adminQaasim Middleton was eliminated from American Idol on Wednesday after losing an instant Twitter vote by viewers for the seventh and final place on next week’s show.
Rayvon Owen and Qaasim, 19, were the bottom two vote grabbers from last week and had to go head to head to earn their place among the final seven.
Both of the contestants had survived previous eliminations but the instant online vote sent Qaasim packing.
Rayvon went first and performed ‘‘Set Fire To The Rain’’ by Adele while hitting a string of fan-friendly big notes at the end.
‘‘That was crazy, that was a guy singing for his life right there and you hit the big American Idol note right there. You sang the heck out of it,’’ judge Keith Urban told him energetically.
Jennifer Lopez said she did not think it was the best song for him but that she loved his voice.
Harry Connick Jr then told Rayon he had ‘‘Incredible chops’’ but wanted to know what his ‘‘gravy’’ was.
‘‘I just strive to inspire people and to give all glory to God for the gift he has given me.
‘‘I want to tell a story and to connect with people, to make them dance, to laugh, to cry and to have fun with me,’’ Rayvon told them.
Harry then asked Ryan Seacrest why he was so boring and could not give more passionate speeches.
‘‘Harry, I have made a living off being boring,’’ Ryan replied with a knowing smile on his fac
Qaasim then took on ‘‘Hey Ya!’’ by Outkast insisting it was time for him to ‘‘throw my left hook.’’
‘‘There is no secret that I am a huge fan of yours, that is a big and tough song but you always wow us with your performance and you own that stage, there is nothing else to say about you,’’ said a happy J-Lo.
Harry told him that American Idol was ‘‘lucky’’ to have him as a contestant and that he had an ‘‘incredibly strong groove.’’
‘‘You are such a great performer, you came out and killed it and you know how to make the most of it by putting it in the whole complete package and playing to your strengths. So entertaining,’’ said Keith.
But with five minutes of Twitter voting counted Idol fans kept Rayvon alive in the competition.
Earlier all of the contestants were divided into two groups and mentored by country pop group Florida Georgia Line and R&B star Jason Derulo.
Jackie ‘‘Jax’’ Cole kicked off the show by performing Pokerface by Lady Gaga and after meeting with Florida Georgia Line she totally reworked the hit.
But the judges were not totally convinced by Jax’s unusual and vintage-sounding version of the tune.
Keith told Jax he thought it was an ‘‘interesting arrangement’’ of the song and was impressed she did not do a karaoke version.
Jennifer said she could not imagine that on the radio and reminded her she had the audience ‘‘in the palm of her hand.’’
Mentor and performer: Jason Derulo gave tips to the singers and also performed
‘‘You are one of the favourites, this is yours to lose, you do not want to go so far left that people can’t relate. I could not relate to that at all musically. You need to be careful,’’ warned J-Lo.
Harry told her that she had ‘‘magic’’ in her voice and said that he did not mind the arrangement but felt she did not ‘‘own it or inhabit it’’ on stage.
Nick Fradiani then performed ‘‘Teenage Dream’’ by Katy Perry and changed the beat to half time at the suggestion of Florida Georgia Line.
J-Lo loved Nick’s version
‘‘That was so good, that was amazing for me, it was really great,’’ said J-Lo.
Harry did not agree.
He said Nick’s performance was ‘‘fine’’ but he wanted grittier lyrics from him rather than a pop song.
Despite some pitch issues Keith also praised the performance.
‘‘I thought that was a killer song for you. The spirit of the song was right, you looked comfortable doing it and it really sounded like you,’’ said Keith.
Harry then told Ryan he ‘‘could sing the hell’’ out of Teenage Dream and jumped up on stage to prove himself, before chasing Keith around the judges table.
‘‘I don’t think that was your best performance,’’ Nick told him.
‘‘It was a great song choice, you have such a laid back style and it was a great performance from you tonight,’’ said Keith.
‘‘You are an artist with a capital A,’’ J-Lo told him while saying she loved the song and his performance.
Joey Cook performed Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus but decided not to change the arrangement of the song with mentor Jason helping her out.
The judges all felt that she did not power her way through the chorus in the same way Miley does on the record.
‘‘You look relieved. You did not do a lot different with this song and when you got to the chorus I could sense you holding back. As an overall performance it was really good,’’ said Keith. — dailymail
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