Two weeks ago, it looked like it might be time to dispose of American Idol’s “cute boy Idol” tag.
Heejun Han, Deandre Brackensick and Colton Dixon had been booted by voters. For the first time since Season 3, Idol had four girls and just two guys in its final six.
Flash forward two weeks, and it looks like the same ol’ Idol.
Last week, voters booted one of the show’s best singers in Elise Testone.
Thursday night, voters booted perhaps the show’s best performer in Skylar Laine.
Now it’s down to two guys and two gals.
And the two guys were among this week’s top three vote-getters.
Which would be less disturbing if Phillip Phillips hadn’t clearly been the worst performer on the stage Wednesday night.
But he’s a cute guy and he plays guitar.
And, on Idol, that seems to be the secret to success.
Meanwhile, Skylar fans shouldn’t fret too much.
The 18-year-old from Mississippi left the show with the same take-no-prisoners attitude she displayed on most performance nights.
That was a blistering farewell performance of “Gunpowder and Lead,” the song made famous by one of her own idols, Miranda Lambert.
If anything, Skylar performed it better this time than earlier in the season. Almost as though she wanted to show the fans they’d made a mistake by voting her off.
Then there’s this: If Idol does one thing well, it’s transforming popularity on the show into at least fleeting success for young country singers in Nashville.
They’ve done it with Josh Gracin, Bucky Covington, Kellie Pickler and, of course, Carrie Underwood. They’ve even done it with some singers that were only a little bit country, like Casey James, and some who weren’t country at all, like Danny Gokey.
They won’t have to pretend with Skylar.
She’s country through and through.
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