LINKThis week, the remaining seven Idols really stepped up their game, and for the most part, handled the Great American Songbook with surprising ease. I say “for the most part” because, unfortunately, it was not a clean sweep! I thought Katharine stole the show with her astounding rendition of “Someone to Watch Over Me.” It was brilliant. Taylor, Chris, Paris, and Elliott all stepped up and hit it out of the park. Ace… well, let’s say he got to third base. Almost good enough, but not quite. That leaves Kellie, who, if we stick with the baseball analogies, struck out.
So we’ve got Kellie, Elliott, and Katharine on the left, and Chris, Paris, and Ace on the right. Taylor is standing next to Ryan. Taylor is told again to stand with the top three. He goes to Chris and shakes his hand. Ryan starts to say, “Taylor, you’re wrong…” but Taylor pulls a fast one, turns around, and goes over to the Kellie/Elliott/Katharine group. Ryan quickly corrects himself and says that Taylor has chosen the right group. Tricky. The audience suddenly realizes that Chris is in the bottom three and erupts in boos. But Ryan quickly sends Paris back to the couches and we are looking at the two “men in black,” Chris and Ace.
Ryan quickly gets Simon’s reaction, and, no surprise, he thinks Ace will be leaving. Duh! Ryan tries to build to a dramatic moment. And… it’s Ace. I am not surprised, nor, does it seem, is Ace. He says that he’s had a “blast” and is looking forward to performing with the top ten on tour. We see his farewell video, which is really sweet, actually. He manages to maintain his composure and smiles at the clips showing him with Stevie Wonder and the other guest hosts. He gets 15 seconds to sing us out, and that’s that!
Ace never quite got into the groove. I think that his numerous trips to the bottom three affected his self-confidence and made him overcompensate on his performances. Ironically, his best performance since making the top 12 was this week, which often happens. It was the right choice, though, and leaves us with a pretty amazing top six.