‘American Idol’ Recap: Judges Finally Use Their Save
No one went home on American Idol last night and it wasn’t much of a surprise. But not necessarily because of the contestants: There were four singers left, and with the finale slated for May 16th, there were four weeks left in Fox’s schedule to fill – meaning Idol had built in an extra week of competition. During performance night Wednesday, Ryan Seacrest had promised some sort of shake-up shenanigans, so it wasn’t a huge logical leap to guess that no one would be going home last night.
But Idol had to build some drama into the announcement, and managed to avoid revealing any results until the tail-end of the show, thanks to a string of product placements, good deed vignettes and get-to-know-the-contestants segments. Finally, with 10 minutes on the clock, Ryan played a good old-fashioned round of contestant shuffling. He ordered Candice Glover and Amber Holcomb to one side of the stage and placed Kree Harrison and Angie Miller on the other. Then he informed the audience that one group comprised the top two and the other two were in jeopardy of going home.
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After letting that sink in, Ryan announced that Candice and Amber were the bottom two contestants, which would ordinarily mean that one of them was going home and that Kree and Angie were safe. The judges made the obligatory WTF faces at the results. Before Nicki Minaj could storm the stage (again) and before Candice could work up a full set of tears, Ryan announced that because the judges hadn’t used their save during the season, both Amber and Candice were safe. Then Angie adorably earned her merit badge for good sportsmanship by rushing across the stage to hug the two girls.
While the results show was unproductive, the night did include some highlights, including Drake leaving Candice an “audio message,” which was basically a glorified voicemail. As Candice processed Drake’s statement that he loved her rendition of his song, the stage doors opened and Drake walked out. After all, he’s not one to miss an opportunity to show up on primetime. He hugged the ladies, high-fived the audience and let Candice coo over him. Ryan also obligingly read a tweet that Angie’s hero, Jessie J, had sent out saying that she loved the performance.
The show also featured (or killed time with, depending on your perspective) performances by two former Idol contestants: Season 12 finalist Stefano Langone and Season Nine winner Lee Dewyze. Remember when Idol had non-Idol performers on the show? Yeah, that was fun. Stefano performed his single “Yes to Love,” while Lee went full-on Mumford & Sons, performing his single, “Silver Lining,” complete with banjo and washboard and a big hat tip to the Lumineers.
There was also a certain (intentionally?) funny moment of schadenfreude after an interminable Ford ad, where Ryan left the stage, only to return and announce: “I had to run next door to polish Tom Bergeron’s Emmy. He has several of them. Also Jeff Probst’s.” Apparently Ryan sees himself as the Rodney Dangerfield of reality show hosts.
Best Reason to Come Back Next Week: Someone might actually go home.
Previously: Angie Miller Wins Judges’ Praise