After multiple trips to the bottom three and a center-stage involvement for the two most “shocking” results announcements of the season, an underdog “American Idol” contestant was finally asked to wave goodbye to the show.
Despite two weeks of positive reviews from the judges, one of which also earned acclaim from the stricter Internet “Idol” community, this contestant simply could not muster the fanbase to survive. And with only six slots available for next week, his dream was cut short.
That contestant, Stefano Langone, leaves after performing “Closer” on this week’s show. Though the judges praised the performance (technically, the praise eclipsed that of every contestant but James Durbin), the fan reaction was far more lukewarm, and for a contestant who already has demonstrated a difficult collecting fan support, that meant the end of the road. Headline Planet had ranked Stefano at the bottom of Wednesday’s performances; despite one performance of the night so far in the finals, he also had the lowest cumulative rankings average.
Jacob Lusk joined Stefano in the bottom two, while Haley Reinhart landed in the bottom three. One or two surprise eliminations are still likely, but based on a history of visits to the bottom three, it certainly seems that Haley and Jacob are in serious danger of not advancing to the Top 4.
Lusk, Reinhart, Durbin, Scotty McCreery, Casey Abrams and Lauren Alaina hit the stage next week to continue the competition.