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« The Great American Idol Blog
Michael "Shocked" by Sendoff, But No Hard Feelings
Michael Johns by Michael Becker/Fox
Michael Johns was still reeling from his shocking Idol ousting when he spoke with reporters on a Friday conference call. "I would be lying if I said I wasn't shocked," he said. "I hadn't been in the bottom three and I thought definitely the last two or three weeks had been my strongest."
Despite his surprise, however, the Aussie bears no hard feelings — at least not toward Ryan Seacrest and that awkward elimination moment. During the Thursday show, the host made the ejection all the more confounding by mentioning, once Carly and Syesha were safe, that at the time of last year's Idol Gives Back, no one was eliminated. Johns, though, was sent packing anyway. With his typical smooth style, Johns said he understands the name of the game is good television, and that's how it goes. "You're in this business and you get it," he said. "I don't hold it against Ryan." (Was Ryan too cruel? Vote here.)
Johns' dismissal came after a week in which he performed Aerosmith's "Dream On," fittingly picked for "Inspiration Week." Making his departure all the more poignant, he did a reprise for his final performance. So what could he possibly do the day after that kind of dramatic conclusion to ease the shock? Apparently, drink beer. "We're pretty good at beer drinking in our country, so that's probably what I'll do here in a bit," he said.
Of course, don't expect this to be the final, teary (speaking for myself) chapter in Johns' singing career. It may just be the first. With Keith Urban, Nicole Kidman and Dolly Parton among those sad to see him leave Idol, no one's going to let this guy slip away — especially Parton, who even told him she dreams of singing a duet with him someday. Before Parton can work with him, though, Johns has an Idol tour to go on, and maybe even a record deal to cut. "I'm going to give you guys a good record to buy next year," he promised. — Anna Dimond
Use our Online Video Guide to dream on about Michael Johns.
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Apr 11, 2008 8:10 PM
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 Boos for the way in which Seacrest booted Johns off. There's no excuse for such an awkward moment! I think it stinks that Michael was ousted. I thought we'd have another week to vote and that they'd add the 2 weeks together like last year!
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Apr 12, 2008 12:05 AM
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I HOPE SOMEHOW ai SEES THIS AS WELL AS THE MANY OTHERS. Michael should have been given the extra week in the spirit of giving back GIVE US MICHAEL BACK.
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Apr 12, 2008 1:31 AM
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I wish I could say this directly to Michael....Just remember this one word Michael: Daughtry. We'll be hearing from you again. Best wishes.
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Apr 12, 2008 8:08 AM
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I couldn't believe it - somehow I missed that part of the show - taping problems - but when I read about his ouster I COULDN'T believe it - but I know he WILL make it without winning the Idol prize. He was one of my favorites on the show, and thow when I finally saw my video of that "inspiration" show, AFTER he was ousted, I wasn't happy with his song choice, but so what. He'd never been in the bottom. AND to add to that I FF during David Cook's because I didn't enjoy him at all. So who knows what's going to happen and whether the "best" will win because if all of us were individually asked I bet we'd all have a different favorite AI.
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Apr 12, 2008 9:13 AM
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I have gotten to where I don't like to watch the eliminations and it is because the Ryan Seacrest. I don't like the way he handles them and this week was really bad. He did give Michael hope and you could see it on his face before Ryan dropped the bombshell.
When Michael did his song on Tuesday I couldn't help but compare him to Chris Daughtry, every week was starting to sound the same.
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Apr 12, 2008 10:19 AM
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13 year-olds do ALL THE VOTING!
It seems that the majority of the voters are 13, and contestants who are TOO OLD; that is over 21, have little chance making it.
That's why that dill-weed, Castro is still in. He really turns on the pre-menstral chicks.
Best of luck to CARLY; you're probably the next ancient singer to go.
This si SICKENING!
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Apr 12, 2008 11:33 AM
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Regarding the lack of a boot during last year's "Idol Gives Back" week--the "IGB" show last year was ALSO the results show. At the end, Seacrest said that they couldn't kick anyone off on such a special night. So this year they eliminated the problem by adding an extra results episode this week and giving "IGB" its own independent show (which, I believe, accounts for its big drop in ratings compared to last year). So it was obvious that they were planning to kick someone off this week. But I do agree that it was out of line for Seacrest to play around with Michael and the audience's emotions that way.
It's true that Daughtry made it big, but he was #4 and not #8. I can't think of too many #8's who have made it big, though I do like Michael Johns a lot.
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Apr 12, 2008 11:35 AM
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13 year-olds do ALL THE VOTING!
It seems that the majority of the voters are 13, and contestants who are TOO OLD; that is over 21, have little chance making it.
That's why that dill-weed, Castro is still in. He really turns on the pre-menstrual chicks.
Best of luck to CARLY; you're probably the next ancient singer to go.
This is SICKENING!
AMEN!!
finally, somebody else gets it. i must disagree on one thing. David A. is ten times the dill-weed Castro is.
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Apr 12, 2008 12:47 PM
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Didn't anybody but me notice that Jason Castro badly screwed up the lyrics to "Over the Rainbow"??!! They were just plain wrong and everybody was falling all over themselves to tell him how great it was!
I can't believe that Michael, who has NAILED song after song after song, is gone, and Jason who muffed the lyrics soooo badly is still there. AAARRRGH!!!
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Apr 12, 2008 3:57 PM
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I liked the way ryan announced Johns departure -- added to the shock -- but I HATED that Ryan had to mention that last year they didn't have anyone go home because of idol gives back -- but this year, they are sending someone home. WHY EVEN MENTION THAT? They made a big mistake and should have let him stay and eliminate two next week -- I assure you he would not go home and be in the finals. the show will suffer because now i'm so angry that Carly, syesha and jason are still on the show and the talented Michael johns is not.
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Apr 12, 2008 3:57 PM
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Hey, grammarocks: Jason sang the lyrics the same way as the Hawaiian singer whose version he performed.
Ryan needs to work on not being obnoxious, whether when handling the elimination (the fans don't like what he did this week), or endlessly baiting Simon (so over it. boring.)
siefert, you too should work on not being obnoxious.
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Apr 12, 2008 5:40 PM
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siefert, i couldn't agree more. jason castro is WAY WAY WAY overrated and people just don't see it. blurg. he messed up the words to "travelin' thru" dolly parton week, too. no one called him on that either.
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Apr 12, 2008 7:21 PM
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i totally caught how jason screwed up over the rainbow! I believe he sang the same line twice...I was like "HUH? how are the judges not pouncing on this?" That's not to say that Michael didn't dig his own grave. The last couple of weeks he's gotten better but in the beginning he was really struggling and not living up to the hype that surrounded him and by this time of the game fan bases are already built up. Good luck though Michael...if he cuts a cd I'll definitely give it a try.
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Apr 12, 2008 9:04 PM
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Jason Castro did not screw it up; he just didn't do the traditional version. The version Jason did was part of a "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" arrangement that was done by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole in 1993.
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Apr 12, 2008 11:49 PM
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