American Idol's 2 ELIMINATIONS Katie Stevens ELIMINATED @ # 8 - Fox photo Andrew Garcia ELIMINATED @ # 9 - Fox photo

Video Beat EXTRA EXTRA - AMERICAN IDOL ELIMINATES 2 KATIE STEVENS & ANDREW GARCIA

James Loving - National Radio Text Service

The Sumo Man Michael Lynche was put on the spot again as he was in the last three standing with Stevens and Tim Urban when host Ryan Seacrest prepared to announce the second contestant to be sent home - There appears to be a clash with Simon Cowell continually trying to tear Siobhan Magnus down with his unnecessary negative comments - Recommended TV Listings

Wednesday April 14, 2010

ONLY 7 REMAIN

Since Michael Lynche was saved by the judges last week this week two contestants had to go. Not too surprisingly Andrew Garcia was the first to be eliminated. Garcia was one of our three questionable choices even to be chosen for the Top 24. On Elvis (Presley) songs night Garcia sang Hound Dog and it was his worst performance of the season, he just didn't get the feel or bite of the song. He was definitely out of his element that night.

The second to be eliminated was somewhat of a surprise as 16-year-old Katie Stevens finally bit the dust after her third time being in the bottom three. Stevens was another one of the judge's choices that we questioned why she made it to the Top 24. To Stevens credit she was the most improved contestant since the Top 24 and excelled last week when she sang the Beatles Let It Be.

Over the weeks Stevens also matured evolving from a child towards becoming more of an adult in her behavior as well as gaining confidence in her performances. She was exiting the show at just the right time although she delivered a strong presentation on Elvis night with her rendition of Baby What Do You Want Me To Do. It seemed that performance would save her for the Top 7.

Ironically when she expressed her frustration to mentor Adam Lambert last seasons runner-up about the judges confusing critiques he suggested the song to her. She sang it well but apparently the voting public (as we are led to believe) wasn't that impressed.

The Sumo Man Michael Lynche was put on the spot again as he was in the last three standing with Stevens and Tim Urban when host Ryan Seacrest prepared to announce the second contestant to be sent home. Urban was the first saved and Lynche was left hanging in the lurch before Stevens was given the bad news. Prior to his announcement of who was to be eliminated Seacrest said, "One of you is going home. The other person was not even in the bottom three."

Now that Idol is down to the final 7 what the judges stated at the beginning of the season that this was the girl's year to win has suddenly taken a strange twist. In the past we've never stated that the judges didn't know what they were talking about but we inferred it.

Siobhan Magnus and Crystal Bowersox are now the only girls remaining in the contest. One of them could win since they have the best voices. Bowersox is the stronger of the two with her maturity and a background of a life of hard knocks which is paying off in her soulful performances.

Magnus is very sensitive and subject to breaking down in tears when the judges are too hard on her. There appears to be a clash with Cowell continually trying to tear her down with his unnecessary negative comments. He's on her case too much and much of his criticism of her seems to be personal and unwarranted.

It's reminiscent of the clashes Cowell had with David Cook in Season 7 when after numerous verbal bouts with Cowell Cook told his majesty (in his own mind) on camera that he didn't care what Cowell thought and that it was the American public's thoughts and votes that counted. At that point Cook gained our respect and eventually came from behind and won over the favored David Archuleta that season.

After Siobhan sang suspicious Minds on the performance show yesterday part of Cowell's acrid criticism of her was, "I thought the first part of the song was terrible. It was like you were in a time machine and came back 20 years later. Regarding her performance Cowell added that it "Was very erratic and very screechy." He questioned her musical identity with her variance of styles.

Siobhan Magnus has Cowell problems to deal with but grins and deals with it - FOX photo Simon Cowell's anti Siobhan Magnus insolence is disturbing

As Magnus stared down at the holy one she gathered and defended herself looked Cowell straight in the eye and said, "Even I can't pinpoint who or what I am and I take pride in that. I am not one type of person or one type of singer and I don't think it's necessary to be labeled, I just love to sing."

The good news from these clashes is that Siobhan will toughen up. The music business is a rough industry and she will need to be strong and not as sensitive. As former United Artists Records President Artie Mogul said to our Music Business class at Sherwood Oaks College ages ago regarding the music industry, "If its integrity you're looking for you're in the wrong business."

This season Cowell continues to trip over his tongue with overbearing and off point critiques. The bloom is definitely off his rose as he has proved to be out of touch with reality and is living too much in his I, ME, MY WORLD.

He continues to make criticisms about contestants being too theatrical yet this is the age of video music... theatrics are what that is largely about. Adam Lambert suffered the same criticism last season but he comes from a theatrical background. He surprisingly lost to Kris Allen but now has a more successful career than Allen and his theatrics play a major part in his success.

The best thing about this season is the group ensemble songs sung before each results show. These contestants are the best at it of all the seasons that we have observed since season 4 and deserving of their own album as a group. They sing great harmony together, look great and are superb in the movements when they perform the songs. They excel at this and this is theatrical.

The video age is about theatrics and Simon Cowell needs to wake up and smell the coffee. The position he takes on this issue indicates that he's too old and too out of touch.

NOTE

Seven of the eight eliminated during the Top 24 and 20 were minorities. Michael Lynche is the only minority remaining on the show. He has a great voice but is not receiving fan support. Of the five males remaining on the show he has the best voice by far but is unlikely to win and might not make it to the Top 5. Adam Lambert said that Lynche has a great voice and should be in it till the end. Stay tuned...

GO FIGURE:

Ryan Seacrest announced that over 34 million votes were called in this week the most of the season. When you look at the shows Neilson ratings their largest viewing audience was 29.8 million for the Top 24. The ratings have dropped to 20.9 million viewers for the April 7 Top 9 Results show. Even Forrest Gump could figure out that the math doesn't compute (add up).

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TV SCHEDULE

Note: The shows listed are for the Cambodia - Thailand time zone. Check your local listings for time in your area.

NOTE TIMES OF THE SAME TELECAST IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES

3:00 PM - LOCKED UP ABROAD - National Geographic

4:00 PM - LARRY KING - CNN - Airs daily

7:00 PM - AMAZING RACE - AXN

8:00 PM - TRUE BLOOD - (Season 1 - 2 HOURS of back to back episodes) - HBO

11:00 PM - AMAZING RACE - AXN

9:30 PM - UFC (ULTIMATE FIGHTING) - True Sport 2

11:00 PM - AMERICAN IDOL - Star World

6:00 PM - LOCKED UP ABROAD - National Geographic

7:00 PM - AMERICAN IDOL - Star World

11:00 PM - AMERICAN IDOL - Star World

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