On Thursday’s American Idol results show, a new, controversial, game-changing twist was added. Near the end of the show, Ryan Seacrest told the Final 5 contestants that they would have a choice. They could either vote to keep the results the same and eliminate someone, or they could vote not to eliminate anyone and, instead, have a double elimination next week.
Idol Results Show Recap: Final 4 Revealed>>
Surprisingly, two of the singers voted to keep the elimination the same and, as a result, Sam Woolf was eliminated in fifth place. But who were the two votes that prevented a non-elimination? And what did the contestants think of the twist?
In post-show interviews, it was quickly revealed that Alex Preston and Jena Irene were the two contestants who voted to keep things the same and eliminate someone. Meanwhile, Caleb Johnson, Jessica Meuse and Sam Woolf all voted to keep everyone safe.
More importantly, the contestants seem to be unanimous in their contempt for this twist and wasted no time going to Twitter to express their disdain for what happened.
Here are a few of the relevant, post-show tweets from the contestants:
Alex Preston: “That twist was not cool. Didn’t make sense at all. Should have just kept it the same. Whatever. Sam HAS a career, he’s about to explode.”
Alex Preston: “Everyone voted tonight, knowing that they themselves could go home. No one knew. It is Americas vote, has been for 13 years. It’s shitty.
Jena Irene: “So unnecessary and stupid.”
Jessica Meuse: “So was that twist reminiscent of the @TheHungerGames or what? #ew #hateit #mean”
Clearly none of them enjoyed being put in such an awkward position. And even though Alex and Jena’s votes resulted in Sam’s elimination, he has no hard feelings and doesn’t want anyone else to blame them.
Sam Woolf: “Stop hating on Alex and Jena. No one knew what the results were before the decisions were made. Anybody could of went home.”
I’m a bit surprised Alex and Jena were the two “No” votes, but I’m thankful that they were. I agree that the twist was awful and, if they all agreed, it would mean that 40 percent of the contestants would go home next Thursday.
It was a stupid and unfortunate position the producers put them in, but at least two of them had the courage to stand up against it. I’m especially excited to see that they refused to stay silent on the matter and voiced their frustration with the twist on Twitter.
The producers of American Idol need to learn that performing live on stage every week is hard enough on these singers without adding even more pressure. Hopefully they will see the backlash against this “game-changing” twist and never, ever do it again.
(Image courtesy of FOX)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
