American Idol: And Then There Were Three

This week on American Idol, James Durbin was eliminated from the competition. Shocking? Eh, not really.

Personally, I never saw James getting past the Top 5. But, I figured Randy Jackson had probably pissed off every Haley Reinhart fan Wednesday night to the point where they probably voted until their thumbs were numb.

I figured when it came down to it, we were going to see either Lauren Alaina or James head home. Yesterday when Ryan Secrest tweeted, Tonight will be a VERY interesting #americanidol. Good luck @LAlainaAI10, @JDurbinAI10,  @SMcCreeryAI10 & @HReinhartAI10,” I knew Haley had to be safe and that there was going to be a “shocking” elimination.

I felt for James, because as soon as Haley was declared safe last night and it was between him and Scotty McCreery going home, you could just tell that he knew his time was up. However, I do think it was time for him to head home.

The thing with James, and season 8 contestant Allison Iraheta kind of touched on in her guest blog on The Hollywood Reporter website yesterday was that we never truly saw a James Durbin performance. We saw a lot of knock-off Adam Lambert performances.

“With James, as far as song choice is concerned, it was hard for me to hear it because we had to sing “Don’t Stop Believin’” on the season 8 tour so many times – it was a group number. And to hear Adam Lambert sing that same song night after night… well, it’s hard not to compare the two,” Iraheta said in her blog.

“What I want to see out of James is something truly different — what makes James, James? Because we have an Adam and he’s amazing. I’m a fan, don’t get me wrong, but we’ve seen this already.”

I think James tried to make his performances kind of these huge spectacles week after week, and I think people maybe started to see through all the smoke and mirrors and realized that his vocals, at best, were just okay.

Next week, the Top 3 will be singing three songs a piece. Each will have a song chosen by one of the judges, a song chosen by Jimmy Iovine, and a song of their own choosing.

What did you think of this week’s elimination? What do you think the judges and Jimmy Iovine are going to pick for the contestants to sing?

Photo credit: Michael Becker / FOX