IdolHeadEd.com - Season Seven's First Real Surprise

On an elimination night that seemed like a slam dunk, America snuck one in at the buzzer.

It's nights like this that remind me exactly why it is I don't gamble. After calling two of the eliminations accurately and blowing the other two completely, I wouldn't be walking out of that casino with any big prizes.

To me, at least, calling the two departing boys was pretty easy. Most of Tuesday's performances were on a pretty high level. There were really only two that stood out as being below the standard. And rightly so, America eliminated Jason Yeager and Robbie Carrico tonight. Neither one of them is a substandard vocalist, but for this season you have to raise above the standard and really truly shine. If you falter on any one night as the season moves forward, you'll be kicked to the curb in short order. This year, Idol has no mercy.

Calling the two girls was tougher. We had some contestants who had done great the first week and then hit rock bottom this week. We also had some who made significant improvements from week one. It's tough to tell how much impact the flu is still having on the girls. You could certainly tell on Wednesday that at least two of them were still suffering its effects. I had thought Amanda Overmyer's bizarre outfit, discomfort on stage, and uncompelling vocals would lead her to be eliminated tonight. But she was safe. I had also thought Kady Malloy's ghastly turn at "Magic Man", combined with her lukewarm reviews from the judges last week would send her home. But she, too, was safe. Instead it was the two youngest girls that America decided to eliminate, Alaina Whitaker and Alex Lushington.

Neither girl had a terrific performance on Tuesday, but neither seemed to be that terrible, either. Alaina was close to the top of the heap in week one, which makes her dismissal seem particularly hard to fathom. Granted, we the voting public, are fickle and it's all about 'what have you done for me lately'. But still and all, the girl had a lovely voice and considerable talent. I'm at a loss about what didn't click with America.

Alex had a strike against her from the start --- no air time prior to week one of the competition. But again, I thought that while she wasn't at the top of the heap, she'd shown herself to be interesting enough in her song interpretation to stick around another week at least.

But again, as I said for the boys above, this is a tough year. You can't afford the smallest of misteps unless you're unique enough to have your own separate fan base. At the end of the eliminations, with both Alaina and Kady standing together at stage front, I was hard pressed to know which one was which until Ryan announced the eliminee. If I, who study every bit of minutiae this show has to offer, has difficulty telling them apart, I'm betting the casual viewer is, too.

And finally, while I hate to diss the sistahood, I think everyone knows that the tweener/teen demographic that make up the bulk of this show's voters will vote their fingers off for the cute teenage boys, but are lukewarm to hostile toward their peers. It takes a bit of maturity to be glad for a contemporary's success, and that's something girls of this age haven't achieved yet.

It appears there will be much chewing of opinions at the water cooler this week. But I'm liking that. It's so much better than the ennui people evinced at this point last season.

And finally, a query. Does anyone have a clue what the half-Bullwinkle hand signal Simon was using actually means? I'm so glad Ryan (or more accurately Ryan's mom) called him out on it. It was very strange to look at, doncha think?

Idolista, in Denver with her head in the clouds.