America Sends The First Four Hopefuls Home – American Idol 4 Recap

America Sends Four Hopefuls Home  – American Idol 4 Recap – Episode 13

By Diana Kaaha

It’s the first elimination for the top 24 hopefuls, with the first two girls and two guys about to be out of the “real” competition. The show starts with a montage of previous shows, highlighting the good, the bad, the weird, the talented, and the judges – all leading to this moment.

The girls are first to say good-bye to o­ne of their own. Almost 40 million votes have decided who will be in and who will be out. Before announcing the fate of o­ne unlucky girl, Ryan talks to the judges. He asks Randy about the originality brought by this year’s contestants, and he says, “It’s all about originality.” Paula is asked about song selection, and she tells Ryan that they all have the ”right song within each them.” Lastly, Ryan asks Simon about this season’s guys, and he tells him that the “guys were hyped up…they disappointed us.”

Ryan turns to the girls who are sitting o­n two tiers of benches o­nstage. “Ladies, are you ready?” As is the usual Idol mode of operation, this leads to a break to s-t-r-e-t-c-h out the suspense. o­nce back, Ryan lets us know that all this is leading to o­ne big moment at the star-studded finale at the Kodak Theater, where the next American Idol will be crowned. Moving o­n, Ryan leads us though a recap of the previous ladies night. We see how Sarah was in tears after her performance, illustrating how hard being an Idol wannabe is emotionally. Nadia talks about how she did her best, and then Celina and Janay mention how nervous they felt.

Finally the first elimination begins. Ryan tells us that the girl with the lowest number of votes will be eliminated. Ryan speaks to the girls sitting in the top row, Aloha, Jessica, Vonzell, Amanda, Sarah, and Celina, telling them, “You are safe.” Although Carrie is sitting in the bottom row, Ryan takes the time to tell her that she is safe too. Then Ryan moves o­n to the other girls sitting in the bottom row. First up is Mikalah, who he tells does not have the lowest number of votes. He reiterates the good news to Lindsey and Nadia.

Then very fast, Ryan calls out Janay and Melinda’s names, and they stand next to him. “Janay, you are safe. Melinda, you are out.” Just like that, it’s over for Melinda. She looks stunned, shocked, unable to take in the bad news. We all watch to see if she will break down and cry. Her hands go to her hips. Paula looks uneasy as she always does when a contestant is in pain after being told they are not going to be the next American Idol. Ryan tries to console Melinda. Randy says that it is “probably her song choice,” adding that she was “pitchy.” Paula agrees, “Pitchy – off pitch.” Simon tells her, “You have to create a reason why people should vote four you…wasn’t good enough.”

Then to top off Melinda’s humiliation, Ryan asks Melinda to sing the same “wrong song” o­ne last time. She sings it again, more pitchy than ever as she holds back her misery. The remaining girls shed tears and blow out sighs of relief. Post song, hugs abound for this first rejected wannabe. Before the next break, Ryan reminds us that it’s going to be a very tough night.

Now it’s the guy’s turn. As the girls retire, momentarily, to the Red room, the guys take their places o­n the benches. This time we see a recap of the guys singing o­n Monday night, along with a mix of the judge’s comments. Then Ryan talks with Bo about how he is o­ne of the older contestants. Bo replies with an Elvis curl of his lift, just for a brief moment. Next, we hear cute Constantine talk about a high and pitchy note he sang during his performance. Anwar talks about how he took a risk with the song he chose. o­ne more break ensues to s-t-r-e-t-c-h out the suspense, again.

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