Idol Chatter & Voice Views

I’ve often written that the elimination we’ll watch tonight on American Idol is the cruelest of all.

The night begins with 11 finalists still in the running to become the Season 13 Idol.

The American Idol judges watch the much-improved performances during Wednesday night’s show. (FOX Photo)

Barring the use of the judges’ save, the night will end with a field of 10 contestants.

And that’s the number of singers the show takes on its annual summer tour.

Survive tonight, and you’re tour-bound.

Get eliminated tonight, and you can kiss dreams of spending the summer traveling the country with your Idol buddies goodbye.

Of course, maybe I need to revise my thinking for Season 13.

The cruelest cut of all might already have happened. Back when 30 singers were welcomed to the semifinals and 10 were cut without singing a single note.

That was cruel.

In addition to results tonight, we’ll get to hear a medley of tunes from Harry Connick Jr. and a performance of a song called “Beautiful” by Mali Music.

Hmm, guess Idol couldn’t find a former contestant to perform this week.

Meanwhile, I’m really not sure who will wind up in the bottom three tonight.

I’m really pulling for Jena Irene, because that was a fabulous performance of “Decode” and there’s no way she should land in the bottom three again.

And I’m also pulling for Jess Meuse, who was on her way to creating an Idol moment with “The Sound of Silence” before the band flubbed up her number.

Personally, I’d like to see Dexter Roberts, M.K. Nobilette and Malaya Watson in the bottom three. M.K. and Malaya were improved last night, but not great compared to the rest of the field.

Ryan just told us tonight’s results might surprise some of us. Hmm.

Advancing

Caleb Johnson — he took a risk last night and it paid off
C.J. Harris — he turned in his best performance last night
Dexter Roberts — he advances, even though he hasn’t been special yet
Malaya Watson — she advances on an over-rated performance; she shouted the end of her song
M.K. Nobilette — she also advances on an over-rated performance. Her vocal wasn’t that great
Jess Meuse — No way she should have paid the price for the band’s flub
Alex Preston — Didn’t enjoy his performance last night nearly as much as the judges
Jena Irene — Hooray, she survives to sing another week

In the bottom three
Ben Briley — he pays the price for an off-kilter Elton John performance
Majesty Rose — she easily had the worst vocal last night
Sam Woolf — singing first and being forgettable is often an Idol curse

And the contestant in danger of elimination
Ben Briley

And Ben is delivering the best save-me performance we’ve heard this season, singing “Stars.” But I still think it’s too early for the judges to use their save. He wavered a bit in the middle of the song, but he sure ended strong.

The judges don’t use their save. And it sounded as though Keith screwed up another name.

Check back tomorrow for an exit interview with Ben.