March 18, 2004 - From Princess to Pumpkin

First they called down the bottom three contestants, before narrowing it down to the one person who would leave the competition.

The final three were somewhat surprising. Leah LaBelle was called down first. She was on borrowed time, having advanced simply by being chosen by Paula Abdul in the wild card competition.

Then Amy Adams was called down, who has so far failed to sparkle on stage the way she does off stage.

The third name was a surprise: Jennifer Hudson. While judge Simon Cowell said he wasn't surprised because of her oversinging the night before, I think that perhaps she was there in part because people assumed she'd get a lot of votes, and so they used their votes to speak up for those who seemed less of a sure thing. But that's just a guess.

It could also be that they failed to connect with her obscure song choice.

Amy was sent back right away, so she knew she was safe. Then, after a commercial break and after both Leah and Jennifer performed once again, the wait was finally over. Ryan announced who would be going home: Leah.

Score one for Simon who correctly predicted she would be the one leaving the competition.

To say good-bye to Leah, they showed a retrospective which primarily included her thoughts about being on American Idol, along with footage of her throughout the contest: auditions, rehearsals, and behind-the-scenes footage.

Watching that footage, I was struck with the fact that here was a girl who, no doubt, was more talented than many of the thousands of people who had auditioned. And yet, she just didn't quite have it and never would, no matter how hard she tries.

If either Jennifer Hudson or Amy Adams had gone home last night, I would have said, "Well, you know what? This show was good for them. They got a lot of exposure. People know about them now. They now have a foot in the door."

With Leah, I can only imagine she's going to be telling her grandchildren one day that she was a finalist on American Idol. This is a pretty impressive achievement in itself, one few of us could hope to achieve.

At the close of the show, the other contestants gathered around Leah, hugging her, even though they were no doubt relieved not to be this week's sacrificial lamb.

But Leah's fate was sealed when, after her performance the previous night, even her fairy godmother, nice judge Paula Abdul, said it wasn't her best performance. Leah's chariot has turned back into a pumpkin.

Other Musings by Alyce on American Idol:

American Idol Index

Moral:
Sometimes, even a fairy godmother can't help you.