Likened to season one winner Kelly Clarkson and called a darkhorse to win after her first semifinal performance, Alexis Grace’s “American Idol” quest ended Wednesday. Eliminated as the eleventh place contestant, her departure narrowed the field to a top ten–this year’s “Idol” tour group.
Grace’s rendition of “Jolene” earned a negative reaction from the judges, who criticized her pitch issues and lack of the sultry edge-“the dirty”-she displayed in prior performances. The judges did suggest they were considering using their “save” to keep Grace in the competition, but her repeat performance Wednesday night was, according to Simon Cowell, “not good enough,” and her road reached its end.
Michael Sarver and Allison Iraheta joined Grace in the bottom three.
The top ten–Sarver, Iraheta, Danny Gokey, Kris Allen, Megan Joy Corkrey, Scott MacIntyre, Lil Rounds, Adam Lambert, Anoop Desai and Matt Giraud–return to the stage next week.
