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March 15, 2007
Bye to Brandon
Frank Micelotta/Fox
For the first time since Season 6 started, an "American Idol" show was cut short - really short - as in 30 minutes. Wednesday night's elimination show saw only one contestant ousted from the Top 12. Brandon Rogers received the lowest number of votes from the more than 28 million cast and was sent home.
This was no big shock to either me or to Brandon. He even admitted he committed the "cardinal 'Idol' sin of forgetting the words" to his song, "You Can't Hurry Love."
But speaking of hurrying, the fast-paced show tried to jam in so much material that poor Brandon didn't even get to sing on air before the show ended.
Wedged in between was a Top 12 tribute to this week's celebrity mentor, Diana Ross. I don't know about you, but I thought the singers should have performed some of these songs - "Where Did Our Love Go?" "Baby Love" and Stop! In the Name of Love" - during the competition instead of some of the choices they made.
What truly messed up the half-hour show (and it does every season) was the totally stupid Ford commercial with the contestants dressing goofy and singing something called "Float On." That's where Brandon's so-called 15 minutes of fame went.
Ten of the contestants heard their fate before Diana performed, as announced by host Ryan Seacrest:
* Lakisha Jones: safe
* Gina Glocksen: safe
* Brandon Rogers: bottom three
* Jordin Sparks: safe
* Chris Richardson: safe
* Melinda Doolittle: safe
* Phil Stacey: bottom three
* Chris Sligh: safe
* Stephanie Edwards: safe
* Blake Lewis: safe
Sanjaya Malakar and Haley Scarnato, both really on the bubble this week, had to wait until Diana - resplendent in a red gown and ginormous platform shoes - belted out "More Today Than Yesterday" from her "I Love You" album.
After her performance, which had Judge Paula Abdul prancing in the aisle, Ryan asked Diana who she thought would go home.
"The entire show is such an inspiration," she said. "All the talent. I'm so happy to be here."
So, who's going home?
"Me!" she exclaimed. Nice dodge. I applaud that and pooh-pooh to Ryan for trying to put her on the spot.
With that, Haley learns she's safe (big sigh of relief) and Sanjaya joins Brandon and Phil on stage. One contestant gets a free pass, and that's Phil, who is now breathing again. That leaves Brandon and Sanjaya (pictured above with Ryan), who I think was confident his stint as a make-believe singer had finally come to an end.
Not happening. The missed lyrics proved to be Brandon's undoing.
What to fix on this first Top 12 elimination show? "Idol" needs to figure out how not to jam so much into half an hour. Either scale back on the tribute medley or the guest performance because I know they won't dump the silly commercials. The ousted contestant should be allowed to perform one last time for the TV audience.
Next week, the Top 11 will be picking from the British pop music genre. You know, the song stylings of Herman's Hermits. Should be interesting.
Posted by Leigh Grogan at March 15, 2007 09:07 AM
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