American Idol – It's Double Elimination Time
By Joe Reality on American Idol
Thanks to last's week charitable endeavor by American Idol which both raised over $60 million for some very worthwhile causes and spared one of the top six finalists to sing another week, American Idol viewers will now have a double elimination to look forward to this week. Even though last week's non-elimination surprise brought some heated criticism from American Idol purist, the draw of seeing not one but two American Idol finalists going home gives producers yet another event to hype.
So which two American Idol finalists will be next to lose their dream of winning American Idol? Despite the fact that Chris Richardson and Jordin Sparks were the last two that Ryan Seacrest revealed to be safe, it doesn't mean that they received the lowest total of votes. Before Ryan Seacrest started announcing who was safe, he said that he would be doing it in random order.
In fact, Jordin Sparks was likely at the top of the vote count, because she had one of her best performances of the competition and was heavily praised by the judges. Since people were voting even more aggressive than usual to raise money as part of Idol Gives Back, Jordin Sparks probably has a vote total carryover that will keep her safe from the bottom two regardless of how she does this week.
Phil Stacey, who has had two back to back strong performances, could also be peaking at exactly the right time. A couple weeks ago it looked very doubtful that Phil Stacey stood even a remote chance at making the top four, but if he delivers a third solid performance in a row, then he's likely to make it through.
Melinda Doolittle and Blake Lewis have probably been the most consistently great performers of the entire top twelve. However, on American Idol, talent is no guarantee of safety. Melinda Doolittle and Blake Lewis both need to deliver a wow performance that shows they've grown in the competition if they won't to guarantee their spot in the top four. They have a chance to make it even if they are just their normally outstanding selves, but they shouldn't take anything for granted.
Chris Richardson and Lakisha Jones are the two finalists that are in most need of a breakout performance. At times, Lakisha Jones has been astonishing and delivered some of the best performances ever on Idol. However, the last two weeks have cost her, as she has tried to channel Idols past and come up short in the eyes of the judges. Lakisha's not out of the game yet through. She's very capable of hitting a homerun performance, and if she does, then the other Idols better watch out, because she will lay claim to one of the top four spots.
Chris Richardson likely finds himself in the most difficult spot of all. He's been a consistently good singer, and very much deserves his position in the top six. The problem is that his competition is two great singers in Melinda Doolittle and Blake Lewis, two rapidly improving singers in Jordin Sparks and Phil Stacey, and a potential homerun singer in Lakisha Jones. The other five finalists have likely built stronger fan bases than Chris Richardson based on their past performances. Chris Richardon not only has to have a homerun breakout performance, but he also has to hope that two of the other singers in the competition have really off nights. |
