Idol Chatter & Voice Views

I was not a fan of Michael Sarver’s performance of “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” on Wednesday night.

But I am a fan of Michael Sarver.

I mean, the guy seems so genuinely likeable.

Like when he comforted Lil Rounds Thursday night, telling her to sit down, knowing he was the more likely candidate to be headed for a spot in the bottom three.

Like when he joked about having to follow Stevie Wonder before singing “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” a second time, this time with a judges’ save on the line.

The save didn’t come, and so Idol bids farewell to Michael … at least until the start of the Idol Summer Tour. As a member of the top 10, Michael gets to be a part of that tour.

Check back tomorrow evening for a farewell interview with Michael.

In the meantime, here’s the recap of Thursday’s results show …

Stock rising: Adam Lambert, of course, who was brilliant again Wednesday, leaving one with the impression that he’s going to need to stumble very badly not to win this thing. Allison Iraheta finally got some recognition and sure shows no signs of cracking under the pressure at the tender age of 16. Kris Allen might just be in this competiton for the long haul. He’s been consistently above average and turned in his best performance yet this week.

Stock sinking: Matt Giraud was this week’s surprise member of the bottom three. You can attribute part of that to the fact that he performed first Wednesday night. That’s a tough spot to be in on a two-hour show. But, in hindsight, I don’t think his performance was as strong as the judges thought, given what followed. At one point, I would have bet that Lil Rounds would be one of the last three contestants standing. After watching her pick the wrong song week after week and flub “Heat Wave” badly, I’m not so sure anymore.

Deserved his fate: Michael’s performance was one of the weakest Wednesday night. In fact, I had it graded as the weakest of the night, so his departure wasn’t a shock. Nor was the fact that the judges didn’t save him. Remember, last week, Michael and Alexis Grace were in the bottom two. Simon indicated the judges were considering a save for Alexis, not Michael.

Very, very lucky: That would be Megan Joy, who somehow avoided the bottom three in spite of a pretty bad performance Wednesday night. She needs to turn it around very quickly, or we could be down to two gals in a competition already overloaded with guys in the not-too-distant future.

On the bubble: Scott MacIntyre wound up in the bottom three Thursday night, and deservedly so. Three mediocre vocals in a row will tend to produce that outcome. If he performs early in next week’s show and doesn’t improve dramatically, he could be the next of the male crooners to hit the road.

Coming tomorrow: The interview with Michael Sarver.

Coming early next week: New rankings for the final nine.