Wednesday's episode of American Idol was three parts predictable and two parts puzzling.
After listening to the performances this week, it seemed pretty obvious as to who was going home. With such a large group still competing and a major quality gap separating the top and bottom performers, the public is typically good at spotting and weeding out the weak. That, to me, explains why the journeys of Celena, Joseph and David ended this week. That doesn't explain why Aloha also had to say good-bye.
She wasn't one of my favorites, but I was disappointed to see her go just the same. I thought she would be around for at least a few more weeks. Yet, through the miracle of popular voting, a strong singer and performer got the boot. How did it happen? What went wrong? I have three working theories:- The Unalaska Virus. People voted for her, but thanks to a mysterious telephone virus on Tuesday night, any number dialed that ended in "1" was rerouted to a remote phone booth in Unalaska, Alaska.
- The Big Typo. Thanks to horrible keyboard skills, somebody accidentally typed A-L-O-H-A when they meant to type J-A-N-A-Y, an easy enough mistake to make.
- The Backlash. After seeing Alicia Keys perform at both the Super Bowl and the Grammies and watching Beyonce Knowles sing three songs at the Oscars, the public couldn't take it anymore. Aloha, who sang songs by both artists, became an unsuspecting victim in a growing Alicia/Beyonce backlash.
The other thing that puzzled me was something Joseph Murena said. The mediocre contestant claimed to see nothing wrong with his bland performance. In a state of denial, he blamed his lack of votes on a lack of exposure time. Melinda Lira gave the same excuse after her elimination last week. I don't buy their argument.
For a good performer, more time in front of the camera means more minutes to shine and impress viewers. If it came down to a face-off between two equally good performers, more exposure might make a difference. But for a bad performer, more time in front of the camera only means more time to hammer the final nail in the coffin of his or her dream. Less exposure for some folks isn't necessarily a bad thing. To say it another way, dirt doesn't become chocolate just because you eat more of it.
