Whole lotta shockin' goin' on: Melinda Doolittle taken out
05/16/07 10:58 PM
By ED BARK
America got another election wrong. Melinda Doolittle's done.
America Idol's most surprising vote-off leaves next week's finale in the hands of younger, prettier, but vocally inferior Blake Lewis and Jordin Sparks.
Judge Simon Cowell looked a bit stricken Wednesday night. He wanted Melinda in the final and said so on Tuesday night. Now all he could do was congratulate her conquerers before adding, "My commiserations, Melinda. 'Cause you are one helluva singer."
The last two standing technically are more Idol-ish in dress, attitude and age. But Melinda's innate likeability seemed to be off the charts, so I definitely didn't see this one coming. She was my pick to win it all from the night they named the 12 finalists. Sour grapes or not, my rooting interest has gone cold. Don't care who wins. Do care whether Melinda has a flourishing Idol afterlife.
Maybe she could see her future before her in Elliott Yamin, last year's third-place finisher. There he was Wednesday night, his teeth newly capped, performing "Wait For You" from his new, solidly selling CD.
"I promise you, this is only the beginning of great things to come," a grateful and gracious Yamin told the three remaining contestants before Melinda got the stunning news.
That's not just rhetoric. Several Idol losers, most notably Jennifer Hudson, Chris Daughtry and Clay Aiken, have gone on to be somebodies. Melinda should, too.
Meanwhile, Idol at last might be losing some of its grip. Tuesday night's penultimate performance show dominated its time slot with 24.2 million viewers nationally. But the show's numbers have been slipping rather than building lately. And last year's second-to-last show had 28.3 million viewers.
Some think it's the overall lackluster field, dimmed further by last month's ouster of colorful national joke Sanjaya Malakar. Others may simply be tiring of the overall dog-tired comments of judges Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul. It puts further pressure on Cowell to come up with something contentious, contrary or just plain mean.
Last night he asked host Ryan Seacrest whether he was drunk. And he could barely stomach Abdul's pithy "We love you, we love you, we love you."
"That's why we hired you for this show, Paula," he said.
I'd fire her. Then again, I've been saying that for several years and Fox just won't listen. The network had a golden opportunity during her contestant sex scandal, but worried about rocking the boat when the ratings were still building year to year.
Now the audience numbers have started to taper off just a bit. So maybe next year is the time to shake Idol up a bit.
Meanwhile, I'm honestly more interested in who takes home that dumb-looking Dancing with the Stars trophy next week. Part of the reason is that my pick to win, Laila Ali, is among the show's three final competitors. But even if she weren't, I'd still be interested in the outcome of a dance-off between Apolo Anton Ohno and Joey Fatone.
They really should throw in a polka next season, though. And Idol voters shouldn't have thrown off Melinda Doolittle. Are there any hanging chads at issue? Sorry, didn't think so.
|