
- Syesha Mercado – “Hello Again” and “Thank the Lord for the Night Time”
- Brooke White – “I’m A Believer” and “I Am, I Said”
- Jason Castro – “Forever In Blue Jeans” and “September Morn”
This week the contestants performed two songs each, but I rated the two songs together and ranked each performer as an overall ranking. Even though I thought Jason Castro was definitely the worst performer of the week, I predicted that Brooke White and Syesha Mercado would actually be the two who received the lowest number of votes. I further predicted that we would be forced to say goodbye to Syesha Mercado even though I thought she was actually pretty close to being the second best performer of the week.
The actual bottom two ended up being:
- Syesha Mercado
- Brooke White
Last week the producers had Brooke and Syesha come out at the same time and everyone in the world thought Brooke would be the one who would be in the bottom two. She wasn’t as you probably know. This week, however, there wasn’t any escape for her. Her first performance was panned by virtually everyone and Brooke’s continued slide into nervous tension has people wondering about the state of her mental health. It just seems to be too much for her.
I think that Syesha has struggled to find her niche and build up a fan base, but her continued strong performances has helped keep her head just above water as others around her have faltered. This week was no exception as Brooke probably lost a lot of fans or, at least, didn’t inspire them to call in and vote for her with her poor showing. Needless to say, few (including Brooke) were surprised when Brooke White was voted out of American Idol. Once again, I predicted incorrectly.
Why Syesha Mercado Was In The Bottom Two
I feel like I could just leave my paragraph from last week here and it would still apply. However, a few things have changed slightly for Syesha. It seems to me that she has quit trying so hard to actually win and is trying harder to choose songs that she enjoys performing. I’ve said all along that this show is more about performance than it is about vocal skills. If you put on a good show for the folks at home you have a good chance of going further than someone who might technically be a better singer, but can’t perform. This doesn’t always work as David A. proves, but it seems to be working for Syesha now. I will probably still end up picking her to leave next week, but I wouldn’t really be that surprised if she defies the odds and makes it another round.
Why Brooke White Lost American Idol
Brooke, by her own admission, has struggled with her confidence from the very beginning. Early on it seemed that she had less trouble with it than she did in later rounds, but this might have been due to the mounting pressure associated with the success of moving on in the show. Brooke had some wonderful performances in some of those early shows and built up a nice niche fan base that supported her for a long time. The problem was that she failed to expand on that fan base by expanding her style and she showed herself incapable of really going outside her comfort zone. Brooke does really well with her style, but struggles mightily when faced with an unfamiliar style (another reason I hate theme weeks). In the past few weeks she’s clearly been outperformed by several other contestants and nothing she did from week to week was able to change anyone’s mind that she simply didn’t have the chops to win this thing.
The American Idol Top 4
- David Archuleta, 17, Murray, UT
- Jason Castro, 20, Rockwall, TX
- David Cook, 25, Tulsa, OK
- Syesha Mercado, 21, Miami, FL
Brooke White, 24, Van Nuys, CA(Top 5)Carly Smithson, San Diego, CA(Top 6)Kristy Lee Cook, 24, Selma, OR(Top 7)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 has had trouble keeping up with his posts with a new baby in the house. He did contact me to let me know that his choice to be voted out was Syesha. Maybe it would have been better if he hadn’t contacted me… So, once again, we both show how much we suck as I chose the same person and we remain tied below .500, somewhere around “sucks hard.”
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.
It was definitely Brooke’s time to go, but I’m a little surprised that Syesha was in the bottom 2 instead of Jason. Looks like it’s going to be an all David final two IMHO.
Scotty Dubs last blog post..Travel Diary; Do you know the way to San Jose? I do
I think it will definitely be Archie and Cookie (I don’t know – just made that up) in the finals, with Cookie showered in confetti singing an abysmal song about seeing his future right in front of him now. And scene.
we had a little play by play going on last nights decision as it was going down…
Jason im losing my opinion of you still being tied with Jeff…
Looks like Brooke fans were not “Believers”.
I’m not sure if Brooke was even a Believer after that song performance.
I can’t believe you guys are still keeping score
My favorite part of last night was Ryan standing up for Paula and the false “rumors”…
What rumors? That’s she’s drunk sometimes? That she’s not too bright?
Those seem like facts, not rumors
I can’t believe we’re keeping score either. Heck, I can barely believe I’m still watching the show.
Not sure I can watch next season…
Scotty Dub told me on Tuesday night that this might be their last year.
I’m not even really watching it. David Cook is the best, the rest suck
I’m def losing interest, not sure if we’ll be back next year, there’s lots of other stuff on those nights so we may skip it.
Scotty Dubs last blog post..Ridin’ the storm out
Ah – Brooke getting booted was not too bad. I seriously thought she was going to stop and have the band start again as she closed out the show – she was having all kinds of trouble singing through the sobs.
The Trousered Apes last blog post..Who was Jesus of Nazareth? Parts 5 thru 10 of 10 with Dr. Craig
If Jason would have listened to his wife he would be ahead by at least 2.
I got it right. Bye bye Brooke .
I wonder who will have more comments in May? Ana or AnaDVR?
Not sure how to answer that question. However, I do know that the Cap’n went Ape last month…geez man.
The Trousered Apes last blog post..Who was Jesus of Nazareth? Parts 5 thru 10 of 10 with Dr. Craig
ANADVR!!!
LOL Anadvr…cracks me up
@Ape “However, I do know that the Cap’n went Ape last month…geez man.” Well think of it this way, at least some there was some Ape still in the top spot 
i finally got a chance to watch the performances last night. um, i seriously almost threw up in my mouth when david a. sang “touching yooouuu, touching meeeee!” barf. i know this is sooo mean, but he is seriously the most asexual dude ever. and the stuffy head thing every time he talk doesn’t help either.
nickys last blog post..Temporary Hiatus.
So glad to hear from someone else who’s not totally enamoured with David Archuleta, Nicky! I’ve thought he was quite overrated all along. His vocals are thin and there’s not a lot of range there. He just desperately needs to become 1/4th of a boy band. And he can take that looser Jason Castro with him for cuteness – since he obviously has NO singing chops.
I’ve hated David A. the entire time. I hate the man-love Randy and Simon give him all the time.
It was ridiculous this week:
“That was a very smart choice David…very smart.” – Simon
It was Diamond’s “Coming to America.”
It was like one of this most popular songs, how is picking it smart? It was just a no brainer.
@Mo Hate leads to the darkside…
Mike, I got the feeling that even Simom knew that David’s choice of “Coming to America” was “smart” in that nobody’s going to criticize a patriotic song. It’s like trotting out a gospel or religious song – what idiot would dare speak out against that, no matter how much the performance of that song deserves to be slammed?
In this case, “smart” = “tactical” and everyone was well aware.
Rob O.s last blog post..Shut Down For a Day on Shutdown Day
I guess that’s what he meant, but it still seemed ridiculous to me.
at least he said his first song was “amateur-sh”
nickys last blog post..Temporary Hiatus.
that’s -ish. i can’t spell today!
nickys last blog post..Temporary Hiatus.
I am not a fan of David A either. just don’t care for the kid.
Archuleta has been the front runner since Simon said he was the one to beat in the Top 20 performances (boys night)–no favor to him. He has run the gauntlet through the negative seeking & harsh entertainment press and national press; he has been both professionally and personally attacked in about as many ways as possible–the most sustained, vitriolic, acerbic attacks in the history of any AI contestant.
I like his voice and talent now; nothing to do w/adorable, cute, etc. It is his musicality and rare interpretation of the music by his voice. He has a new sound and a new interpretation of music. Entertainment media doesn’t know what to do with him b/c it isn’t cool to like a nice, kind, humble kid so they take the easy way out and lampoon and bash him at every juncture. AI format has not allowed him to select nor sing the songs that show his gift to his best advantage except early on (but oh, what he did do with his assignments) and when he leaves AI and gets to control of his song selections and arrangement, all will be forgotten by the entertainment media as to his age. We will see some rapid turnabouts.
Oh, btw, I am a music/communications major at a university. A lot of my friends in the collegial music world (those 20+ year olds you are talking about that couldn’t possible vote for Archuleta) are looking forward to David A’s first album
@Amy – I’ve said, many, many times that I think David A has a wonderful voice and can sing quite well. However, I don’t think he’s exhibited much growth, for the most part, throughout this competition. I think he’s been able to rely on a solid fan base that votes for him no matter what. He’s often chosen songs that were corny and did nothing to prove his skills – in short, I think he’s skated by instead of really pushing himself. I do not agree that there are a bunch of 20+ year olds sitting around all over the country waiting for David to release an album. It may be the case in your college within your group of friends, but I somehow seriously doubt that’s a national phenomenon we’d see repeated in multiple cities. David’s appeal is to a younger crowd of mostly females. There’s nothing wrong with that. That’s just what it is.
I’ll never buy a David A. album, you can mark my words.
And I’m WELL over 20
No, but Mike will buy a poster of him for his bedroom…he’s so dreamy.
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