Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Talk about two shows with totally different tones.

A week ago, you could tell the judges weren’t exactly saddened by the departure of free-spirited Megan Joy. Simon was perfectly blunt when asked about a judges’ save for Megan. He didn’t care.

Then came tonight, when Scott MacIntyre’s fate was on the line. Two judges wanted to save him; Kara and Paula would be my guess. Two didn’t.

In the end, Simon made the decision. Scott’s time on Idol is over.

But that didn’t keep Paula from saying a heartfelt goodbye on behalf of the judges and congratulating Scott for being a true gentleman during the course of the show.

The goodbye gesture was deserved. No doubt Scott is a genuine good guy, an inspiration. His accomplishments astounding even if it weren’t for his vision impairment. Just check the list of accomplishments when his MySpace page returns. I guarantee, you’ll be impressed.

But Simon also made the right call Wednesday night. Scott’s vocals simply haven’t been Idol worthy, not when you have the likes of Allison Iraheta, Danny Gokey, Kris Allen and, of course, Adam Lambert still in the competition.

One of them might need that judges’ save in the next couple of weeks. And they’d be far more deserving based on their performances so far in the competition.

Now, on to tonight’s recap …

Deserved his fate: Scott said playing electric guitar was “my punk side coming out.” He should have stayed behind the piano. I’m sure Simon would tell him: “That’s what Paula’s advice will do for you.” But the real piece of bad advice came from whoever told him singing Survivor’s “The Search Is Over.” I graded the performance as a resounding “F.”

Very, very lucky: Matt Giraud, not because he deserved a worse fate Wednesday night, but because he survived a third straight trip to the bottom three at a stage in the competition where it appeared his stock was sinking quickly. I wasn’t thrilled with his rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “Part-Time Lover,” but it got solid reviews from the judges. And voters apparently liked it, too.

Stock rising: Allison Iraheta, hopefully. Simon told her she needs to be more fun and likeable. So I guess the message is that turning in one of the best vocals week and week and showing stage presence few 16-year-olds could muster isn’t going to be enough in this competition. Here’s my advice: Just don’t go so bizarre with an outfit again that the judges wind up talking about it rather than your performance. That was the problem last week.

Stock sinking: Anoop Desai has been wildly inconsistent, which is likely what landed him in the bottom three this week despite a decent performance of a Cyndi Lauper song. But the stock is sinking fatest for Lil Rounds, who was pretty much dubbed the female frontrunner by the judges way back in Hollywood Week. The judges pretty much served her notice this week: Improve quickly, or your time on the show is going to be shorter than expected. Wonder if they would have considered her for a save?

Underappreciated: I’d still put Allison Iraheta here. I certainly didn’t appreciate the magnitude of her talent when the show began, and I still don’t think the voters do. When I re-rank the Idols later this week, I’ll probably bump her into the top three. She has been that good.

On the bubble: Lil Rounds. See above. I didn’t think the semifinal performance that earned her this chance was that great. And she’s gone in the wrong direction since then. Hopefully, her confidence wasn’t shattered by Tuesday’s round of criticism, because it was quite harsh. She needs to bounce back strong in week six.

Speaking of which, anyone know what the theme is going to be?

Coming tomorrow: The exit interview with Scott MacIntyre.