Carly Smithson is gone. Michael Johns was booted weeks ago. David Archuleta is a top-two lock. Asia'h Epperson and Danny Noriega didn't even get well-deserved slots in the final dozen.
American Idol has — as it does around this point almost every season — become a little boring.
To be fair, none of this season's contestants have been true howlers. But many of the best have made premature exits. Maybe Aussie Michael Johns' rock-soul riffs were too hard to neatly package. Noriega's androgynous sexuality too controversial for Middle America. Too bad.
Smithson had, without a doubt, the strongest voice of any contestant this season and one of the best in Idol history. She sounded — and acted — like a real singer. She sometimes looked nervous, seemed awkward and got her feelings hurt (and not in that pouty White way).
But when Smithson connected with the right song, it was magic — and light years ahead of anything else we've heard this season.
The final battle is shaping up to be a double-David whammy, unless this week's wide-open Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame theme throws a wrench into things. Archuleta is terrifically cute and safe for 'tween consumption. But it also makes him — here comes that word — boring.
