Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

People had been predicting for weeks that Ace Young would be leaving American Idol so it was little surprise that he was the one singing on center stage as the closing credits rolled last night.

It was, however, a little bit of a shocker who was standing with him.

Joining him in the bottom three were Paris Bennett, who's made frequent appearances in the bottom three for the last several weeks. But for the first time, Chris Daughtry, favored by many people to win, also appeared in the bottom three.

In this case, I really don't think it's a matter of his performance alone, but simply how he compared to the competition. His vocals were great, but his performance didn't have the excitement of Taylor Hicks or even Elliott Yamin. While it's important to show range, Chris also needs to rock out to get the support of his fans, just like Taylor needs to work the audience and do a little dancing.

Speaking of Taylor, they played a cruel trick on him this time around. Host Ryan Seacrest divided the contestants into two groups. On the far side of the stage were Elliott Yamin, Kellie Pickler and Katharine McPhee. On the near side were Chris Daughtry, Paris Bennett and Ace Young.

Then Ryan told Taylor to join the group he thought was safe, because as Ryan put it, "You may or may not have gotten the most votes last night." They broke for a commercial, and when they returned, Taylor had to make his choice.

He walked up to Chris Daughtry and shook hands with him, and just as Ryan was about to say, "I'm sorry, you chose the wrong group," he walked across the stage and joined the others. Katharine McPhee was so thrilled she threw her arms around Taylor, jumping up and down as Ryan announced that he'd chosen the right group.

I'm not entirely convinced that Chris was in the bottom two, but they told Paris she was safe and had Chris stand next to Ace while they waited for the announcement. Chris has got to be true to himself as well as meeting the weekly challenges. That's what people love about him. And he's got to start thinking more about the audience.

As far as why Ace went home, it's pretty obvious: he's a weaker vocalist. It's a shame, too, because in the auditions and the Hollywood tryouts, he seemed pretty strong. He has a very mellow, sweet-sounding voice. I thought he'd be one of the people to beat. That is, before the semifinalist rounds, where he failed to live up to his potential.

At first, you could chalk it up to nerves, but he didn't seem to improve. He didn't deliver any performances I can remember where he was in tune all the way through and didn't falter or look nervous.

There's no doubt he stayed in this long because he'd attracted a fan base of teenyboppers who thought he was dreamy. But you can't win with just one portion of the audience. That's been proven before. Eventually, you have to impress other groups, and Ace just didn't do that.

Now the decisions will get really difficult. There's little doubt that Paris and Elliott will continue to appear in the bottom three until they have their good-bye montage played. But who will join them? Many people feel it should be Kellie Pickler, especially after the rocky performance she gave this week. Of course, at this point in the competition, votes are often placed on a cumulative effect. This time, her fan base pulled through from her, but if her performances go downhill, she'll lose support.

More so than ever, every performance counts.

More on American Idol:

Musings on American Idol Season 5 (2006)

Musings on American Idol Season 4 (2005)

Musings on American Idol Season 3 (2004)

Copyright 2006 by Alyce Wilson

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