“American Idol” Has To Pray Just To Make It To The End Of Its Hour

Last night’s elimination episode of American Idol scuttled its chances for drama once again, with the final “who’s in the top 12” showdown being between the heavy favorite (this time, Adam Lambert, above) and the week’s comic relief (Nick “Normund Gentle” Mitchell) for the second straight week. Given that there was an actual surprise during the proceedings—babyfaced worship leader Kris Allen, who performed a shaky rendition of “Man In The Mirror” on Wednesday, made it to the finals despite stronger performances by at least two young ladies who didn’t make the cut—you’d think the producers would try and sequence the show so that people would be inspired to tune in all the way through. Perhaps they haven’t looked at the ratings from Wednesday yet?

Also making it through was Allison Iraheta, the Hot Topic-shopping 16-year-old who rode a competent, yet hollow, version of Heart’s “Alone” into the finals. Which, whatever, she’s only 16, we’ll be hearing that all season. The top 12 is looking pretty white-bread so far, no? Not to mention that you have the self-proclaimed “blue-eyed soul patrol” making it through en masse last week, and this week you’ve got a dude whose fans call him “White Chocolate.” (Look at the tags on the entry linked above.) Perhaps that’s why the producers had the group sing be Ne-Yo’s “Closer”:

How psyched does Matt Giraud look? Good thing the producers put this at the part of the show that comes before crushing everyone’s dreams.

American Idol [Official site] [“Closer” video via MJ] [Pic via Top Idol]