‘Idol’ Tracker: We hardly knew ye’s

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‘Every night and every morn
Some to misery are born,
Every morn and every night
Some are born to sweet delight.

Some are born to sweet delight,
Some are born to endless night.’
--William Blake

Before we go on, let us pause to remember those taken from us before their time.

Rarely in the history of competitive singing has the cruel, inexplicable hand of fate struck so mighty and unexpected a blow as it did last night when in one remorseless swoop, it removed both Alaina Whitaker and Alexandrea Lushington from our lives forevermore. There comes a point somewhere fairly early on in each season when it suddenly becomes clear that death walks in the Idoldome, striding boldly through the rehearsal rooms and sound stages, seeking that one straggler who falls for a moment behind the others, gets just a tiny bit lazy and doesn’t lock down the low notes, fails to think through her song clearly.

‘American Idol,’ as they say, ain’t beanbag. Eventually all but one must go. But on stage we saw last night that bitter shock as the room realized, with the beheading of Alaina, that on any night, anyone could go. Last week’s dismissals were uniformly warranted and not unexpected, their pain thus muted (to all but Ramiele). But to lose two such promising, seemingly sure contenders at once, and so early, seems almost too cruel a blow for an ‘Idol’ connoisseur to bear. (On the boys’ side, however, the wisdom of the American electorate showed itself with a flawless pair of picks for elimination -- Jason Yeager and Robbie Carrico.)

Choking back the shock and the tears for a moment, however, this week’s eliminations demonstrate a few very potent facts not to be forgotten in the early stages:

+ SING EACH NIGHT LIKE IT’S YOUR LAST: Or one night it will be. In these opening weeks, only a few contestants have developed clear voting blocks. The rest are making their first bids for the restless electorate. While the voters are still sampling candidates, a singer can’t count on any base of support and must consider each night as a fresh pitch; you have no reservoir of good will to draw on. All four of this week’s departing contestants were dispatched after ‘off’ nights. In contrast, iffy candidates such as Kristy Lee Cook, David Hernandez and Luke Menard pulled themselves back from the brink this week.

+ THE JUDGES ARE GOD: How does the electorate know what was a good performance and what wasn’t? The judges tell them so. We know the above off nights were in fact off because they were so deemed by the tribunal. In later stages, after the Top 10 or so, the judges’ influence wanes. In the final weeks of the Season 5 competition, Taylor Hicks shrugged off night after night of scathing contempt from Simon with no discernible impact on his ascent. But at this point, America clearly looks to the judges for cues.

+ DEFINE YOUR DEMO: What works well at this stage may work against you in the final weeks, but at this point, tying your fate to some group of voters -- rockers, hippies, alternatives -- is all what may save you from falling through the cracks. Unfortunately, as the contest enters its final phase, if you make it that far, what the audience wants then is not a rocker or a quirky alterna-dude, but a Celine Dion or a Faith Hill -- the very type most likely to get lost in the shuffle early on.

Finally, it’s hard to avoid the impression that something unsettling is going on in the girls group. The level of nervousness on these elimination nights, bordering near collapse, is beyond anything I’ve seen in previous years, so far as I can remember. My colleague, Ann Powers, has speculated that the nervousness emanating from Carly may be infecting the group. Perhaps the other girls are looking to the hyper-talented expected front-runner, who is thus far struggling and often looking fairly dour, as a leader, and sensing her discomfort, they are all flailing for balance. Whatever is going on, as one who wishes for reasons explained last night to have a strong female candidate to field against The Chosen One, I urge the ladies to please remember the burden of history resting on their shoulders and to pull it together fast. Let not the great Alaina Whitaker and Alexandrea Lushington have fallen in vain.

--Richard Rushfield