So close, and yet so very far. Conventional wisdom seemed to place Ace, Elliott, and Kellie in the bottom three, with Ace going home.
We got the last part right, but everything else went pear-shaped pretty quickly.
Well, we also got the Kellie-Is-Safe-Despite-Sucking part right, too. That’s almost too easy to take any credit for, though. Bucky’s votes migrated to her. Her horrendous performance inspired her fans to get out there to vote for her to save her. And the country music viewership of the show has to be huge. Every year, a country singer goes far, and every year the top two or three is dominated by southerners.
The bottom three was Chris, Paris, and Ace. I could see the howls of outrage forming along the horizon. I could see Chris’ fans indignantly walking out on the show, never to return. I could see Elton John preparing another “America is racist” diatribe had Paris scored the fewest votes. I could see myself typing, “America is dumb and deaf, but this isn’t a talent show.” (I have to explain that every season, it seems.)
Paris was saved first, I think to really heighten the drama. Pitting Chris against Ace at the end was just too good a story to cap off the episode. Why Chris? He sang first. He sang a slow song. And he was quickly overshadowed by the likes of Paris and Katharine. (Arguably, also Taylor and Elliott.)
Ryan raced to evict Ace. It was nice not to have to deal with the pregnant pause for a change. Ace overstayed his welcome. His early attractiveness to the women was quickly replaced with unimpressive performances, a trademark falsetto that was forced in everywhere, and a smile that just told you how how he thought himself to be.
What does all this drama mean in the weeks ahead?
Ace’s fans will go to Chris and Elliott, based on looks, style, and talent. This will weaken Kellie a little bit, but not send her packing home just yet. That’s going to take another couple of weeks. America’s sweetheart doesn’t have the numbers lined up against her, but she’s losing cast-off vote support. I think only Paris’ voters would have a chance of moving to Kellie. Stop your howls of outrage right now, though — it won’t be all of them. I think Paris’ voters would mostly shift to Katharine or Elliott. A certain segment of the vote, however, would go with the other young female left in the competition. Everyone else who gets voted out, though, strengthens everyone who ISN’T Kellie. In the end, that’s what will end her run on AI. She won’t LOSE fans, but she’ll have larger numbers against her.
Why do I focus on Kellie so much? She’s the last one left in the group who doesn’t really belong there. While I’ve had my ups and downs with Elliott, I think he’s more talented than she is. Plus, he’s a diabetic and we have to stick together. ;-) Anyone else would be a deserving winner.
I’m still rooting for Katharine, though I want to see Taylor and Chris round out the Top Three with her at the end of the season.
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