The end result of tonight's Top 5 results show was anything but unexpected. The means we took to get to the result, however, are another matter. But if anyone is surprised that Adam landed in the "Bottom 2," let's just take a look at the factors in play here.
First, Adam has never been in the Bottom 3, nevermind the B2. Therefore, the chances that he could skate into the finale without ever being in the latter were very slim. So what do the producers do? They psych out all of Adam's fans, who have become complacent over the past few weeks. I mean, it's hard to argue with such high numbers on DialIdol, isn't it? But there will come a day when a power hungry Kris Allen or Allison Iraheta fanbase votes and texts its way to a victory in that scenario.
Even though there were only five finalists remaining when votes were cast last night, which supported the notion that anyone could end up in any order when the results came in, there was zero chance that Adam was actually in the B2 following a highly praised performance in the pimp spot. The assertion that his polarization could be a reason to alienate a lot of the audience remains true, but again, that would not be enough to warrant a trip to the B2 on its own. There are still just as many supporters as there are those who do not vote for him.
But stepping back from the results for a moment, Adam made one of the most boneheaded moves when he picked Allison's and Danny's group based on who "did the best last night," which meant he assumed he was among the best performers of the night. Now, he really cannot be faulted for this because, well, everyone else thought he was among the best and that he would be in the top vote-getting group when Ryan began splitting the five of them up. Still, he should have taken a page from the rest of the finalists from seasons past that refused to pick a group and/or just sat/stood in the middle of the stage in protest.
Once people can come down from being hit by the blow to the face of Adam being in the B2, it's really no surprise that Matt left in fifth. As even he mentioned to Ryan following the revelation of the results, he was like a cat with nine lives on the show and is appreciative of how far he made it. Matt is right: he got a ton of chances to extend his time on the show and it was just his time to leave this week. Matt even sounded better on his encore than he did last night, and could have a career as an R&B singer if he chooses to pursue that route.
As for the rest of the results, it was no shock that Danny and Allison landed in the top spots based on last night, with Simon's ridiculous underwhelming critique of Allison's stellar vocal showing sending fans into a frenzy, undoubtedly accounting for a large chunk of the 47 million votes cast last night. And Kris was not up to anything new, as he ended up in the middle of the pack once again. Dark horse? Perhaps.
Moving on from the results, the producers had to reach for three guest performers tonight to act as filler, and could not have picked an odder combination. First up was Natalie Cole, who looked classy and sounded as crisp as ever on her song. Then came Taylor Hicks and his "Seven Mile Breakdown," which injected some life into the show but felt kind of out of place amid the backdrop of Rat Pack era week. He seemed to really appreciate being asked to return and perform, though, and reiterated that he loved being back on the Idol stage. All in all, it was not an amazing vocal performance but it was more on the exciting side than what we could have had in his place.
And then there was this week's mentor, Jamie Foxx. As if Foxx was not out of place after last night's critiques, he was even more out of place tonight when he autotuned the life out of his "#1 single" (according to Ryan. Is that song really #1 in the country?!) "Blame It." He did more twirling than even pretending to lip-synch, as he forgot to hold the mic up to his mouth more than a few times. And then for him to say the Top 5 finalists were the most talented singers he had heard in the past few years? After that performance, Jamie, that is more of a diss than it is a compliment. And didn't he recently say something on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to the effect of "just remember one thing: everything I say, I don't mean any of it." Right, we'll take you up on that.
Moving on, the Ford music video was dumber than usual this week, as the scenery was painted in color after beginning with a boring and lifeless grey scale landscape. The behind the scenes footage of seeing the finalists "baking a cake," however, was definitely worth every penny. We got to see Danny and Allison throw cake in each others' faces! We saw Kris, Adam and Matt breaking plates and strangling each other in cake batter and flour. How is that not entertaining?
There was really nothing else exciting about this results show, though. The group performance was good even though there was no lip-synching, and then Simon actually acted humble knowing that his critiques were less spot-on than Kara's and Randy's (keyword: acting).
My original predictions did not do all that well this week, as Allison was my first pick to leave in fifth place when I put in my predictions all those weeks ago. My pre-show predictions, however, were much more on the right track, as I had Matt going home with Kris in the B2 and Allison as the third member of the B3. Obviously the latter two guesses were wrong, but I had Matt going home and that's all that matters. Right?
One thing's for sure, though: next week's showcase of rock songs will be a sight to see.
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