American Idol: Michael Johns and Other Idol Thoughts

When the bottom three were announced and there was Michael, Carly and Syesha, I for one thought they were actually going to have a dual elimination and Ryan was going to say, Syesha and Carly, the people have voted and you are both going home. That would have been scandalous, of course, but no less than what actually did happen. Carly seemed reconciled to her fate and you could have knocked her and Michael over with a feather when the results were read. I was as shocked as anyone but the fact of the matter is that this is how the system works. If the person you are voting for gets more votes than the person, I'm voting for then my person has to get their kit and hit the bricks. Someone wins and someone loses. However, once you crack the Top 10 on American Idol, you don't really lose unless you want to. For those who don't make it to the Top 3 still have opportunities at their disposal. Just recently Phil Stacey, an Idol Season 6 finalist, announced the release of his new Country album on Lyric Street Records.

So I wouldn't put on a black armband or start with the teeth-gnashing, just yet. He's an extremely talented guy and he made the top 10 so he will be on the tour. That buys him still more exposure. I'm not all worked up because I think he got the short straw. Even if I thought, occasionally, he was smug and channeling the ghost of Michael Hutchence, I thought he was competitor. Here was guy who came out every week and did his thing.

Maybe his Tuesday version of "Dream On" was slightly anemic and at the end a little bansheeish. However, his performance was no less frustrating than Carly's. She has the talent and she obviously has the chops and yet week after week she seems distracted. In my mind, Carly and Syesha are flip sides of the same coin. While Carly consistently tries to oversell the crowd that she's this hard driving rocker chick, Syesha has a tendency to undersell her talent and stay closed off to any emotional attachment. I, like the judges did feel that Syesha's rendition of "I Believe" was technically on point. However, it did not have me sitting at my desk blubbering at YouTube the way Fantasia's did. She hit all her notes but for shear bring you to tears power, Fantasia is the one. Hopefully this week Syesha and Carly will find the flawless emotionally driven performances, I know they are capable of.

I realize that I am an armchair quarterback and in no way understand the amount of pressure these people are under. However, I can't say I feel sorry for them. This is what they signed on for. This is the big show. In the immortal words of Debbie Allen; "You want fame. Well fame costs and right here is where you start paying." Having said that, I can see how getting cut early might boast a few benefits. Least of all is not getting caught up in the American Idol machine. I don't mean to paint Idol with a Machiavellian brush. However, they do seem to have an archetypal formula. Please see "American Idol Season Seven Formula: Professional Singers, Predictable Outcomes" for more on Idol archetypes.

In a final Idol aside, I must share that I, have become disenchanted with the American Idol format. It takes far too long to get to the actual show and I, for one, am sick and tired of seeing pathetic, mentally ill and possibly deranged people humiliate themselves for their fifteen minutes. Of course without this format where would William Hung be? Aside from Hung's extended stay in the spotlight, it's just past its sell-by date. Let's just pick up with who made it through to Hollywood week and take it from there.