Elimination Shocker at American Idol as Carly Goes Home

This week’s elimination at American Idol proved one thing beyond doubt: the show is not just about talent; it is also about how popular you are as a singer. The elimination this week was a stunner, literally and figuratively. Irish singer Carly Smithson was the one to go, and that was one of the most surprising eliminations this season.

The elimination was surprising because Carly had turned in one of the best performances of the night. The singing was definitely going to be tough this week, and Randy had rightly said the singer with the big voice would do well this time around. That was absolutely true of Carly, as she rocked the show with her rendition of Jesus Christ Superstar.

Unfortunately, it is not enough if you just sing well, you also have to have the right number of votes, and that was something that let Carly down. How that happened no one knows. But the fact of the matter is that at the end of elimination day, Carly was on her way home.

24-year old Carly was quite brave about the whole thing, though, as she said, “I’m proud of myself–I’m not upset that I’m going home. She had a fan in Simon Cowell, who said in turn, “Well, you should be.” It is surprising how things work out sometimes. Simon had been one of her strong critics, but finally turned out to be a great supporter.

It seemed America had got their musical ear all wrong when they voted Carly and Syesha Mercado into the bottom two. Because there were other singers who had done far worse. Jason Castro’s performance was definitely low on quality, and Brook White actually missed the start of her song, for the second time this season. How do you do things like that twice and get away with it?

It is, in a way, like Alice in Wonderland. One of the best singers for the night is packed off home, and someone who makes the most blatant of mistakes stays on, as does another who manhandles a song of the caliber of Memory.

In a way, however vaguely, the whole thing may make some sense, as the show is about finding out the American Idol, and an idol may not necessarily be the best; it could be someone who is good enough and well-liked enough.

That is not to take anything away from the show, and from the voting public, as two of the top guns are still hanging in there, comfortably so. David Archuleta and David Cook have been putting out performances of the highest caliber week after week, and the voters have done well to retain them.

It would indeed be great if they were the last two standing, and fought it out the old fashioned musical way to determine who would end up being the American Idol. That would be the perfect ending, and while perfect endings are not guaranteed, one still hopes that is the way it would be.