The first four to go home...

The time has come to send the four lowest vote getters home. Just like in past seasons, the announcements must be stretched to an hour so we had time to see all 24 finalists perform a 60's medley. It was supposed to be a fun filled energetic showcase of music, but it failed to live up to expectations. It didn't work on so many levels. All-around, the vocals were weak and lacking enthusiasm. The song choices were just plain wrong. They weren't catchy or memorable favorites at all. The best thing I can say about the performance was that it gave this attractive bunch of kids the chance to play dress up in very cool 60's Mod outfits. The boys looked very handsome and sleek in their suits and skinny ties, while the girls looked ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS in their mini-skirts, go-go boots and big hair-dos!

There was also plenty of time to plug Randy's new album coming out on March 11th that has a new song that he produced for Paula. In the early 90's she was the queen of the pop charts taking 6 smash hits all the way to #1. But it has been 17 years since Promise Of A New Day hit the top so Paula was filled with anxiety as the video was introduced for all of American Idol's millions of viewers to see. It was just as overproduced as her earlier hits and it highlighted her dancing more than her vocals. It was kinda catchy. It has a good beat you can dance to. It might actually become a minor hit for her.

When Ryan finally got around to revealing the elimations, he asked Garrett Haley to join him center stage and then blurted out that he was the first one to go. Poor little Garrett is such a sweet boy with a nice voice. It was sad to hear him perform Breaking Up is Hard to Do one last time.

When it came time for the girls, Ryan was quite mean asking Kristy Lee Cook to step forward just to fake her out and reveal that Amy Davis is out of here. That's when the wave of emotions took over. She did her best to tremble through Where The Boys Are while the rest of the finalists couldn't hold back their tears any longer.

The tears continued to flow while Ryan asked Amanda Overmyer and Joanne Borgella to join him center stage. Turns out that a little prayer wasn't enough to keep Joanne safe. The pouty lips holding back sobs were prominent when Ryan asked Chikezie and Colton Berry to step forward. This time Colton got the bad news that no one wants to hear him sing again.

I got both of my predictions right regarding the girls, but I was completely wrong about the boys. I'm not surprised at all about Colton, but I would have liked to see a nice kid like Garrett get the opportunity to have another chance.