Top 16 Results Show (3/9/06)

This week there were 46 million votes cast. Ryan shows us 12 empty seats waiting to be filled with Finalists. Who, starting next week, will have a bigger stage, bigger studio audience, bigger band... and a stylist!

First this week's recap. Some contestants stuck to "what they know best": Bucky did country, Chris did rock, Mandisa belted, & Taylor was "all soul." Others tried something different (Paris & Elliott). And Will split the panel. For the other young contestants age played a major part (Lisa, Gedeon), though not all were positive (Ayla, Kevin). Katharine "attempted" Aretha; Ace "tried his hand at Michael Jackson"; Kellie "broke her country ties & rocked out." Melissa "tried to rock," and Simon made a prediction (that she'd go). Kinnik was last & I missed what they said, but probably mentioned that Simon also predicted she would go.

Bo Bice is here! Ryan chats with him a bit, about his career, & about his infant son (already a Skynard fan!). Ryan asks Bo what he's going to sing, and I found Bo's wording interesting: "The single." Not, "the first single," or even "the current single," just "the single." Hopefully I'm just reading too much into it, though it certainly didn't get much airplay here & has already dropped off our Top 40 station's playlist. Anyway, Bo sings "The Real Thing." He starts out fine though he's changing up the chorus melody & singing much of it lower, which is fine, but then I start to wonder because he goes for some other high notes and, really, is not hitting them, which is unusual for him. Maybe he just has a cold or something. It is fun to watch him, & he seems to make eye contact with several different people in the audience, waving & laughing quite a bit at one point.

Moving on to the eliminations... The girls are up first, and we're looking for the contestant with the lowest number of votes. Lisa - safe (yay!). Melissa - safe. Ayla - safe. Kinnik - has the lowest number of votes. She takes it very well, has a great attitude & is grateful for the experience, saying she feels she's "full-fledge a winner." She sings.

Next the guys. Ryan chats with a couple of them a bit - asks Ace what they all said to each other before coming out. He says that out of 42,000 who auditioned, they made it this far & should be proud of that. Asks Kevin if he's nervous, which of course he is. And mentions Gedeon's smile. He starts with the back row, beginning with Kevin - safe (sigh). Gedeon - safe. That leaves Bucky and Elliott, and I'm worried (my ideal boots would have been Kevin and Gedeon, so I know I'm losing someone I like & consider better than them...). Bucky - safe! (whew) Elliott - also safe! Below him on the end of the first row is Will - who has the lowest number of votes.

I'm really surprised, because I thought he had a number of (voting) fans & would have also picked up some of David's fans' votes. Oh well. He doesn't look shocked and manages to smile as he stands up with Ryan, who asks him if he's ok, and he says, "yeah, I'm fine." He's very mature & classy about it, great experience for anyone "getting to sing for these 3" (the judges). Ryan says, encouragingly, "you're still young," & Will says yeah, he's just 17 (I guess his birthday was last week?). He says he's learned so much (from fellow contestants) and feels he's improved already between his initial audition and now. Ryan asks the judges to give him some advice/feedback, and they're all very positive & supportive, even Simon, saying he has a good attitude & determination & should succeed in whatever he does, & several of them compliment his maturity. He gets to sing out and is great, dancing a little more at the beginning and truly looks like he's enjoying himself, not just 'making it through.' There's a great shot of the Goofy Girls, roommates Kellie & Katharine, doing some choreography in the balcony (arms out for "Stop," etc.). As he finishes Ryan invites the other guys to come up & "show him some love." Elliott comes up behind & pats his shoulders, while Ace gives him a big long hug; Bucky is also right there looking all sympathetic and big-brotherly. Seems like he'll really be missed (not just by me, lol). Aaaand that's all of the details I can think of, so I guess I have to say good-bye and move on.... *sniff*

Ok, back to the girls! Paris is the first named to the Top 12 and does a Happy Dance across the stage. Katharine is also through. As is Kellie... of course when each one gets over there they all have a big hugfest, but Kat & Kellie are especially excited the other is through. Mandisa is safe and Ryan says that Simon will get his wish of seeing her on a bigger stage! ;-) Lisa also makes it through - yay! (Not sure I could've taken losing both my youngsters on the same night!) So Melissa and Ayla are left standing, and after the break, and after the judges are asked who'll go, we find out that Melissa is safe (YAY!!), and Ayla is leaving (boo). She is really surprised & emotional such that she can't really talk yet, and Ryan gets all comforting & says lots of encouraging stuff that doesn't really help but is all he can do. The judges are nice & complimentary, calling her "a winner" & again acknowledging her hard work. I feel really bad for her during her sing-out; it's always killer when they pick songs about either leaving or about having promising future, to then sing those lyrics knowing you're out! She does ok once she gets into it. I will miss her, but now she can take the basketball scholarship & she'll be fine.

On to the guys. Taylor is the first male to make the Top 12. Ace is also through (yay!). As is Chris, who of course practically runs into Ace's arms for a big hug once he gets across the stage since they're best buds! Next is Kevin... and he's through. Ok, fine. Elliott - is safe! So that leaves Gedeon and Bucky. Well, knowing that a "surprise" was predicted (by Nigel on a talk show), I feel fairly confident, and am soon relieved to hear that Bucky is through and Gedeon is the one leaving. Ryan asks him if he's surprised and he admits that he is, but has a good attitude & is fine for his sing-out. There was a shot of Paris looking really upset, not sure if just over Gedeon or all 4 at this point; that's gotta be hard for them too as I'm sure most of them have gotten very close.

At the end we again get a montage set to "Bad Day" (I used to love this song, not sure if I still will, lol!) of clips of the 4 who are going home. Gedeon had much shorter hair in his earliest audition! And one clip has Will saying, "Don't mess with Texas!" Hee.

I'm really glad that we'll only have to lose one person a week from now on. On the one hand I like the extra focus on the whole Top 24 this year, but then we get more attached to people sooner which is good if they stay but hard if they don't. Well, we're again shown the funky/dorky dance clips as the Finalists are "introduced," and told that the first week's theme will be Stevie Wonder songs (which isn't so much a theme as a specific song choice catalog, but whatever). Should bode very well for Elliott, Taylor, Ace, Paris, & Mandisa, but will be interesting to see what the others do. I'm expecting it'll be a challenge for Kellie, Melissa, Chris & Bucky. ;-) Can't wait!!