Thursday, April 5, 2012, Fox, 8 p.m. (ET) The inevitable happened on “American Idol” on elimination night. High school student DeAndre Brackensick, he of the fly-away Botticelli locks, bit the dust. He had been in the bottom three nearly every week, so his departure as the eighth contestant to leave the show was not unexpected.
Ryan Seacrest, host of "American Idol," at the IHeartRadio show in Las Vegas (9/24/2011).
Neither was the fact that two girls, Elise Testone and Hollie Cavanagh, were in jeopardy. They were also named to the bottom three after “pitchy” performances on Wednesday night. This was predicted by most viewers, me among them. Jennifer Lopez was firmly in DeAndre’s corner, however, staunchly defending his falsetto performances. She admitted that she cast a vote in his favor to retain him when he sang his last song, while the two male judges voted to give him the boot.
The remaining seven contestants, in the approximate order of their potential to win it all are as follows: Jessica Sanchez, Joshua Ledet, Phillip Phillips, Elise Testone, Skylar Laine, Colton Dixon and Hollie Cavanagh. Some may argue that Joshua is the front-runner, and I would not argue with that observation. Girls are voted off the competition in much higher numbers, since it is primarily young girls who will vote for their favorites repeatedly from home. With that reasoning, Joshua would be the stronger contestant, simply because he is male.
The continuing popularity and consistency of Phillip Phillips is not to be under-estimated. Every week, Phillip stays true to his vision of himself and selects a song that perfectly suits his Dave Matthews-like talents (although I don’t think he has actually delivered any of Dave Matthews’ actual songs, yet, singing, instead, Genesis and other artists). And, although Elise Testone has been up and down, as one of the more seasoned contestants, she can really deliver the goods when she picks the right song, as we saw when she sang “Whole Lotta’ Love.”
After the elimination night of April fifth, I wouldn’t hold out much hope that Hollie Cavanagh has a legitimate chance of making it into the top two. And, for me, I agree with Jimmy Iovine that Colton Dixon doesn’t have the pipes of his competitors. Setting those two aside as contestants who will probably not be around that much longer, the real question becomes, “Will Jessica Sanchez pick her songs as wisely as Joshua Ledet has done?” The answer to that question could become the answer to who is the ultimate winner.