Garcia, Stevens idled; 7 finalists remain on American Idol
4/15/2010Wednesday night brought two eliminations to American Idol. First it was Andrew Garcia, then it was Katie Stevens. And just like that, only seven Idol finalists remain, including Ottawa County's Crystal Bowersox.
The 24-year-old Mr. Garcia, from Moreno Valley, Calif., was eliminated after a performance of “Hound Dog” during Elvis Presley night that left the judges mostly cold.
“That was definitely not good karaoke. I didn't like it,” said Randy Jackson. “I didn't get it at all.”
“I thought it was lazy, unpredictable, and like when you see one of these musicals, there's always the one part in it that nobody wants to see and hear, and that was the part,” opined Simon Cowell. “I think all of your coolness has been sucked out of you right now.”
The judges were mostly positive about 17-year-old Ms. Stevens' performance of “Baby What You Want Me to Do.”
“Man, you can sing, that was great,” said Ellen DeGeneres.
And Mr. Jackson complimented Ms. Stevens' vocals and said he was entertained by her performance.
Mr. Cowell, however, said he “found the song very loud and a bit annoying.”
For Ms. Bowersox, the four judges offered enthusiastic praise for her gospel-blues cover of Presley's “Saved.”
“It was another solid performance from Crystal,” said Kara DioGuardi. “I love what you picked; the lyrics were kind of controversial for that time and I loved the up-tempo — your personality comes across. The switch up in the arrangement gave [it] some drama. So I think you did some really good things tonight.”
Last week, the judges elected to use their only save of the season, keeping 26-year-old Michael “Big Mike” Lynche from going home.
With no performer eliminated last week, two contestants were cut from the show Wednesday night.
Idol host Ryan Seacrest said more than 34 million Idol fans voted this week, the most this season.
Next week American Idol returns with the rather broad theme of “inspirational songs,” with R&B-pop singer Alicia Keys as mentor for the contestants.
Contact Kirk Baird at:kbaird@theblade.com, or 419-724-6734.