"American Idol" Elimination Show: Big Mike Takes A Hike
Wednesday night’s” American Idol Elimination Show” reduced the contestant field from a dismal four to a dismal three. The suspense was palpable (not).
For all those naysayers who have criticized those of us who, despite reason, logic or sanity, have continued to watch this disaster of a season, they should know that we are not alone. 37 million votes were cast Tuesday night, the highest number of votes cast this season in one night. Millions of people can’t be that stupid, can they? Never mind. It was a rhetorical question.
Fantasia, the “American Idol” winner of Season 3 in 2004, started off the show. Fantasia has enjoyed a highly successful career in the music industry, as well as performing on Broadway (“The Color Purple”). In other words, Fantasia has done good!
After her performance, all four contestants sat in stools in the middle of the stage. This was a new look. The contestants and us were told that the stakes were really really really big this week. The really really really big carrot being dangled in front of their faces was that the three remaining contestants would get to go to their home towns this coming week for a type of “hero’s welcome”, replete with home town parades, praise, glory and adoration where fans and family members who won’t have a choice will come to bow down at their feet.
Ugh, it was just so wrong, but hey, it’s America and we love our celebrities, even if they’re only celebrities for fifteen minutes.
Seacrest asked the contestants how they would feel about being able to go to their hometowns with "American Idol" camera crews in tow. Geez, you would think that they hadn’t seen their friends or families for at least ten years. Lee, Big Mike and Crystal’s answers were horribly predictable and I wanted to scream at the TV, “Yes we know it would mean the world to you, you would feel so happy, you would die a happy person, you couldn’t imagine anything better than that home town parade”. Casey wasn’t as ambitious as the other three. He just wanted to go home to hear people say “y’all”. That Casey was one simple country boy. I’d had no idea.
Another new look was that to the right of the stage were seated members of the contestants’ families. They were divided into: Team Crystal, Team Casey, Team Lee, and Team Big Mike. “American Idol” suddenly turned into “Amazing Race”. I was getting so confused.
The results were presented "in no particular order" and Ryan became a drill sergeant as he barked, “Stand up all four of you.”
Continuing in a serious and dramatic tone, Ryan said, “Mike and Casey, you sang, 'Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman'." He went on to give them a summary of the judges’ feedback from Tuesday night’s show and checked in with Big Mike and Y’all to ask how they felt and the guys responded with the usual blah blah blahs.
It was then Crystal and Lee’s turn. “You two sang ‘Falling Slowly’. After the nation wide vote, Casey, you are safe and in the top 3!!!”
Casey looked shocked and his family, tweens, cougars, y’alls and Kara were ecstatic!!! Casey and his hair will be back next week.
Chris Daughtry was next to perform. Lest we forget, Daughtry is now the third most successful American Idol contestant in terms of record sales, behind Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood (who won their respective seasons). The nation was shocked the night Daughtry was voted off. He was the fourth-place finalist on the 5th season of “American Idol”. That’s the year that Taylor Hicks won. “Taylor who?” you ask? Exactly! Daughtry’s appearance on Wednesday night was a good reminder that the good don’t always come in first but can win in the long run.
After his performance, it was time for more space fillers and faux suspense building. Left standing were Big Mike, Crystal and Lee. After even more fakey suspense building moments and music, Ryan finally said, “After the nation wide vote, Mike, hang tight for a second. Lee, friends, Lee is headed back to Chicago.”
Translation: Lee was safe.
Results were put on the “back burner for a second” as Bon Jovi took the stage. One thing about “American Idol”, they don’t mess around when it comes to getting uber big name performers to appear on the show.
Back to Mike and Crystal. After a few more minutes of torture, Crystal was declared safe.
Talk about anti-climatic. The camera shot to Lynche’s crying wife and Big Mike was stoic, taking it like a Big Man.
Big Mike said in a small voice, “It’s been unbelievable. I just sit here right now and I wasn’t even supposed to be here. I thank God the judges saved me and I got to spend more time here and be with the people, perform for my wife. You know it’s all good man.”
It was then time to look at Big Mike’s journey. Oh I’m a sucker for these journeys to the past. Especially with the inevitable tear jerking goodbye song. This year’s song is "Leave Right Now" written by Eg White (is this a real name?) and sung by Will Young, the inaugural winner of Pop Idol in 2002 (the British version of American Idol). You couldn’t say goodbye to Big Mike without seeing pictures of his newborn baby, the baby girl who was born when he was first auditioning for “American Idol”, and the clip of when the judges saved Michael. Did you see that show? Oh that was one emotional ending when those judges saved Michael.
Big Mike sang one more time with his still-crying wife and baby daughter in the audience. Damn it all, I’m always a sucker for this sentimental stuff. These goodbyes are sappier than a Hallmark commercial but I fall for it every time. With tears streaming down my face and Kleenex in hand, I suddenly felt guilty about any mean thing or criticism I had leveled at Big Mike. I suddenly loved Big Mike (even though he really did have to go).
Big Mike, a personal trainer, new father and possessor of a huge heart and voice was gracious and grateful as he left the stage. And I remembered, if just for a moment, why it is I’ve always loved this show. Everyone loves to see the common man succeed. And for Big Mike, coming in fourth wasn’t anything to be ashamed of. If you don’t believe me, ask Chris Daughtry.
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Comments
I truly Believe there is greatness in Casey and I'm so happy he's still there. I loved his Mrs. Robinson, and "Jealous Guy" was inspired, in my opionion.
Big Mike? Surprised he lasted so long. Just nothing special about his voice. Lee I'm not getting either . Seems like a sweet boy but not very articulate.
Too bad about big Mike but, jeez, boring boring. Also, as a personal trainer, shouldn't he be a little trimmer?
In any event, the show depressed me and all my fears of the outcome came true. The biggest disappointment is when Lee will (probably) win the whole damn thing. Ugh.
As for the 37 million votes. That doesn't mean 37 million people are watching. It's the multiple texts from the tweens that add up to that number. It's too bad they couldn't figure out a system where one person is equal to one vote. Now THAT would be a democracy AND a fact I could swallow much easier.
It's odd to think that earlier in the season I thought the final three standing would be Siobhan, Mike and Crystal (not necessarily in that order). I believe that Siobhan was one of the more unique contestants and when she got it right, she really shined. Unfortunately, I think she was too "different" for America's taste, and we all know that America (as a whole) does not like "different."
On to next week and Casey's dismissal. After that, I'll be waiting for Crystal's CD as well as Siobhan's. They're the only two who captured my attention (in a good way) this past season.
Thanks, Mary, for your wonderful recaps. I have been enjoying them immensely ever since I discovered them (and you) a few weeks ago. I love your writing style. I find your reviews the most entertaining of all of the recaps I read...and that's a lot! Keep up the great work! You're a natural.
Mike will be alright, he'll be no Daughtry because, even now, we don't know what Mike's best music is.
37 Million votes, isn't that the same number as voted in the recent British elections?
Can't stand Daughtry. Ever since he looked so smugly shocked when he was eliminated, I've not been a fan. And now he has weirdly sculpted face hair that looks oddly dyed.
Casey is one lucky Texan - got in just under the wire. He is adorable though.
As for Big Mike, the dude can sing but he's pretty boring. It was time. Bowersox is the only one left that interests me at all.
Thanks for the recap!
My spouse and I were also very confused by the announcement that Lee would be "going to Chicago." That didn't sound like a good thing. (It reminded me of when a friend got a Chinese fortune cookie that said "You will soon cross the great river.")
But no, it turned out that "going to Chicago" was a good thing, which means that we will have at least one more week of Lee's off-key singing.
I think that Lee has been kept alive by the judges. When the judges rave about a contestant's "pitchy" performance, sometimes it makes us not trust our own ears. We begin to think that it's our ears that are off-key, not the contestant. More than a few times we have heard the judges talk about Lee's pitchy singing right before they say that they could hear him "being on the radio." But those two statements are contradictory; if you can't carry a tune you're not going to be on the radio.
In order to have a career in music Lee would need assistance in selecting songs that did not challenge his limited singing ability.
Of course I think the same could be said about Casey. But the difference is that Casey is a musician. He's just an Ok singer, but a great guitar player. Had Casey competed in a previous season when contestants couldn't play instruments, he probably wouldn't have made it to the top ten.
By the way, listening carefully to his guitar playing in the duet, I have concluded that he was playing a cutaway flamenco guitar, though I was unable to identify the model of guitar. Flamenco guitars are different from classical guitars. They have a brighter, dry, "punchy" sound. Also, the action on flamenco guitars is very low, to the point that the strings can slightly buzz on the fretboard. If you listen to Casey's playing in the duet, I think you'll agree that he is in fact playing a flamenco. But he's not a flamenco guitarist. When you watch him play you can tell that his thumb is all wrong, and he should be playing slightly behind the sound hole, not on top of it. But he sounded great anyway, so I'll forgive him.
I think many people were baffled by Simon's comment that Crystal is "back in the game," as if she were ever out of the game. To use the game analogy, when Crystal steps up to the plate she doesn't always hit a home run, but she always gets on base. A "bad night" for her is a double or triple. Compared to Crystal, when Lee has a bad night he strikes out. This is an important distinction that the judges seem incapable of making.
Currently we are seeing albums in all genre, including classics (Madeleine Peyroux sounds like Billie Holiday, for example), Joan Osborne (now THAT would be something Crystal could sing - not "if God were one of us" but listen to "Relish" and see if you disagree) is just unique and herself but listen to her singing with the Funk Brothers (Motown's "dated" backup band) . Crystal could do that too.
Muse is fantastic but a throwback a bit to Moody Blues. The Kooks, etc., are like the early British invasion. Ray Davies is still touring, Tom Petty has a new song out, etc.
Good is good. Even if it's reminiscent of something old. (Crystal doesn't actually sound anything like Janis. She just has the Janis vibe. But Janis was also a drug addict and rather tortured, while Crystal seems pretty grounded).
Lee has a cool voice. I've liked it from the beginning. But he's relatively new to being an "artist" and he loses his place a lot and hits these odd notes. If he can find a zone and producer who keeps him on track, he can make a kickass album.
I happen to think Casey can do really well also. He DOES sound like Bob Seger. But he's currently more of a small venue guy (which is fine by me, I'd pay to see him) but to sell tons of albums he also needs a strong mentor. And my guess is he's also written some songs, which I doubt Lee has.
Anyway, the thing I found most interesting of the night was how everyone kept asking Chris Daughtry what these contestants need to do "at this stage/point in the competition"... I was really waiting for him to fire back that he didn't know because he didn't make it to this stage of the competition!
It seemed almost rude and as if they forgot that he didn't place that high during his season.
sharebear: The problem is this. The season has sucked and the ratings are at their lowest since Season 3. It started off promising, but really, the talent hasn't been spectacular. However, I like your attitude and have decided that I will try to be more positive about the show (as late in the season as it is). The remaining contestants are not pros...one a painter, a Playgirl model (JK) and a job-less mother (this is an oxymoron). It takes guts to put yourself out there week after week and have idiots like me tear you apart. I should leave that only towards Ellen and Kara.
motherjj: On the miracle chance you read this, I'm saying the same thing to you. I've loved American Idol for many reasons, but this season has been difficult. Take time to read all the American Idol blogs and the theme is the same. But, again, I will try my best to be upbeat...I just refuse to lie about what I see...and hey, it's only my opinion.