American Idol: Getting Syesha Out of the Way

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
To nobody’s surprise, the final two are David & David, the least predictable final two since, oh, Clay and Ruben? To be fair, most Idol finales are predictable — did you expect Carrie Underwood not to make the final two? — but the producers’ manipulations this season have been glaringly apparent from the get-go, culminating in the delivery of Syesha’s execution papers in the form of that song from Happy Feet. It’s an end that’s strangely appropriate to this election year, a year that began with many Democrats claiming they’d be happy if either Hilary or Barack won. For me, that’s also true of American Idol this year: I’m going to be equally unhappy with either winner.

Finally, no matter if we’re a supporter of David A or David C, I think we can all agree on one thing: there is not a chance in hell that either David will return in four years and deliver a performance as bracingly weird as Fantasia’s “Bore Me (Yawn),” a hip-hop stomp that left Simon visibly bewildered. You would think that Simon, who has recently been complaining in the press that Idol has been too “safe,” would appreciate a jolt of unpredictability like this, but apparently not.

Heather Phares
Wednesday night’s show — a.k.a. Getting Syesha Out of the Way — could have been a boring afterthought. Actually, most of it was, including the saccharine visits the Final Three took to their hometowns, but another homecoming made at least one part of the show worth watching. With her ruby red ‘do, wild dance moves, and even wilder singing, Fantasia injected this season of American Idol with some literal, and much-needed, color. Yes, her performance of “Bore Me” was over the top, but after weeks of actual boredom, her willingness to go way, waaaay out there was more than a little refreshing — if only for the stunned reaction her performance drew from Simon (which just gets funnier the more you see it). Simon has complained that the show has been “too safe” this season; too bad it took 2004’s American Idol to shake things up.

Andrew Leahey
Leave it to Fantasia to inject a bit of unexpected energy into a predictable episode, even if I’d rather watch an entire recital by Sanjaya Malakar than sit through that performance again. Simon’s reaction was priceless, though, as were the absolutely terrified faces that populated the “mosh pit.” Those audience members usually climb all over each like puppies, screaming and clamoring and reaching out to touch the cuff of David Archuleta’s jeans, but Fantasia parted the sea like Moses in drag. She stepped down from the stage, the mosh pitters scattered, and *boom*, Fantasia is suddenly the latest thing in crowd control. Somebody hire her to run security for the Pope’s next visit.