American Idol Season 9: Shockers on the First Live Eliminations

Tonight was the first night of live eliminations on American Idol Season 9, and there were a couple of surprises. In total four Idol hopefuls had their dreams cut short. Ashely Rodriguez and Tyler Grady both had bad nights, and it was enough to snuff out there American Idol dreams. Janell Wheeler and Joe Munoz got shafted by the voting public.

Janell Wheeler was the first AI Season 9 contestant to get the boot. Ryan Seacrest brought it down to Katie Stevens and Janell Wheeler, neither of whom should have been in the bottom two. After Haeley Vaughn was pronounced safe, I was truly lost. Haeley had an absolute train wreck of a first night, from costume to song choice. This is how the competition loses it professionalism. I think the AI judges should retain control until the top ten, but I'm not 12 with a cell phone. Janell Wheeler took the stage to sing her final song on American Idol like a trooper.

Ashley Rodriguez was the next to be eliminated. Ashley Rodriguez had a bad night on Tuesday and deserved her spot in the bottom two tonight. Joining her should have been Lacie Brown who was just horrible in her opening appearance. Once Lacie was told to sit down safely until next week, I knew Ashley would be the one leaving. The biggest problem with Ashley Rodriguez leaving Idol tonight was her song choice from Tuesday, going out singing "Happy" is never good.

With a break in the elimination action Ryan Seacrest turned the American Idol stage over to third place finisher from AI Season 8, Allison Iraheta. Singing her new single "Scars" Iraheta took the stage looking more seasoned from last year. She proved herself to be the same goofy teenager in her post performance interview with Seacrest. Her song tonight seemed very forced and she looked like she could have been the one being eliminated from AI Season 9.

When it was time to start the elimination of the guys from last night, the first group seemed like an easy choice. The group was made up of Michael Lynche, John Park, Aaron Kelly, Todrick Hall, Tim Urban and Joe Munoz. Tim Urban was hands down the worst performance of all the AI Season 9 contestants. While the votes should have come down to Tim Urban and John Park based on performance, Tim Urban and Joe Munoz were left on the stage as the bottom two. To the shock of everyone including Tim Urban, Joe Munoz was the first guy sent home from American Idol tonight. Tim Urban continued to gaff at the thought of staying longer as he looked in disbelief at the other safe Idol contestants. Don't worry Tim Urban, there's always next week. I'm really sad that Joe Munoz was cut so early, he has a really nice voice. I think we'll hear more from him soon.

The final cut tonight was the easiest call. Tyler Grady was shown in a film clip showing up for rehearsals yesterday in his bathrobe, cowboy boots and tennis socks, no wonder he sounded like he was singing in his bedroom into a hairbrush. Tyler Grady is a flower child with great style, he'll probably get picked up by a band. He could be a front man... if it's a really loud band.

So that wraps up the first night of live eliminations on American Idol Season 9. Next Tuesday the top ten ladies take the stage again for live singing, followed by the men on Wednesday night. Live eliminations will be held again on Thursday. To catch up on all the judges comments from this week go to American Idol Dreams.