May 6, 2004 - Minus Motown

However, unlike his competitors LaToya London and Fantasia Barrino, he didn't morph quite so easily into different genres of music. He seemed to have trouble the week they did country music. He didn't feel as comfortable with the Elton John. And he certainly didn't do his best this week with the Big Band music.

Ultimately, I think that's what cost him the competition. Early on, I could have seen him getting a little further, maybe even in the top three. But Diana DeGarmo and Jasmine Trias have been at top form the last couple of weeks. Both of them have been putting on some outstanding performances.

And there's no doubt about it: George was not going to beat LaToya and Fantasia. Or even Diana.

But he should be proud to have made it this far. After all, George only got into the final 32 when one of the people who had been selected had a drunk driving arrest and had to forfeit his place.

George made plenty of fans during his weeks on the stage, and I truly believe his career in music is only beginning. First of all, there's the American Idol tour, starting in July and running into the fall, hitting major cities with the finalists.

Certainly, some record producer out there will see the value of putting George on their label.

Fantasia cried as much for George this week as Diana cried for John Stevens last week. While no rumors have leaked out of any romances, the finalists have likely made friendships with their fellow competitors. Therefore, it must be hard to watch one of them leave.

The other bottom scorer was Jasmine Trias, which did not surprise me, considering that hers was one of the weakest performances of the night. Not only that, but the judges had come out publicly and declared the top three to be LaToya, Fantasia and Diana.

So Diana and Jasmine now are in a head-to-head match to see who can be one of the final three. But I severely doubt, absent a voting upset or a severe misstep by the two top divas, that either Diana or Jasmine will be in the top two.

Next week, they've announced they're doing music by Donna Summer. We may therefore see a subtle shift next week.

We know LaToya can do it. What's more, she's proven her dancing ability during the Gloria Estefan week, as well as this week with her jazzy Big Band numbers. She's got class; she's got style. She'll pull it off.

Fantasia, likewise, is very comfortable running with a fun song, dancing along. Her movement is very natural. I'm sure she'll do well.

Both Diana and Jasmine face similar problems: being stiff on stage, not being as comfortable with some of the musical genres. While Diana is a consummate performer and is not likely to project a lack of confidence, she is however the White Bread Queen, not the Dancing Queen, and there's a fairly good chance she'll stumble next week.

Jasmine could go either way. Her strength comes from sweet songs and ballads. So really, this will depend on her song choice.

My fears were groundless of a voting flood after host Ryan Seacrest announced viewers could vote as often as they wanted for their favorites. The Gryphon assures me that he checked on the AI web site and there are controls in force which prevent vote flooding.

Even so, I believe Jasmine benefited from the support of Hawaiians voting for their girl. Let's see if such loyalty will carry her through another week or whether, in fact, Donna Summer will be her undoing.

Other Musings by Alyce on American Idol:

American Idol Index

Moral:
We haven't seen the last of my man Smiling George Huff.