Oh, American Idol. I had such high hopes for our relationship this season. But after the past couple episodes, we’re definitely on thin ice.
I’ll admit that I wasn’t sure what the exact format for eliminations was going to be this season, being that the finale is like less than a month away, but boy, do I have some grievances.
So we’re at the voting portion of the season, and I’m trying this new thing where I don’t tell y’all who I’m voting for. (I will say that they are still in the competition…that’s all.) Anyways, so what I didn’t know is that Idol is only airing the live show once a week, that’s a new experience for someone like myself that hasn’t watched the show every week since Phillip Phillips won. (Not a reflection on his win; I absolutely love Phillip and his albums are fantastic.) But now that I’m caught up with the episodes and the bottom three shenanigans, I feel like I can properly voice my thoughts.
I do not care for the judges saving a contestant every week. The people voted, send the person with the lowest amount of votes home. The judges are saving contestants based on their performances that night, instead of the week prior when the audience is voting. There’s nothing wrong with sending the lowest vote-getter home, but saving someone to only send them home the next week is not a good look. I was very disappointed that Olivia Rox was sent home two weeks ago and then again this past week when Avalon Young was sent home. These are two talented ladies were in the midst of showing the audience what they are capable of and they were two contestants that I believe should have gone farther in the competition.
Sonika Vaid has an amazing voice, but you should know better than to sing Queen Kelly Clarkson’s hit song a week after she brought the house (that she built, tbh) down. That performance wasn’t good enough for Idol, especially not the final season. I would not be surprised in the least if she was the lowest vote-getter this past week, but the judges saved her and Avalon, who was AMAZING the week before was sent home.
If the judges are going to continue to eliminate contestants every week, they need to base their decisions off of the prior week’s performances, because that’s what all of America voted on. Or even better, maybe stop saving contestants every week. Just let the lowest vote-getter go home.
Also, the whole sending two contestants home, it makes this season feel completely rushed. I think once the show realized that they had a legit crop of contenders this season that they should have tried to push back the finale and give these contestants more time to grow into their own as performing artists. By sending two contestants home each week, they leave with a stunted experience. Can you imagine the performances from both Olivia and Avalon if they had a few more weeks in the competition? One of my favorite parts of Idol has been being able to witness the moment contestants come into their own and owning their song choices and their performances, and we’re seeing that from a few contestants this season, but it’s a real bummer when legitimate talent went home when the were sooooo close to that moment.
So yeah, the past couple weeks of watching Idol have been kind of a bummer. I’m just really disappointed to see really talented people go home too soon.
So yeah, that’s all I got. I’ll leave y’all with my favorite duet from this past week’s episode.
Wait...WHAT? 