From now on, assume that all elimination episodes open with a recap of the previous night's performances. That way, I won't have to say so (and I am not about to recap a recap).
Ryan is wearing a charcoal suit, with a white shirt and pocket square, with a navy polka dot tie. JLo is in a gold, spangly, very short, very tight, leopard print dress and a matching jacket with black lapels. Her hair is straight and center-parted. Keith is wearing a tee shirt and a leather jacket. HCJ is in pinstripes.
Tonight HCJ will introduce a band that I think is called Royalty. Also? JLo will "sing".
From the vanterview last night, Jena was still euphoric over her performance, and the judges' remarks. Sam wondered if he is really timid. Caleb loved the way Keith and HCJ imitated each other. Malaya loved her flowers. They had sliders for supper.
Ryan gets right to it (well, right to it after 10 minutes of filler). He calls down:
Malaya, in a short-sleeved pastel splotchily-dyed shirt and jeans
Dexter, in a black and white plaid shirt over a black tank top
Jessica, in a sleeveless black and white tunic with a huge tiger face on the front. Her hair is braided over one shoulder
Jessica is safe. Dexter is not.
JLo talks about the first time she heard herself on the radio, which was in a cab in New York, and the song was If You Had My Love.
JLo is going to sing her new single, I Luh You Papi, (that's the correct spelling) which I hate on the basis of the title alone. A whole bunch of girls are on stage, sitting on a stoop (and a couple are jumping rope). All of them are dressed in shorts and jackets with furry collars. JLo's shortie-short set is sparkly denim over sparkly nude hose. Her hair is wound smoothly and tightly into a high topknot. She and two backup dancers move to the center of the stage and sing this "song", which is mostly a repetition of the title, over and over and over and over, accompanied by assorted squats and kicks and swiveled hips. Also, inexplicably, slapping themselves upside their own heads. Repeatedly. Man, this song is stupid, and it gets even stupider when some guy dressed in black, walks his twenty or so gold chains out, and begins to rap. The upside of this? Alison Iraheta, a favorite from 5 or 6 seasons ago, is now a backup singer. It's nice to see her.
Keith first heard himself on the radio on Tamworth, the country/western capital of Australia.
Ryan calls down:
Alex, in a blue velvet jacket with pushed up sleeves
Majesty, wearing a short set sewn from Grandma Rose's guest bedroom curtains
Caleb, in a faded denim jacket, apologizing for a tasteless joke he made last night about Alex's peanut allergy
Alex is safe. Majesty, once again, is not.
HCJ first heard himself on the radio after he and his junior high buddies formed a band called Octane. They recorded a demo and entered it in a contest, and their entry was not well received. By anyone.
Ah, the band HCJ loves is called Royal Teeth. And they're from Louisiana. Imagine that. On stage, a half dozen kids begin to play. The male lead singer is very skinny, and he looks to be about 16 years old. It was nice of Royal Teeth to go over The Wall and find Ygritte to sing the female lead for them. Huh. Given how picky HCJ is about music, I sort of expect any band he recommends to be more... well... musical. But this song seems to consist mostly of a chorus of *oh oh oh* and random hooting. But for singers, they can really jump to the beat.
The last four kids are called down:
MK, wearing a backwards hat (sigh), and a really cute white shirt with wide flowered horizontal stripes (I would totally wear that shirt, which would totally horrify MK)
Sam, in a brown blotchy windbreaker
Jena, in a denim shirt with a frayed and raggy hem, and a sloppy knit top with keyhole shoulders
CJ, in a brown on brown plaid shirt and tan slacks.
CJ is safe. Jena is safe. Sam is safe.
MK knew this was coming, and though I've liked her a lot, she seems totally over her head in this competition. She sings for The Save, and she sings well. To their credit, the judges seem to be truly considering using their power. But in the end, JLo is weeping too much and it falls to HCJ to tell MK that she's going home. MK takes it well.
I think MK has a lot of talent and I hope she seasons for a couple of years and finds her way into a career that will make her happy.
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