The judges must really like Jeremy Rosado. Not enough to keep him from being the first finalist eliminated on Thursday’s “American Idol,” but enough to warn him multiple times that it was coming.
Jimmy Iovine predicted that Jeremy was gone first. “Stevie Wonder ballads are custom-made for Jeremy’s voice, and he did not deliver at all. All the girls outperformed Jeremy last night, and I predict Jeremy will go.” A minute later, he was announced as one of the three men in danger.
Harsh. But not as harsh as Steven Tyler, who said he deserved to go home before he was even announced as the low vote-getter among the guys. And when the lowest vote-getter among the women was revealed to be Elise Testone rather than Shannon Magrane, his fate was sealed, and he took the news as calmly as could be expected for someone who probably had known for half an hour that this moment was coming.
We’ll never know whether he actually got fewer votes than Testone, since this week the judges made the decision. But really, who could argue? Though the notion that Stevie Wonder should have been a slam dunk for him strains credulity, it was sure a more natural fit than Testone having to tackle Whitney Houston. Besides, Rosado needed a wild card from Jennifer Lopez just to get this far. How many chances does a guy get?
To the judges' credit, they made the call with a minimum of drama. There was no “This is so haaaaaaaaaaaard” Nicole Scherzinger sobfests. They said that it stunk that someone had to go home, and then calmly told Ryan Seacrest to start the Rosado farewell montage.
Vote: Did the right person go home?
That said, none of the other bottom four vote-getters should be buying apartments close to the stage. Testone has not mastered the art of looking happy for her rivals when they succeed at her expense, and I mean that in the sense of “makes no pretense at all that she wouldn’t throw them all through an open manhole cover if that’s what it took to advance.” When Magrane tried to hug her after the teenager was sent to safety, Testone turned as though her younger rival had the plague (though she did not succeed in avoiding the physical contact; Magrane has some long arms).
Meanwhile, Jones essentially said that the criticisms of him by Randy Jackson and Iovine were wrong. Even with Simon Cowell now on "X Factor," saying the judges are wrong is still a bad idea. Meanwhile, Magrane sang the worst of anyone in Wednesday’s show and blamed it on one bad note. It’s hard to tell which of the off-key notes she was referring to, but apparently one of them was especially critical.
The other singers temporarily sent to the danger zone were Joshua Ledet and Erika Van Pelt. Ledet sang first, which is always a hazard, and Van Pelt’s showing was actually an improvement considering that she, too, was a wild-card selection into the finals.
In other news, there was some medical drama earlier in the day when reports indicated Phillip Phillips had been rushed to the emergency room. When helpfully prompted by Ryan, Phillips said he went to the doctor’s office, but not the emergency room. Given the health issues suffered by Crystal Bowersox two seasons ago and Casey Abrams in season 10, “Idol” is probably one ailment away from earning its own “Grey’s Anatomy” crossover episode.
And Iovine continues to fight Steven for the most quotable “Idol” personality. Thursday’s winner: “God mass-produces millions of people. In my opinion, too many." The point was that Whitney Houston was one of a kind and was probably too tough a challenge for the girls – and hello, where was that bit of advice when the theme week was actually being decided – but he’s officially the first “Idol” personality ever to come out for population control.
“Idol” doesn’t need to worry about that. It’ll get smaller every week until there’s only one singer standing by the end of May. But for Rosado, the dream ended a lot earlier than he or J. Lo had hoped.
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