At the end of Thursday night’s “American Idol” program, Harry Connick, Jr., could be seen mouthing the words, “I didn’t see that coming” to his fellow judges.
What Judge Connick was referencing was the surprising vote given to the 5 remaining contestants, where those still standing could stay together as a team of five and two would be voted off next week, instead, OR one contestant would bite the dust, as per usual.
My spouse commented, “Well, this isn’t exciting at all. You know they’re all going to vote, ‘Yes, stay together as a team of five.'”
Except that they didn’t.
The vote was (supposedly) anonymous and TWO of the five remaining contestants said, “Lower the boom.” And Sam Woolf was let go, as a result.
I am going to speculate a moment on who may have voted to use the guillotine this night.
First, it is quite obvious that Caleb Johnson is going to be in the Finals unless there is some very unusual circumstance that arises that I cannot predict. I have been of the opinion that Jena Irene would be the second finalist because she is, quite obviously, the most at ease on stage, despite her relative youth (17). The others left in the competition are Jessica Meuse, who had a good night on Wednesday, and Alex Preston, who also was viewed favorably by the judges.
Personally, I thought that Alex Preston would get the boot. He is a good musician, but he has no “cools” and what’s with the no socks look? If the group of five HAD voted to boot two out next week, instead, my spouse and I were convinced it would be Alex and Jessica. [Perhaps we should have remembered that Sam had to be “saved” by the judges and has been in the bottom three more than once.] But we didn’t remember that. We both thought that Alex, while a good musician, was too geeky for the finals and that Jessica is the lesser talent of the girls.
So, we now have four finalists: Caleb Johnson of Asheville, North Carolina; Jena Irene of Farmington Hills, Michigan; Alex Preston of Mont Vernon, New Hampshire; and Jessica Meuse of Slapout, Alabama.
They are listed in the order I think they may finish, but, again, Alex and Jessica, for me, are interchangeable entities. What he has over her in musical expertise and artistry, she has over him in appearance, presence and cools.
If I were a betting woman, I’d guess that Caleb voted “no” to “sticking together as a group” (so much for the good times P.R. the show churns out each year). Caleb probably just wants to get to the end and get the golden ring, which it looks like he will do.
As for, “Who was the SECOND “No” vote?” I’m guessing it wasn’t Sam Woolf, but I wouldn’t put it past Alex or Jessica or Jena Irene to oust one of the others. After all, it’s a competition and they all want to win.
But who will? Caleb, of course. The Big Question is: who will come in second?