Scott MacIntyre Says 'Sayonara' on April 8's 'American Idol'

On April 8, 2, in Hollywood, blind contestant Scott MacIntyre was voted off "American Idol." Before Simon administered the coup de grace, Scott sang his last selection one more time, and he did a much better job on Wednesday than he had done on Tuesday, April 7^th.

Still, the fact remains, that, of the 3 lowest vote-getters out of 34 million votes cast (and host Ryan Seacrest announced that only 30,000 votes separated the 2 lowest vote-getters, Anoop Desai and Scott MacIntyre), Scott was definitely less talented than LilRounds, the third of the lowest vote-getting trio, and he did not do as good a job as Anoop Desai had done on Tuesday, April 7^th.

Kelly Pickler, from season 5 of "American Idol," performed a song she co-wrote, and Randy, prior to the announcement of the three lowest vote-getters, expressed his sentiments that he was "a little disappointed" in April 7^th's performances, pronouncing them as "flat" and "off." Kara Dio Guardi added that she felt some of the contestants were having "a bit of an identity crisis" and that this year's results might be "unpredictable."

Another enjoyable bit of nostalgia was the appearance of Frankie Avalon, who sang the Number One Hit from the year 1959, the year that Simon Cowell was born ("Venus"). Frankie looked good, even if he sounded less good than he did in 1959.

Adam Lambert, who was given a "standing 'O'" by Simon Cowell as the judges ran out of time on Tuesday night, was asked his reaction and he said, "I've never seen that before. I've been watching the show for 8 years. I'm very flattered. Thank you."

Paula paid Adam the compliments that he was "consistently great. You're working it out. I'm entranced by your performances."

A rap group known as Roots (an acronym for Rap Overcoming the Struggle) gave a sweaty performance with energetic dancers prior to the announcement that Anoop Desai, Lil Rounds and Scott MacIntyre were the 3 lowest vote-getters and Scott would be saying "Sayonara" this night.

It came down to 2 judges for saving Scott and 2 for letting him go, so Simon had to make the final decision and, in his typical cold-blooded but pragmatic fashion, he faced the fact that Scott was never going to be the winner of this competition. Scott was a nice guy. He was a brave guy. He showed true heart and talent, but he is not the best singer in the competition.

As he left, Paula Abdul paid this tribute to Scott (MacIntyre). "You are an inspiration to the entire world" and "one classy gentleman. God bless you. We love you."

Scott's departure, for me, was as inevitable as Megan Corkrey's or Michael Sarver's. While they were interesting performers and gave their all, when it came right down to it, none of them had the talent of an Adam Lambert, an Allison Iraheta or a Danny Gokey (to name just 3 of the better contestants). While Scott made a valiant effort, giving him his walking papers was the right thing to do, when losing Lil Rounds or Anoop Desai were the alternative(s).

At least Scott will be on the tour, and he seems like a wonderful young man who will go far with his positive attitude.

We all wish him well, even if he is not this year's "American Idol."