American Idol April 28 Results Show Features Shakira, Sons of Sylvia; Farewell to Siobhan Magnus

American Idol saw its pool of hopefuls whittled down to the top 5 at the close of Wednesday's results show. The hourlong elimination process featured performances by Rascal Flatts, Shakira, Lady Antebellum and Sons of Sylvia. When all was said and done, AI season 9's most colorful character, Siobhan Magus, was booted from the competition. Here's how it all went down.

Country superstar band Rascal Flatts opened the American Idol results show action with a rendition of their hit Unstoppable. I'll preface this by noting that I love Flatts, but man, this was not one of their finer offerings. The guys just sounded uncharacteristically weak. Bummer.

Up next was the Ford Music Video of the week, which involved the top 6 decked out as vampires and a red Mustang. Riiiight. Ah, the dominance of pop culture. Then we got to see the top 6 meeting the director of the new upcoming Shrek movie, Shrek Forever After. M-kay. (Sometimes I think they need to try much too hard to fill the results show hour.)

And finally, some American Idol results action! Pay attention, because this could get befuddling. Host Ryan Seacrest called on Siobhan Magnus first, and sent her to the other side of the stage. Aaron Kelly was next to stand, and Ryan told him to hit the center of the stage. Michael Lynche was told to stand right next to Ryan, while Lee DeWyze was sent to stand near Siobhan. Casey James then joined Michael, and finally, Crystal Bowersox joined Aaron. Ryan walked Siobhan to stand next to Michael and Casey, and proclaimed them the week's bottom three. Bummer, Siobhan and Casey are among my AI season 9 faves.

After a break, former AI winner Carrie Underwood introduced Sons of Sylvia, who went on to perform. I don't think I'd ever seen a lead singer playing a violin while singing. In case you have no clue who Sons of Sylvia are, they won Fox's The Next Great American Band. I'd never even heard of that show before Wednesday, so I guess it must've been uber popular, right?

Lady Antebellum followed Sons of Sylvia with their major mega serious hit Need You Know (which, I must confess, is massively overplayed on country radio). In Lady A's favor, though, they sounded much better than Rascal Flatts. In fact, the last 20 seconds or so gave me chills. (Of course, I'm also cold so that could've had something to do with it.)

Since the April 28 American Idol results show was apparently 'let's cram in as many musical performances as possible' night, there was naturally another one post-Lady Antebellum. This time, Shakira joined forces with Rascal Flatts to perform her song Gypsy. She's good. I had a friend in college who liked Shakira a lot before she went mainstream, and I totally get why now.

And then, more American Idol results action. Ryan proclaimed Big Mike safe to perform again next week, leaving Casey James and Siobhan Mangus in the bottom two. Bummer. Minutes later, Siobhan was eliminated from American Idol season 9. Ouch, this one breaks my heart a little. The rest of the cast is just so vanilla; they're good singers, of course, but Siobhan was the spice in the spicerack. Her sing off was precisely the great performance I'd expect from her. I'm sure we'll be seeing her again in the future (and not just on the AI tour).

So that's it for the April 28 American Idol elimination show. Here's a look at the season 9 AI top 5, in no particular order.

Crystal Bowersox
Casey James
Aaron Kelly
Michael Lynche
Lee DeWyze

Sources

American Idol Results Show, April 28, 2010, FOX