Surprise! NOT!

Granted, assuming that American Idol voting is on the up-and-up, there isn’t a thing the show can do for “shock” value with the results. But part of the suspense of any show is the “surprise” announcement of something or other. Therein is the problem Idol is facing as ratings are in free-fall and interest in the show and its contestants nosedives.

Case in point – Thursday. No one suspected anything other than what happened. Combining votes from a week ago with Wednesday night’s tabulations we learned that Amber Holcomb will forever be the No. 4 finalist. Duh! Everyone figured that was coming and the common evaluation of her talent is basically that she has it (talent) but it’ll take a few years to develop. That’s the answer, the question is will she work at the craft or will she disappear into the fabric of Idol also-rans?

So, that leaves us with a Top 3 who will get the obligatory “homecoming” trip this week and it will be aired next Wednesday along with each of the Triumphant Trio singing three songs – one of their choice, one the judges pick and a third that Jimmy Iovine would love to see them tackle. Then on Thursday we learn the two finalists names and already we have a pretty good guess that will be Candice and Angie.

For the record: Candice Glover (St. Helena Island, S.C.), Kree Harrison (Woodville, Texas) and Angie Miller (Beverly, Mass.). Personally, I’d rather see the “Idol Gives Back” segment return to the show rather than this “homecoming”, but that’s just the silly “pay it forward” in me.