American Idol - That's Entertainment

Last night there were many dropped jaws across America when it was witty Chris Sligh leaving American Idol instead of Sanjaya Malakar or Haley Scarnato. I was shocked, as all I saw was a favorite of mine having one bad week, but I certainly didn't see him leaving last night. Yet, there I was watching his journey video. How did this happen?

The conspiracy theorists are of course out, as they always are. And everyone and their brother is being blamed, from the judges for putting Sanjaya in the contest, to Fox for setting up this show with a voting system that allows two hours of solid voting on multiple phones and text messages, to Sanjaya himself, to websites that encourage people to vote for who they deem the worst, to the girl that is starving herself, to Howard Stern. But what about Chris?

I loved Chris Sligh. I loved everything about him. I even voted for him once. I don't vote every week, and I only get in one vote for the person, and then I'm done. I only pick up the phone when I'm inspired to. When Chris sang Trouble for his wife he got me. I saw the emotion in him. He made me see who he was inside that witty exterior. He made me say wow.

Yet this week, when he was singing one of my all-time favorite songs, I wasn't saying wow. His vocal quality was dead on, as usual. He had that really subtle vibrato going during the chorus that I always love. But his vocal wasn't matching the music playing behind him. Ordinarily, we might wonder if it's him or Ricky Minor's band being off, but we'd just gotten done hearing Gwen Stefani say he was off. We knew then it was him. The judges, Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and Simon Cowell knew as well. Simon called the song a mess, and while Chris thought it went well, he had to admit his timing was off a bit, and that it was the first time he'd tried to sing the song. He went as far as to say learning it this week was somewhat of a Masters class.

I thought there was a chance, because of that, he could make an appearance in the bottom three, just as Chris Richardson had done the week before, and Phil Stacey had the week before that. He would then do well next week and his fans would be out in droves voting for him, with him making a mental check to discard song choices after he tries them and finds them to be difficult. When I saw him sitting next to Gina Glocksen and Jordin Sparks, and knowing that there was one spot left in the bottom three, I knew it had to be him. I still thought he'd be sent back to the couch, though.

So who's to blame for that? Who's to blame for him not only being in the bottom three, but actually leaving? As much as I love the guy, he didn't inspire people to vote for him after his performance. While people weren't voting against him, they weren't voting for him, either. He didn't cause us to pick up the phone and say, “Wow.” If he had, if he had done well with his song choice, people would have voted. Plain as that.

There's no big conspiracy that kicked Chris Sligh off the show. The judges called him out on a bad performance because they know what they can expect from him, and he wasn't up to par. He was impressive from his audition singing Kiss From a Rose, and what we liked as much as his singing was his personality. He was funny. We were entertained not just by his songs, but by his humor and wit as well. We got another dose of the wit this week when he said he spends his time off from the show knitting, crocheting and playing the bongos in his boxer shorts. It made me laugh, but it didn't make me pick up the phone.

Did others do worse than Chris this week? In my opinion, yes, but their fans knew they needed to vote for them to keep them there, so they did. It's been highly suggested that Chris Richardson's fanbase is young women that are into his looks, so they're going to vote for him regardless. And after he appeared in the bottom three last week, they wanted to protect him this week, so probably voted more than they usually would, despite the fact he didn't have a good night.

Phil Stacey appeared in the bottom three and had a damn good performance. That means even when he's really good, he's not inspiring people to pick up the phone. That has to be making him wonder what else he could do to win over the votes. One thing he should do is stick to the rock music. I think it suits him much better than all those sappy ballads.

Haley Scarnato has been teetering on the edge for the past few weeks, and last week she stayed out of the bottom three with a sex kitten look to go with 60s British Invasion week. This week some pointed to her showing her legs as bringing votes in, but she still appeared in the bottom two. So apparently it's not just the legs, but the total package that brings in the votes.

And, of course, Sanjaya Malakar. What's bringing him the votes? Millions and millions of prepubescent girls and a funny schtick with his hair. People are probably starting to tune in just to see what he's going to do with the hair. I don't put a lot of credence in his votes being a result of Howard Stern's campaign or “that” website, as I don't think they carry as much weight as teenage girls. Did you see Ashley in the audience last week? I'm betting she'd dial until her fingers bled for Sanjaya, whereas people following Stern and the website are going to do it for ten, fifteen minutes and get bored.

Any of the people left in the competition have to remember that the best way to help themselves out each week is to show up 100%. They have to make smart song choices and have to deliver, each and every week. They also have to keep their 'tudes in check. And what the viewers have to remember is that if they want their favorite to win, they have to vote. The person left standing won't be someone everyone has been making fun of for weeks, no matter how many Howard Stern fans vote for him, and how many people follow that certain website. There may be a few questionable ousters along the way as far as how long they last, but in the end, the right person always wins, even when they aren't my personal favorite.

To keep up with Chris Sligh, read his blog.

For more on American Idol, see Reality Shack and LauraBelle's Blog

For more information on American Idol and Chris Sligh see SirLinksalot: American Idol and SirLinksalot: Chris Sligh