Charleston’s Elise Testone barely escaped elimination tonight on American Idol. She landed in the bottom two along with kinky-curly falsetto DeAndre Brackensick, whose cute-boy appeal couldn’t compensate for his limited musical chops — finally.
Although Brackensick should have been eliminated weeks ago, this week he gave arguably his best performances of the season, both in the solo portion of the show and the duet portion.
Testone, meanwhile, delivered a truly subpar performance — her first in the competition — with this week’s offering, Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is.” However, her duet with Phillip Phillips, Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks’ “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” was top-notch, showcasing Testone’s stage presence and her trademark rock-soul singing.
When Idol judge Randy Jackson was asked if the right two people were in the bottom two, he said they got it half right. What Jackson meant was only revealed later after Brackensick was eliminated. When the time came for the three judges — Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, and Steven Tyler — to use their one save in the competition to keep Brackensick on Idol, JLo noted that if it was up to her she would have, but she was overruled. Both Tyler and Jackson voted to eliminate Brackensick.
Here’s hoping that next week Testone gets back on track. Last week’s performance of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” and her previous cover of James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World,” are testaments to her talent and her ability to win the entire competition — that is if 16 year old Jessica Sanchez wasn’t competing. We love you, Elise, but this year’s Idol is Sanchez’s to lose.
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