Lakisha Jones Bids Farewell to American Idol

This season of American Idol has garnered the most television viewers in the talent competition's history. Tens of millions of Americans tuned in to their local FOX affiliate Wednesday night to find out which contestant would be eliminated in fourth place. That unlucky individual was Lakisha Jones.

As the four final remaining performers huddled around each other in a group hug, Ryan Seacrest began to reveal the results of this week's vote. The first contestant to be declared safe was Jordin Sparks, a 17-year old blossoming star from Glendale, Arizona. Simon Cowell ensured that Melinda Doolittle had certainly earned a spot in the final three, and he was proven correct after Seacrest announced that she was safe after the next commercial break. The two contestants that most viewers assumed would earn the lowest vote totals were left shaking on stage, and soon the crowd was disappointed to learn that Lakisha would be headed home. Returning to the show next week will be the other lowest vote-getter, Blake Lewis.

Lakisha Jones began the competition strongly, and at one point with about a dozen competitors remaining, she looked to be the odds on favorite to win it all. Her riveting performances of "Midnight Train to Georgia" and "You're Gonna Love Me" brought audiences nationwide to their feet, and her deep soulful singing voice hearkened back to the days of Aretha Franklin. Simon Cowell, the usually critical American Idol judge, once hesitantly suggested that the rest of the competition "book their plane tickets home." But what goes up must come down, and Jones would eventually fall back into the ranks of the other contestants.

Recently, the magnitude of Lakisha's success caught up with her, and her performances became hackneyed and flat. She struggled week to week to stay alive on the show, narrowly dodging elimination several times in the last month. Simon no longer raved about Jones' songs, but instead began to show much more interest in the consistency of another American Idol contestant, Melinda Doolittle. Lakisha's time on American Idol was tumultuous, to say the least, but the Flint, Michigan native will certainly benefit tremendously from her experience on the show. The crowd tearfully bid farewell to Lakisha Wednesday night, but it isn't likely that it will be the last time you see Lakisha Jones on your television screen.

The final three contestants will travel to their home towns for a brief visit in next week's show, and a week from now another contestant will make a more permanent trip home.