It has been a few weeks since I updated with my thoughts on ‘American Idol’ and this morning is a good time to catch up, considering we are already down to the Top 5.
First, let’s talk eliminations from a couple of weeks ago. In a sad twist a couple of weeks ago, one of my favorites – Uche – was eliminated from the show on Disney night. It is sad because he was one of the best performances of the night, singing (of all things) a some from ‘The Goofy Movie.’ There were a lot of headlines claiming discrimination (the other person eliminated was Dimitrius, another African-American male). However, I don’t see their cuts as racial discrimination, and here is why:
‘American Idol’ is a show primarily watched and obsessed over by teenaged girls and their grandmothers. Other people watch it, but it is teen girls and their grandmothers who are the ones VOTING. Teen girls vote for their new boyfriend (see: Laine Hardy) or the girls they don’t feel threatened by (see: Madison Vandenberg). People teen girls do NOT vote for are those exuding a kinetic sexual energy that seems more dangerous than they can handle (see: Uche) or really stoic guys with face tattoos (see: Dimitrius).
Uche was the one robbed here – he was SUCH a great entertainer and was always a winner in my eyes. I vote each week and Uche ALWAYS got votes from me. The week he got sent home it should have been Wade Cota, who has been terrible and so out of his comfort zone as to be this seasons Sanjaya (remember him?). But I think Uche will still be successful in some way shape or form – with that kind of energy and talent, someone will find something for him to do.
Dimitrius, on the other hand, deserved to go home. While he had an excellent voice, he struggled on the live shows and never was able to recapture the mesmerizing performances he had in Hollywood. Add to that he was VERY stoic and rarely showed emotion of any kind (excitement, fear, frustration, ANYthing) – I’m sure it was hard for the teen girls and grandmothers to get behind him and vote for him.
I have worried about my favorite, Alejandro, because once we reached the Top 20 he floundered and was not performing well. I still voted for him, but it was more to keep him in the competition and give him one more chance. Based on his FIRST song last night (Woodstock night) was done voting for him and was not going to vote for him anymore, but then for his second song he sung his original song and SLAYED with his acoustic guitar playing, and I went back into the app and threw my votes his way. But I think had he NOT sung that song he’d have been in danger last night.
Instead, it was Jeremiah and Laci as the bottom two, which made me really sad. I’m not a big Laci fan – I think part of her vocal theatrics are annoying – but I figured she had a big fan base. And Jeremiah has definitely become one of my Top 3 faves now that Uche is gone. And he did SO WELL with both his songs last night. It was obvious the judges were just as shocked as everyone else that Wade made it through. I can’t help but think that there’s a “vote for the worst” situation going on just like there was in Sanjaya’s season because Wade Cota very clearly does NOT deserve to still be on the show, IMO. But because he is, Jeremiah got cut instead of sailing into the finals (which he should and would have done).
