American Idol Fan Site | Who got voted off American Idol

IF I DON’T MAKE IT, I’LL JUST MOVE ON forward somewhere.”

Thus spoke Fil-Am Jose “Sway” Penala at the start of the final round of this year’s “American Idol.”

On Thursday (Friday in Manila), audiences voting online and by text messaging gave Sway the boot. The 28-year-old singer from South San Francisco was eliminated along with three others—David Radford, Heather Cox and Brenna Gethers.

Only eight females and eight males remain in the top-rated talent search on television. The elimination round started last week with 24 performers.

Sway was one of the early favorites among the top 24 contestants. He initially wowed judges Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell with his rendition of “Superstar” in his first audition in San Francisco.

On Thursday, he sang “Overjoyed” by Stevie Wonder and the result wasn’t the least joyful. “It wasn’t unbelievable [for me] tonight, said Jackson. Abdul thought Sway was “disconnected.” Cowell found “absolutely zero originality.”

Gethers,25, received the lowest number of votes for the female contestants for her sassy rendition of “Last Dance,” fulfilling jaundiced judge Simon Cowell’s prediction that Thursday would be her “last chance.”

“Get ready for my album,” said the departing New Yorker.

Visiting champ

Cowell also predicted correctly that North Carolina native Cox, 22, would get the boot for her lackluster performance of Mariah Carey’s “Hero,” which he deemed “ghastly.”

Radford, a 17-year-old from Crystal Lake, Illinois, sand “The Way You Look Tonight.” Jackson was “bored.” Teary-eyed contestants surround Radford as he gave his traditional farewell performance.

Besides the goodbyes, the elimination show featured a visit by last season’s winner Carrie Underwood, who performed her hit country song, “Jesus, Take the Wheel.”

“American Idol” has continued to rule in the ratings, attracting about 30 million viewers per telecast this season. Host Ryan Seacrest said on Thursday’s telecast that the show received more than 42 million votes from viewers.

Men and women have been competing separately since the show returned Jan. 17. That separation ends March 14 with the final 12 singers.

The show, now running three times a week, will return to a twice-weekly schedule for the elimination of the final dozen. The finale is slated for May 24.

Wrong song

All four eliminated were scolded for wrong song choices. But even the strongest contestants were pronounced guilty of this.

The normally fantastic Katharine McPhee sang “All In Love Is Fair” and all three judges agreed it was not her best performance. “By a mile,” Cowell qualified.

Even Lisa Tucker who was phenomenal during the first week seems to have missed the spot, singing “When I Had You.” Cowell cautioned her about coming across as a young girl singing old songs.

Silver-haired Taylor Hicks didn’t impress the judges much, either, with “Easy Like Sunday Morning” by The Commodores.

Of Ace Young with the killer looks, Simon said: “I think you are going to be very disappointed when you hear your vocal back on that.”

But the judges are consistently pleased with two male contenders—the gifted Elliot Yamin who tackled the very difficult “Moody’s Mood for Love” by Al Jarreau; and Chris Daughtry who did “Hemmorhage” by the rock group Fuel.

Cowell counseled the remaining contestants that they don’t have the liberty to make wrong choices, especially in picking their songs, because “Idol” viewers have become very good music critics.

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