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American Idol Season 7 Cuts to 9 Finalists
By Jeff | March 28, 2008
***Side note: I apologize for the delay in this post. It appears my host may be having some server issues that should be resolved soon. I appreciate your patience while my site loading time has been delayed recently.
American Idol Season 7 held another elimination round for the remaining finalist on Wednesday, March 26th, 2008. Now we are down to the point of the show where only one contestant gets eliminated at a time so the margin for error has decreased significantly for making my predictions.
If you are keeping up with my contest with Jason of Pop Critics, Jason tied the score once again with the correct prediction of Chikezie while I went with Carly. It was a struggle for me to choose between Carly and Chikezie and unfortunately, I chose incorrectly.
Kristy Lee Cook was able to avoid the bottom three this week so good for her. She chose a brilliant song in a time when she needed to impress and there’s nothing America loves more than a well timed patriotic song - especially one that is as good as ‘God Bless America’. Good for her. Now I’m sure she will find a way to revisit the bottom three real soon.
Jason and I are tied once again with a predition record of 8-7 or 53.3%. My one contestant lead is gone once again. I wouldn’t have minded being wrong if Ramiele was eliminated because I so want her off the show, but I was right in predicting she would not even be in the bottom three. When only one leaves a week, it’s definitely becoming more difficult to predict the voting of millions. Here was my ranking for the performances of the 10 finalists just to refresh:
- David Cook - “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson
- Michael Johns - “We Are The Champions” by Queen
- Syesha Mercado - “If I Was Your Woman” by Stephanie Mills
- Brooke White - “Every Breath You Take” by the Police
- David Archuleta - “You’re The Voice” by David Foster
- Jason Castro - “Fragile” by Sting
- Kristy Lee Cook - “God Bless The USA” by Lee Greenwood
- Carly Smithson - “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” by Bonnie Tyler
- Chikezie - “If Only For One Night” by Luther Vandross
- Ramiele Malubay - “Alone” by Heart
My bottom three were Kristy, Carly and Chikezie. I didn’t actually expect Ramiele to be in the bottom three even though I felt she was easily the worst performance. Ramiele’s Filipino support is still too strong despite her inability to do anything impressive whatsoever. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that Ramiele can’t sing. My opinion that she is terrible is relative to the other contestants. Anyway, let’s discuss my thoughts on the bottom three - which were Chikezie, Syesha, and Jason.
Why Chikezie?
I almost chose Chikezie. Really, I did. But I thought that Chikezie had enough support to move on while Carly was a bottom three contestant last week, so a repeat performance would certainly mean doom. Boy was I wrong. Carly was not even in the bottom three. In fact, Syesha was in the bottom three and that threw me way off guard. I’m beginning to realize that anything can happen. I may have under-estimated the value that America now places on song selection. Carly chose a great song that a lot of people like. Chikezie chose a boring song even though he sang it well.
There are a countless amount of good singers mixed throughout all of America. Being a good singer doesn’t sell records. Being a good performer does. No one can truly say that Chikezie didn’t have a solid voice. He sang beautifully. What we can say is that Chikezie didn’t really perform. Truthfully, he may have had only one good performance and that was when Ryan rubbed his head and he walked all over the stage. But you’re only as good as your last performance in this competition. Simon tried to warn Chikezie of his old fashioned ways in the beginning stages of the contest. It appears that Chikezie didn’t listen. Simon knows what he’s talking about. America responds to that and most agree with his advice even though the audience ‘boos’ all the time. It appears that for here on out, song selection may be the most important ingredient to success.
Why not Syesha Mercado or Jason Castro?
Chikezie was not a surprise for the bottom three, but the other two were. When Syesha made the bottom three, I was shocked. I didn’t feel she would be eliminated. She sang beautifully and I had her in the top three. But like I’m starting to realize is that most likely her song selection put her in the bottom. It wasn’t a great song or a catchy song. I predicted Carly to be in the bottom three but she sang a great song that I’m sure most of America could relate to and that benefited Carly. Syesha found herself in the bottom three because of the strength of the remaining contestants and her poor song choice.
I was also sure that Jason was not going to get eliminated either and my assurance was put to rest pretty quickly when Ryan stated Jason was safe first. This is a little tougher to call. Jason was more a victim of Kristy Lee Cook’s song choice and Ramiele’s ridiculous support. He had no business being in the bottom three. However, I will admit that he needs to step up his game because I think his act is getting tiresome compared to the other contestants. David Cook and Michael Johns seem to be taking their performances to the next level so it’s making the other contestants looked exposed. As a Texan, I would like to see Jason go far, but ultimately, he has little chance of winning. Once again, song selection was the reason that Jason made the bottom three.
The Remaining Finalists
- Brooke White, 24, Van Nuys, CA
- Carly Smithson, San Diego, CA
- David Archuleta, 17, Murray, UT
- David Cook, 25, Tulsa, OK
- Jason Castro, 20, Rockwall, TX
- Kristy Lee Cook, 24, Selma, OR
- Michael Johns, 29, Los Angeles, CA
- Ramiele Malubay, 20, Miramar, FL
- Syesha Mercado, 21, Miami, FL
Top 12 Eliminated Contestants
- Chikezie Eze, 22, Inglewood, CA (3/26/08)
- Amanda Overmyer, 23, Mulberry, IN (3/19/08)
- David Hernandez, 24, Glendale, AZ (3/12/08)
The top 12 is where the real action starts because most of the non-contenders have been eliminated. There are still more contestants who have absolutely no chance to win in my opinion, but their time will come shortly. I’ve kept no secret about my feelings for Ramiele. Ramiele should no longer be in this competition. There is no way she can compete with the talent level of the others. I’ve already stated that I believe only four have a legitimate shot at this point, so this season is up for grabs between the two Davids (Cook, Archuleta), Michael, and Brooke.
For a quick recap from a slightly different perspective, swing by American Idol 2008 Results - Top 9 Announced and see what Jason had to say about Chikezie getting eliminated.
American Idol Pick Off 2008: Jeff 8-7 Jason 8-7
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Topics: american idol audition, american idol contestants cut, american idol girls, american idol guys, american idol judges, american idol season 7 |
March 31st, 2008 at 12:50 am
I have the same top two with Syesha (if she picks the right songs) as the dark horse. At the end, it all boils down with the right song choice, I guess.
Asia’h Epperson Fan’s last blog post..Asia’h Epperson News From Her Town’s Newspaper
March 31st, 2008 at 11:26 am
With a name like Chikezie, how could they send him home? That’s a super star name right there!
Monique’s last blog post..Yeah Dumb Ass, I Understand You
March 31st, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Chikezieeeeeeeee… oweeeeeezyyyyyyyy… getting busyyyyyyyyy…
bom bom… turn it up… bom bom
April 2nd, 2008 at 5:42 am
LOL.. that’s funny
Asia’h Epperson Fan’s last blog post..Asia’h Epperson Performs at Springfield
April 2nd, 2008 at 7:16 pm