Maybe it was because Elise Testone delivered another solid performance, although certainly not her best so far.
Maybe it was because she was sporting a little more cleavage then usual.
Maybe it was because the Idol producers allowed two of Testone’s Music Unlimited students to take the stage, thereby revealing a softer side to the sultry, smoky, and very adult singer.
Maybe it was because American Idol’s tween watchers decided that there was another grown-up they wanted to send home this week. (Bye bye, Erika. You deserved to be in the competition for much longer. At least longer than no-charism curly cutey DeAndre Brackensick and pathological joker Heejun Han, who at least as a great tone to his voice unlike Brackensick, a weak-voiced warbler.)
The point is, Elise made it through to the next round. Just as important, she wasn’t in the bottom three, as she had been the previous two weeks.
So congrats, Elise. We look forward to hearing you sing next week. We’re sure you’ll deliver a powerhouse performance once again, but we have no idea if the texting tweens of America will agree. Over the years, and this one in particular, this Idol demo has shown an unremitting compulsion to keep the cute kids around and send the adults on their merry way — to much more lucrative and fruitful careers.
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