It’s Thursday night again. This is the night which is bitter sweet for all of the American Idol fans out there. On the one hand tonight is the big payoff, right? This is what the competition is all about; who stays and who goes. At the same time we need to say goodbye to some performers who are pretty good and maybe who we have already started to feel a connection with.

As usual the show started with an opening number by all 20 of the singers. I didn’t really care for the songs from the 70’s they selected to be part of the melody but, I thought they did a nice job with it. Unlike last week, none of the performers really stood out in a bad way for me. I thought Kristy Lee Cook and Chikezie both did an exceptional job. When this performance was over those were the two singers whose performances stuck with me.

Four more American Idol hopefuls will leave us tonight. We saw there performances, we heard the judges comments, and then we voted. Here are the results:

The first contestant to be sent home was Jason Yeager. I really thought he should have been sent packing last week so I wasn’t surprised by this one bit. When Ryan got down to just Jason and Danny Noriega, did you see the look on Danny’s face? I thought he was going to throw up on national television.

Next it the ladies turn to lose one of their number. The first lady to go home was also not a surprise to me. Alexandria Lushington did not have a good performance last night. Even though she was a good singer, I don’t think she had a chance against the other women. The next contestant to go was a bit of a shock. Alaina Whitaker didn’t do a really bad job last night. She got some mixed reviews from the judges but so did several of the girls. So while she was a candidate for going home and I never expected her to win, I didn’t think it was quite her time yet. When Ryan broke the news to her, I felt really bad. So did he. She was so upset. She couldn’t stop crying (Neither could Danny Noriega). It was nice to see the other girls come out and rally around here so that she could do her swan song.

The final contestant to go home was a complete jaw dropper for me. When Ryan announced Robbie Carrico’s name, I couldn’t believe it. The only reason I can think of for Robbie to be going home so early would be Simon. Simon has given Robbie a hard time since the beginning of the competition because he didn’t feel like Robbie really was a rocker despite Robbie’s claims. Simon has the ability to sway the fan vote. Robbie didn’t have a super performance, but I liked his song choice and he sang it well. I just think Simon’s opinion carries a lot of weight. See ya Robbie.

At the end of the show, on March 11th, Sony has released the Lennon McCartney song book for use by the American Idol contestants. That’s pretty cool. I’m looking forward to that week.

We’re down to 16. Come on back next week, and we’ll watch America eliminate a few more contestants.

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