It had to happen at some point and, for selfish reasons, I'm glad the moment finally arrived. The truth? It's not easy spelling the name Chikezie right all the time.
But that's not the reason the former airport security officer was eliminated this week.
It's not that he wasn't good — he was. He just wasn't great. And he doesn't seem like the most precious doll imaginable brought to life or have inarguable rocker appeal or possess piercing blue eyes and dreadlocks or matinee idol looks and a foreign accent. In other words, he couldn't really keep up with the other guys.
And since the girls are (in my opinion, anyway) stronger than the boys this season, he couldn't really hang tough with them, either.
Then, of course, there was his pesky little attitude problem. Granted, the issue was sporadic in that his antagonism only really reared its ugly head when Simon was criticizing him. But when it happened, it was memorable.
Yet the Chikezie montage at the end — in which he trilled about how excited he was to be giving something back to his parents, exulted in how blessed he felt and wished that "Idol" could "last forever" — served as a reminder of how cool the guy could actually be. And made you feel kinda bad for him, since — well, it not only wasn't going to last forever but it was also, um, over for him.
Of course, Chikezie's elimination meant that former bottom three mainstay Kristy Lee Cook (she was safe this week) will be hanging on seemingly in perpetuity. Sure, her rendition of "God Bless the USA" was better than her other performances, but who are we kidding here?
I've asked this before, but can't we all band together (against, perhaps, the votefortheworst people) and put this young girl out of her misery? She belongs back on a horse, not on an "Idol" stage!
In other news, it was interesting to see Syesha Mercado joining Chikezie and Jason Castro in the bottom three. Since the girl's got a voice on her and she's undeniably attractive, could it be that I'm not the only one who finds her phony demeanor off-putting?
I mean, she couldn't wipe that stage grin off her face even when she'd been informed of her bottom three status. It's just too bad there isn't an operation that could involve taking some of Brooke White's heart and somehow attaching it to Syesha's sleeve.
The rest of the show contained almost epic proportions of filler. We had a package on how the contestants record their songs for iTunes (which, with its constant shots of iPhones and iPods, was perhaps the most effective Apple commercial I've ever seen), a Kimberly Locke back story, questions from viewers and a decent chunk of time devoted to the "Idol Gives Back" show, set for April 9.
And look, I'm not saying that "Idol Gives Back" isn’t important or that the children shown in footage from last year aren't too adorable for words.
It's just that nothing can beat seeing someone who gave Simon lip eliminated. It's like finally seeing the light after waiting hours for the sun to rise — the perfect bit of evidence that all is right again with the world at last.
Anna David is a freelance writer. Her novel, "Party Girl," is in stores.
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