In what surely has to be an upset for Randy Jackson, Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez, California metal enthusiast James Durbin was eliminated during this week’s American Idol results show. All three judges had pretty much consistently heaped praise on James throughout the season. But the Top 3 is now in place, and the 22-year-old from Santa Cruz won’t be standing among them.
It was a tense evening for the surviving four contestants, as host Ryan Seacrest continuously reminded them that inevitably only three would be sent back to their respective hometowns in style next week for the show’s annual “heroes’ welcome” episode. And before the elimination process began, we got a little awwwwww time with all four by watching them video chat across the miles with their families.
But let’s get down to business. Lauren Alaina was the first one to be declared safe. Following that, the Lady Gaga performance we’d been teased with turned out to simply be the Top 4 sitting down to watch concert footage of this week’s Idol mentor performing Born This Way power ballad “You And I.” (If we’re not mistaken, it was from Gaga’s recent HBO special. Lame.) After all, Gaga can’t be two places at once — and as we’ve seen, she’s been causing a scene in Europe all week with her crazy couture.
Seacrest then announced that both girls were safe this week, which meant Haley Reinhart was able to join Lauren in the lucky golden chairs to the side of the stage while James Durbin and Scotty McCreery began to sweat.
We’ll just take this time to mention that we’ve become quite the fan of Haley over the past month or so. And it’s not because we’re playing favorites. Out of anyone in the original Top 12, she’s shown the most growth.
And so when James was ultimately the one cut, it felt like a bit of vindication. Despite the judges constant oohing and aahing over him, his last two weeks were pretty rocky for us — especially his pitchy take on Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” on Wednesday night. The only upset is that we thought for sure that the judges’ upbeat critiques would have more sway with how America voted.
Oh, well — there’s always that Idols Live tour this summer, James!
Guest performers included Enrique Iglesias, who belted out bits from his current single “Dirty Dancer” (with some video assist from Usher) and summer 2010 smash “I Like It.”
Also on the guest roster was Idol‘s Season 6 winner Jordin Sparks. She marched out with a pack of backup dancers and offered up a vocally and visually impressive performance of her new sassy pop-rock single “I Am Woman.”
Additionally, the naughty music video for Steven Tyler‘s solo single “(It) Feels So Good” had its debut during the results show. Watch where you’re banging the drums there, Steven!
Are you happy with a Lauren, Haley and Scotty Top 3? Or did you find yourself up in arms over the elimination of James? Let us know below!
You people are so wrong – you are the ones Playing favorites. James did good again this week and it was Hallie who did soooooooooooo bad on that first song. She does not stay consistant as James does. I will not go into a rage here but I will never ever watch another Idol again – It has to be fixed !!!!!!
I agree. Haley rarely has a good song and has been so inconsistant. But it is her insincere cocky attitude that drives me wild.
James is the real American Idol. Not only does he have huge talent and heart, he has overcome such odds with strength and love. He was robbed. He was never in the bottom group and was the most consistant of them all.
Make your music James, we will buy it and make you rich!!! You are the winner in our eyes.
James was consistently bad…thinking he was the next Adam Lambert….noooooooootttttt…the judges are a bunch of idiots and America got it RIGHT…..
I am sad that James is gone! Haley has a terrible attitude! I don’t think Idol needs to be represented with an attitude like that. I also think Idol needs to change their voting policy by having a limited number of votes per person.
I’m not a metal enthusiast, but any musician knows that James had more talent than all the others put together. He should have been in the top two anyway…
I agree! Ms. Haley needs a lesson in humilty. If she were my daugher ( and I am old enough to be her mother), I would spank her behind. Further, someone needs to give her some lessons in etiquette in regards to proper dress and sitting like a lady. Swinging that foot of hers looks like a wounded cow with a broken leg.
At my age, I am not much of rock and roller, but James brought back a spark and I too have taken the program off my DVR.
Big mistake. James was the ONE by far. Scotty? Really???? Ne’s a nice kid, but better than James? Not. Also Haley – Insincere and bad attitude. Did you see the way she was talking back to Randy last night. No thank You. Lauren and James it should have been. I’ve also taken it off my DVR. I don’t understand America. Obviously I am not in step with the majority. And I’m glad. America is becoming dumber and dumber.
I agree about the voting, but not about Haley having a bad attitude. Week after week, she was the only one J-Lo and Randy actually criticized; while the other contestants, whose performances were NOT flawless, had only praise heaped upon them. I’m surprised Haley put up with it for so long before finally showing visible irritation with the obvious bias.
I disagree, James did not perform well on Wednesday night; I was completely disappointed in his rendition of Journeys song where as the other contestants have shown growth and consistency.
From the beginning I thought James would take it, but his work has declined. He got too comfortable and unfortunately paid for it…..
Haley had every right to disagree with the judges, she is up there being told her music was not what she should have sang, I also disagreed with Randy and Jennifer, and had a right to her opinion!! I respect her for standing up for herself!!!!!
James, however, sounded like a cry baby when He left!! Come on, take it like a man, and thank everyone for making it as far as he did…. “I worked so hard” , like no one else did James…. Talk about humility!!!?????
You need to grow up and be grateful for what you have accomplished!
To the person who said James was consistently bad……….. Ggggrrrrrrr!!!!!!!! Repeat.. snarl crouch and hiss…. and repeat Ggggrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!
ok chgobmw…. Really??? Haley was very very inconsistent, yes she did improve throughout the show however she was very limited in what she could tackle to be the American Idol. James proved himself over and over again every week !!!! Chgobmw – A true American Idol takes constructive criticism gracefully, Haley did not do that, she had a big huge attitude which showed her to be nothing less than a child who is just not American Idol Material!!!
Umm Scotty is the best. But I agrre James should have won. Not go home.
James will be fine. Give Meatl a chance. Please. I am a die-hard country fan though. I love u Scotty!!!!!!!!
HALEY SUCKS.
WHAT THE HELL WAS ENRIQUE IGLESIAS SINGING? I DIDNT UNDERSTAND A WORD HE SAID I THINK HE RUINED THE WHOLE SHOW AND HE LOOKS LIKE A DRUGGIE!
I was a little surprised that james was sent home, but I was so happy with it. James sounded too much like another adam lambert wannabe, only adam is way better. James is good, he will do well in the music business. And I don’t blame haley for standing up for herself, she seemed to be the only one who was actually criticized. James did not do great on every single performance. I would love to see haley and lauren in the final 2, I would be so happy if either one of those 2 won. Scotty is good and will do well in country music, but I don’t think he has that big or unique enough voice, like haley. Can’t wait to watch next week!
I am so disappointed and angry that James got voted off IDOL. He clearly has the best voice and has never been in bottom three. Well, He’s in good company, because Daughtry got voted off and look how great he’s become. I know he will be great too…. He’s the only one whose CD I will buy.
you people are so wrong, Haley is the most talented idol and best voice. her first song was done with passion and it was original and everybody I know said she sounded great. Alll of you james fans are just sour grapes. He screamed his songs and he was out of tune and cried too much. the judges were all giving him great reviews when he was not that good and people knew it and voted him out. Haley is getting standing ovations on a regular basis and is a wow to the judges. It was James time to go. Time to enjoy a true artist in Haley. Hope James enjoys success but I am not sure that will happen
Would have like to see Pia up there. Scotty and James will have great futures. Was shocked to see James go. Don’t count Lauren out as she is much better than Haley. I must admit I have lost interest in Idol as James did make it interesting. The judges are to wishy washy. I do miss Simon’s honesty!
Just like Chris Daughtry was a few yrs back, James in my mind was way above all the other contestants. And you knew it right away
James was consistently bad…thinking he was the next Adam Lambert….noooooooootttttt…the judges are a bunch of idiots and America got it RIGHT….
REBA is that your name? you must be tone deaf, talent deprived and just so jealous that you will never be or have the talent that Durbin did. Consistently bad??? maybe you were thinking of another idol before the real talented contestants and judges stepped aboard. I think everyone on this site would agree that your the idiot.
James is gone. He got farther than I would have thought he would go when the season started. He had some good weeks, and some not so good weeks. Last night was just not very good, actually from the second song last week through the two songs this week he was noticeably lagging behind the other 3 contestants. When your at this spot in the show, you can’t sing a song like Don’t stop believin and make it sound Karaoke and expect to move on. You also can’t take an a R&B classic like Love potion number nine and turn it into a hard rock song. Just an odd arrangement for me. There were moments this year that I liked James, but he was consistently inconsistent. Not saying he can’t perform and that he isn’t entertaining, he is. He will land on his feet and do just fine. He just wasn’t the strongest singer in this show
@steeltom…..James is no Chris Daughtry. To put the two in the same sentence is laughable
@ Chelsea: I agree James was always over rated by the judges, and you are right he sure is no Adam Lambert. There were times where James could sound good, but there was a lot of times he sounded average, and times he just sounded totally flat. It has been clear for several weeks the Judges wanted James to get to the finale. They would never criticize him, and they over the top praised everything he did. In order to accomplish this they needed to come up with a punching bag, and that is in the form of Haley Reinhart. They realized as she was gaining steam, they needed to find a way to silence her, hence the last two weeks they sabatoged her on one song, and praised her on another. This was to send mixed signals to the voters. I saw through the ruse, and apparently so has many others.
@grey74-obv you can’t read . I said “just LIke” CD a few yrs back, JD was far above all the other contestants. I didn’t say he was “LikeCD” But TY for your well thought out reply nonetheless.
I don’t care how the other three did. James Durbin was consistantly bad from day one. He was always off-key and his high note is too sharp. He never did anything original to the song arrangements, never changed up his high note and didn’t listen to advice. He was very self involved, everything was about him. His sacrifices, him leaving everything on the stage, him supposily having done things on AI that have never been done before. He won’t be remembered for any great performances a year from now. All I’ll remember about James is his sympathetic back story, him whining about the teenagers during Hollywood week, him bragging about his group (and they didn’t succeed), him bragging that he could do higher notes than Adam Lambert, him being more interested in his on stage antics then imroving his vocals, him sucking up the judges when he asked Steven Tyler if he could sing Dream On, him sucking up to Randy Johnson and the viewers when he sang Don’t Stop Believing (and he didn’t even do it well), him picking a lame song like Love Potion No. 9, him not doing enough Heavey Metal songs, his Diva moves like falling to his knees during the result show, and him using his family and disorders as excuses for bad performances. Without his backstory and with creditable judges would James had made it to the Top 10 – I doubt it. Afterall he auditioned in Season 8 and got no where.
im very upset that james was voted off!! haley has attitude problem and alittle snotty..scotty bores me to death…i do like lauren but i really thought it would be james and pia in finale..i wont be voting again and i do think the voting needs to be changed..some shows allow a certain amount per phone line..i do know of several people who will not watch it the remainder of the season because the really good ones keep getting voted off..i thought last years idol was HORRIBLE so this year was a pleasant surprise to me..i do hope lauren wins at this point, she was one of my favs from the beginning but i was so partial to james..
Year after year, Idol disappoints! Bye Bye Idol! You suck!
Are you kidding me??? He nor the judges ever brought up his autism in the competition. He mentioned it in his very first interview because it is who he is!!!!!
Please James is the BEST and he deserved to be on AMERICAN IDOL WINNER!!
JAMES I LOVE YOU AND YOU DESERVE TO BE AN AMERICAN IDOL AND AM SO DISAPPOINTED WITH THE RESULTS BUT S****** THEM ILL BUY ALL YOUR ALBUMS!!
I HAVE NEVER FELT SO STRONGLY BEFORE N AM NOT A GROUPY BUT THIS TIME AROUND JAMES ITS UNJUST !!
YOU WILL ALWAYS BE GREAT!! KNOW OUR WHOLE FMLY IS ROOTING FOR YOU AND WILL ALWAYS FOLLOW YOU.
XXX
THAT ‘S SO NOT TRUE!! JAMES WAS THE BEST !! YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE A SPECIAL /SAD TASTE IN MUSIC AS YOU WOULD’NT HAVE PASSED THIS COMMENT !
YES!! JAMES SHOULD HAVE WON IT! HE DESERVED IT !!
OH PLEASE !! YOU ARE SO SAD !! ALL THIS CRITISM ABOUT JAMES WHEN HE WAS CLEARY THE BEST PERFORMER!!
ABSOLUTELY AGREE 100% JAMES WAS THE BEST !!
This year on american idol prooves that 80% of americans are dumb hicks, seeing how all that ever wins american idol these days are country singers, James had the best voice on that show, and he wasnt a bad person he had the biggest heart on that show and you dicks still turned him away, Im canadian but I do love watching american idol even though we cant vote, Im done with the show now its too irrating seeing deserving people get kicked off the show and leaving two country singers left, sorry america but not everyone likes country, I think we should have a say because we gotta listen to whats on the radio too, and we need more rock artists out there