Crunch time on "AI4" tonight, as the last four semi-finalists were sent home and the Top 12 singers who will compete in the finals were finally announced. With more than 120 million votes cast so far, the fourth season of "American Idol" is showing no signs of slowing down. Next week, when the men and women finally compete together, expect the competition to be even fiercer.
Tonight's show started off with a lightning-fast recap of the performances from Monday and Tuesday. Of the remaining eight men, we predicted that Travis Tucker and Nikko Smith would be leaving the show tonight. On the women's side, we predicted that Janay Castine and Mikalah Gordon would be the two to go.
Of course, it was necessary to grind 22 minutes of airtime out of tonight's eliminations, so things got off to a slow start. For a change this week, all of the finalists were seated together, rather than segregated by gender as they had been in prior elimination rounds. So there they sat. On one side of the stage, 16 hopeful performers. On the other, 12 empty seats.
To begin, Mario Vasquez, Lindsay Cardinale, Anthony Fedorov, and Vonzell Solomon were called to center stage. They all looked nervous, even if it was pretty obvious to the viewers where things were headed. Quite expectedly, all four were declared safe, the first four singers voted into the finals.
Slowing the pace a bit, Carrie Underwood was singled out individually, and also asked to join the others in the winners' circle. Next, Nadia Turner was called over to round out the first six finalists.
Then, it was the rockers' turn. Bo Bice and Constantine Maroulis stood side by side, waiting to see which of them had garnered enough votes to make it to the next round. Not surprisingly, both did.
Article comments
1 - Natalie Davis
.750 isn't bad. I thought Constantine, Travis, Mikalah, and Janay would go, so I'm batting only .500 -- great for baseball,but not so great for AI. I salute you, Mr. Pepper. And you're right: It only gets tougher to predict from here.
2 - Scott Pepper
I think that Con and Mikalah, while clearly not the best singers, likely have devoted fans who will vote them through no matter what. That is what makes it so hard to predict who will go each week -- the audience votes based on their "favorites," not necessarily who gives the best performance.
3 - Roger
"I think that Con and Mikalah, while clearly not the best singers, likely have devoted fans who will vote them through no matter what. That is what makes it so hard to predict who will go each week -- the audience votes based on their "favorites," not necessarily who gives the best performance."
The same could be said for Nadia. Simon and others have said Nadia is clearly not one of the best singers, but she has devoted fans who will vote for her through no matter what.
While we should see a Bo vs. Anthony final based on singing talent, we are likely to see Anwar vs. Nadia simply because of devoted fans.
4 - Eric Olsen
like Nat I was only .500, thinking Con and Mik (were pals now, you know) would go along with Janay and Travis - so nice job Scott!
You didn't mention the ploy of bringing Con and Bo up together and saying "which will stay and which will go," implying one would do each. And then Ryan waved Bo in and it looked like Con would go and his face sank, but then Ryan, with dramatic flare, said "and Constantine" is in too!!
That manipulative shit drives me crazy and I'm sure does not please the contestants either, who have no choice but to grin and bear it
I totally miss the (singing) appeal of Lindsay, by the way
5 - Mel
As a classically trained vocalist and music major/teacher I find that it is sad that the panel does not have more of a say atleast until the end. The panel of Paula/Simon/Randy has the best idea of who is good or not and they are right on track in their comments. Mikalah and Constantine should have been 'voted off', really, instead of Nikko and Amanda - although neither were good enough to make it to the end. Oh, well.
6 - Kati Smidt
I think that Carrie Underwood will be the next American Idol.
And why did Mario quit he was the second best singer in the world why oh why.And all the other Idols go on your guys are the best singer in the world.
love,
Kati