AMERICA VOTED: We're going to need to spoiler protect everything. A fascinating results show.
First off, a surprise Stevie Wonder performance for Steven Tyler's birthday? Hulk Hogan speaking to all the little Hulkamaniacs?
But that's not what we have to talk about. Instead, it's this: your bottom three was Thia, Stefano and Casey, with Casey drawing the fewest votes. Idol Immunity was granted almost before he started singing, with a tremulous Abrams shaking in disbelief that mercy had been granted. Shaking. As in, both Sepinwall and I were worried that he was going to faint. Or worse, given what we know.
What to say? First of all, the leadoff slot really, really is a problem, and I may not have been wrong in not being thrilled with Casey's performance last night. Indeed, when Nigel Lythgoe tweeted that tonight would be "shocking," I figured he'd be in the bottom three. This, however, was a stunner.
But that's why they have Idol Immunity, and in the same way that I wish it had been used for Alexis Grace, I'm glad it was used tonight. He's a talented, obviously-a-bit-fragile singer, and I'm glad he has a second chance even if I'm not entirely sure it will matter. (I still don't think he's winning this thing.) Hell of an hour of television.
Casey sure kept the censors busy, too. I'd be amused to hear the unrated version.
ReplyDeleteThat might be the best results show ever on the show. The surprise party for Tyler, the understated use of Stevie, Durbin nearly having a heart attack when Hulk Hogan showed up . . . and all that before Casey landed where he landed.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Adam and Alan -- I was worried that Casey was actually going to pass out.
Haven't watched and won't watch, for DVR reasons, but I have to say that I've never seen this Casey fellow sing, because I'm usually still putting the kids to bed at 8:30 and never remember to DVR the show until then. And at that point, I believe that Casey has already sung every time I've watched this season. So, yeah, I can see how the early slot would be a problem.
ReplyDeleteAlso a problem: based on what I've seen in the clips, with his giant head, his giant immobile cloud of hair, and his immobile penumbral beard, Casey kind of looks like he's wearing a mask. What I mean is that even if he bangs his head around and nods and does neck rolls and whatever, every part of his hair and beard all moves together in unison. The ratio of moving parts of his head (eyes, mouth, cheeks) to unmoving parts is astoundingly small. It's just a weird effect. It cannot be good for vote-getting.
The judges gave Casey some pretty good advice at the end (although it didn't look like he was capable of hearing words at that point). But this missed the most important thing he needs to be told: Leave your angry eyes at home next week.
ReplyDeleteHaven't gotten to see the results show yet, but I'd heard what the result was. I rather dislike the save. I don't mind it being used on Casey if it must exist. (He's kind of turned into a caricature at this point, but that caricature is more interesting to me than a Disney princess singing at me.) But my biggest reaction is that I'm just glad that the save has been used and can't be used again.
ReplyDeleteI definitely second that emotion. Casey definitely has a potent pair of crazy eyes. That doesn't mean he should go the Scotty route and throw loooooooonging gazes at the camera, but he just needs to dial the intensity down.
ReplyDeleteI didn't watch the last 15 minutes live but my DVR caught it. As I rewound it back I saw everyone crowded again Casey at the end so I thought he was voted off. I'm glad they used the save on him. And I was seriously concerned for him at the end. I thought I was going to witness a live on air puking or fainting.
And I was super charmed by James's genuine shock at seeing Hulk Hogan. I mentioned something to my friend yesterday about how he always seems to be squinting and she clued me in to his Tourettes. There's something about this kid that has me pulling for him. Now if only he would lose the fabric tail...
Big missed promotional opportunity tonight, by the way. WWE has Wrestlemania in a week and a half; one would think McMahon is kicking himself for not getting The Rock or The Miz on there.<span> </span>
ReplyDeleteSo Casey's the creepy Travis Tritt/Ted Bot, right? Right?
ReplyDeleteBecause I can't believe America would vote against seeing more of Casey's entertaining parents segments.
I tweeted earlier tonight "I always miss the save, " which makes no sense as a complaint because the only results shows I watched last year were Idol Gives Back and the finale. I'm hard to please, I guess.
ReplyDelete<span>Better promotional opportunity- getting name checked on the Office as a Shrute-Barter-worthy author?</span>
ReplyDeleteThey asked Jen about a month ago about it in order to secure the right to display her books, and she was pretty damn thrilled.
ReplyDeleteI had a work thing tonight and forgot to set the DVR. Fortunately the last five minutes of the show is up on YouTube. Have to admit, as much as I like Casey, I didn't vote last night. I didn't vote for anyone, actually, because I figured my faves were probably safe so why bother. Whoops.
ReplyDeleteAnd I completely agree with Watchman about Casey needing to leave the angry eyes at home next week.
<span>You don't even have to like American Idol to appreciate the wackadoo glory of the fuzzy-faced, alt country, semi-hipster Paul McDonald bonding with metalhead, high-functioning Tourette's James Durbin over a shared love of professional wrestling. That was just a spot of truly joyful television.</span>
ReplyDeleteAs for Casey: Wow. A travesty that he was voted out, but his full-fledged meltdown on-stage after getting the save is troubling. I know Idol is a really emotional time, complicated by his medical issues, but he did not handle that well. I know it was the overjoyed sort of not handling it, but I'm still concerned for him.
You left out my favorite part of the results show: George Huff singing backup for Jennifer Hudson.
ReplyDeleteWe've had "shocking" results shows before, where someone unexpected winds up in the Bottom Three or even gets voted off (cf., Chris Daughtry). What was great about this show was the absolutely pure emotion -- Steven surprised and touched by the birthday song, Durbin thrilled to meet Hogan (and keep his tattered, presumably smell tank top), and Casey completely unexpecting the save. Idol has become such a formulaic, predictable show that everyone almost aways knows how things are going to turn out, even when there's a supposed twist. So this was a welcome change.
Fred - I had the same reaction - this results show just felt genuine in a way that AI never ever does.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I forgot to mention something. Most years there's someone who gets a lot of early adulation from the judges and lets it go to his or her head in a way that totally turns America off. I have been worried that it would be James this year - he shows some tendency towards it (in a very innocent way), and I suspect that his Asperger's keeps him from being sufficiently self-aware to be able to avoid it. But it looks like it's Casey who was almost the first victim. Early on he had that "geek with the big voice" thing going on, but the last week or two, he's had a "Hey JLo, tell me again that I'm sexy" attitude. America never likes that sort of thing - you need to stay humble.
ReplyDelete(An exception here is Taylor Hicks, but he actually did a great job of embracing his popularity without acting like he deserved it.)
(I meant to write all this as a post at some point. Oops.)
I believe we refer to that as Chris Sligh Syndrome. Good call.
ReplyDeleteYes, Sligh is a perfect example. I didn't have time this morning to run through everyone in my head to come up with the right one. You make an excellent research assistant.
ReplyDeleteI think the examples are more in the opposite direction -- mediocre singers like Kevin Covais, Anthony Fedorov and Jon Peter Lewis who stayed in far longer than they should have in part by staying humble and self-effacing.
ReplyDeleteWhere you know you have it because David Hasselhoff cries?
ReplyDeleteI finally watched the results show, and yes, it was much, much, much more enjoyable and warm than it normally is.
ReplyDelete