"American Idol" Elimination: Sobbing Songstress Sent Home

NEW YORK — Diamond wasn't Brooke White's best friend on "American Idol" Wednesday night. The tearful 24-year-old folkster from Mesa, Ariz., was eliminated as the Fox show trimmed the competition to the top four finalists.

On Tuesday's show, aka Neil Diamond Night, White sang two songs by Diamond: "I'm a Believer" and "I Am ... I Said."

Simon Cowell called White's first performance "a nightmare," then heaped praise on her after her second act.

"This is the Brooke we like. Sitting behind the piano, singing a very good song," the snarky judge said. "It wasn't incredible, but it was a million times better than the first song. Well done."

White, who claimed never to have seen an R-rated movie, wiped away tears before her final performance. The former nanny told fans: "I just wanna say `thank you.'"

The remaining "Idol" candidates _ David Archuleta, David Cook, Jason Castro and Syesha Mercado (Wednesday night's other low vote-getter) _ surrounded White on stage.

Cook, offering moral support, patted her on the back.

Earlier in the live telecast, Ryan Seacrest defended Paula Abdul against Internet chatter about her flub the night before: "Just for the record: The rumors _ they're not true. She's part of our family, and we love her."

The host didn't explain what those "rumors" were, but said he'd been reading gossip online about Abdul. The "Idol" judge goofed on Tuesday night's performance show when she gave Castro feedback for two songs _ even though he'd only sung one.

"American Idol" had switched up the format by making judges take notes and hold their appraisals until every contestant had performed. Abdul said later that she was thrown for a loop when producers apprised the judges of the change at the last minute.

Wednesday's show also featured performances by guest mentor Diamond and Natasha Bedingfield.

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On the Net:

http://www.americanidol.com

Comments

[slobone]

Thank God Brooke was finally put out of her misery. I'm trying to remember if she EVER gave a performance that I really liked. Maybe in the audition. She has a small vocal range, no breath control, and an almost unbelievably limited comfort zone for her repertoire. "She's great when she's behind the piano" -- yeah, so was Liberace.

But this has been a really lame season anyway, I can hardly believe I'm still watching. I'm so tired of these "theme shows" I could scream. Let them do what they do best already!

[REDSTATEREFUGEE]

Brooke's having survived this long as a finalist is a testament to her serving as the poster child for what is desperately wrong with American Idol in general. She is pretty, in a limited way, but her talent is inch-deep and she possesses no stage presence whatsoever. Her muffing the start of a couple of tunes is evidence of that deficiency.

Her singing is sometimes technically acceptable, but she lacks that indefinable but recognizable quality called soul. Her love ballads are bloodless and vapid, just like AI currently is. My only hope is that the tweens do not succeed in keeping Jason Castro and David A around until the bitter end. The former seems like he is on several medications at once (similar to Paula Abdul), and the latter gives off the impression of a seven year-old lost at a bus station.

[tbrnotb]

You guys need to get a life. The country's in a brutal war, the economy is on its way to depression-ville, our country tortures, refuses to take care of veterans. We jettisoned an American city almost 3 years ago (that was New Orleans, folk) and the list goes on and on. And you guys get all upset because some singer is released from a talent competition.

But reading these posts help me understand why this country is so screwed up. Play your video games, listen to your ipods and get passionate about American Idol.

Talk about fiddling while America burns.....

[theidaexpress]

I couldn't agree with you more. There are more important issues we need to focus on, but I have to say when life gets you down, it is fun to watch a show like American Idol. Don't be so hard on those who are into it, and people who are watching it, don't get so obsessed. There will only be one winner!!

http://www.theidaexpress.com

[LairdKeir]

Absolutely spot-on. America is, as has been seen abroad for the last number of years, on the road to hell and people focus so much on diversions; panem et circenses. Enjoy the luxury while you can before those proverbial crows come home to roost.
www.lairdkeir.spaces.live.com

[PWMarvin]

II guess since there are problems in the US and the World nobody is allowed to have fun. There will always be problems. Not having any fun would add another problem.
The lack of real news in the media is a big pet peeve of mine. But there is plenty of news at this site. So don"t belittle us having fun

[makingnoise]

Let me see... You have time to read about this, blog about this...
Sounds like you feel guilty about your "frivolity".

[makingnoise]

The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

[Poised]

Sadly, there's nothing else to watch. The dramas are all tired, the news shows are so biased they are nothing more than commercials for Obama, who doesn't interest me. So why not watch bad singers? At least they cannot do any damage if "elected."

[Amishguy]

Its about damn time! Now maybe she can go eat a sandwich.

[observing]

Seacrest says "vote for your favorite" not "vote for the best."

[cdiasmd]

Syeesha was NOT the other low vote getter... Seacrest did not refer to Syesha as "Wednesday night's other low vote-getter" when he brought them out. DialIdol.com reports that Syesha was actually the top vote getter and Jason Castro was the lowest ahead of Brooke. Dial Idol is pretty accurate in the later rounds.

[kellygrrrl]

I noticed that as well.
I haven't seen DialIdol get it wrong
but I do know that they are not able to track Text Message votes
and all the young girls are def texting in, not calling
so I assume that Jason got a lot of text votes.

[MourningDude]

Yes, they're very vague and secretive about the votes.

Last night, all Seacrest did was declare people "safe", which I take to mean "not going home".

After declaring Jason and the two Davids "safe", he then brought up the two girls and just said that one of them was going home. He never said Syesha was in the bottom two.

I'm guessing that they knew the DialIdol results, and planned the order to maximum effect. Bottom 3 were Brooke, Jason, and David Archuleta. By declaring Jason "safe" (assuming they were actually having the bottom two), that meant David Archuleta would be in the bottom two for the first time.

When they brought Archuleta up next, he looked really nervous. And then they declared him safe as well, and he was visibly relieved.

[slobone]

DialIdol does NOT say that Syesha was not in the bottom two. They say she was "not predicted to be voted off." That's not the same thing. They're cautious in their statements because they know there's a margin of error.

[CammyV]

None of the performances were good, much less great. .
Who else has an album dropping and wants some publicity and are willing to 'mentor' the idols-to-be? I hated the Neil Diamond retrospective and that new song he sang sounded like he was singing a book. Yeah, I'll be humming that one all day now.

[bac]

Right, Neil Diamond has not "sung" any songs for years. At best, he just croaks out the words to his songs, in concert or anywhere else. People still seem to love it. But, if you listen to the studio recordings of some of his old songs, he did indeed have a very nice baritone voice, ..once, ..long ago!

[CammyV]

Absolutely, he was great back in the day.

[kellygrrrl]

he is a great songwriter
and having seen him 4 years ago, he is still amazing live!

[Charity]

"Diamond wasn't Brooke White's best friend on "American Idol" Wednesday night."

kudos to writer erin carlson of the AP for this spot-on lead.

and as for lil' ol' brooke: THANK GOD. she should have been booted many shows ago. buh-bye.

[auramac]

I am totally mystified how you can say that- different strokes for different folks. Brooke moved me more than anyone else with her singing- I loved her wit, her voice could connect with a song, and the right listeners (Carly Simon, Andrew LLoyd Weber, me..).

The saddest song, and moment of the season is Brooke's goodbye. I have little to no interest left in the show from here on. As a musician, I am exhausted and frustrated that I was unable to fully grasp that this wasn't really a talent show- but a popularity contest. "THANK GOD," she says, that Brooke was booted. How nice. How weird. How wrong.

[tatt00me]

Honestly, it doesn't matter because Brooke is now free to move on, get into a studio with a piano, and do what she is best at - conveying unbelievable emotion with a voice that is amazing in its tone and texture.

[MourningDude]

There was a story yesterday where Carly Simon said Brooke was the most talented one left on the show and should win it. She said that when Brooke sang "You're so vain", that it was better than she had ever sung it.

David Cook is getting really boring now that Simon Cowell has crushed his spirit. He used to be fun, now he's so worried about looking smug or arrogant or cocky that he just ends up boring and phony.

[PWMarvin]

By far, Brooke White is my all time favorite contestant. She has a great voice.
I'd buy her music.

[Kenji]

The idea that Syesha could be the other low-vote getter is beyond stunning. (Must say something about America, and it doesn't bode well for Obama.) Brooke is pleasant enough, but wasn't this supposed to be a singing competition?

[landmine]

Yep, no matter the quality of person, America is still in the process of overcoming race conditioning.
But, let us please not place too much responsibility on the 13 year old girls who are the single largest voting demographic in this popularity contest.

[tatt00me]

Puzzling that you would say that since Syesha (along with David Archuleta) are the two that have absolutely nothing to offer. I could less what note he or she can hit and carry. They are terribly boring and as inventive and artistic as a pet rock.