Apr 30 2009
No Saves For Giraud- He’s Out
Two weeks ago, Matt Giraud was all smiles when the judges saved him from elimination. His luck finally ran out this week. (picture courtesy of FOX-TV/Michael Becker)
America finally got its say regarding American Idol’s Matt Giraud- he hit the road.
Giraud’s elimination brought his tumultuous run on the FOX singing competition to a close. Exiting the competition in a respectable fifth place, Giraud initially was not even among the nine fan-chosen contestants for season eight; rather, he was one of four (among eight) that the judges selected during a Wild Card round. After making it to the top 13, Giraud survived five weeks of competition before finishing as the lowest votegetter in week six.
Mulling Giraud’s possible elimination, the judges decided to use their one and only save on him, forcing a double elimination the following week. That save turned out to be a wise one, as the lowest votegetters that next week were Lil Rounds and Anoop Desai, who along with Giraud had comprised the prior week’s bottom three.
Giraud’s exodus was not all that shocking; what was, however, was Adam Lambert’s first appearance in the bottom three. Granted, with just five contestants left, somebody’s gotta be there- but as one of the favorites to go all the way to the finals, Lambert may have felt a tad of worry upon hearing his name called as one of the bottom dwellers.
Kris Allen also appeared in the bottom trio for the first time, leaving Danny Gokey and Allison Iraheta as this week’s top two votegetters. As much of an Allison fan as she is, Paula Abdul may need a sedative if her bold prediction of a Gokey-Lambert finals showdown fails to materialize.
Next week, the Fab Four remaining hopefuls sing rock n’ roll. On the surface, Lambert and Iraheta should have no trouble with this genre- though there’s no telling how Lambert or Allen may toy with arrangements. Rock is Iraheta’s strength, and Gokey usually stays faithful to original arrangements, so don’t expect too much sonic shifting from them.
These next couple of weeks should prove intense, where anyone could end up singing their last song in hopes of becoming the next Idol. Will Iraheta pull an upset and make it all the way to the finals? And if she does, how will Abdul deal with it? By then, will Simon Cowell have seen enough confidence in Iraheta (as he did Gokey this week) to believe that she can in fact win? Stay tuned…
