We barely started the new
American Idol week and already it's an unusual one. Yes, I can still remember it like yesterday--well, duh, it did happen yesterday. Late in the afternoon, prepping for the Top 10 girls' performances, when Fox decided to switch the scheduled performances:
we got the guys yesterday, and we get the girls today.
At first, I thought, "they're giving these guys a good position!" And then, "it must suck for the guys, because they haven't rehearsed much!" And then we all realize that it's because Crystal Bowersox was sent to hospital because of "medical issues"--allegedly complications from her diabetes, but there's no official word.
This sort of thing doesn't really happen on
Idol. I remember past seasons where contestants performed even if they're sick. I think it was Bo Bice who had a bum tummy on the day of his performance. But Idol stretching its neck to accommodate someone, more so a frontrunner in the competition? Should be suspicious, right?
Crystal's little situation reminded me of another similar story on another reality show. Remember Ashleigh Di Lello from the most recent season of
So You Think You Can Dance? She's not exactly what you'd call a crowd favorite, thanks to her initially lackluster performances. But she had a good story going for her: she was competing against her husband, Ryan, and it seems the producers wanted to have them dance together.
On the week before the finale, Ashleigh dislocated her shoulder. It was a last-minute thing, too: she was still rehearsing with eventual winner Russell Ferguson. Of course, you can't dance a hip-hop routine with an injured shoulder, so the show decided to bench her for the week. Voting for her was still open, though: viewers were encouraged to consider her past performances, as well as rehearsal footage.
It was a move that didn't go well with the viewers. It was, after all, the week before the finale, and the decision to bench her amounted to a free pass to the finale. I remember all these comments from fans protesting the move--the predominant thought was, "how come she's being allowed to go to the finale even if she isn't that good?" Some were asking her to withdraw from the competition. Some merely speculated that the producers wanted Ashleigh through to the final so she can perform with her hubby and makes us all go "aww shucks".
The producers may have got their dream routine, but the voters didn't elect her the winner: she placed fifth.
To Crystal, then. Could it be a similar conspiracy? We all know of
American Idol's habit of favoring a few contestants--why would we all talk about pimp slots and death slots and overplayed sob stories? Crystal may not seem to be the producers' favorite (that title seems to be Katie Stevens', at least among the ladies) but she's still a frontrunner in the competition. Not having her perform at this stage would be quite the dilemma: fans will want her back, but the rest would think it's unfair. So, the last-minute schedule switch was totally understood.
Then again, the
Idol producers had the opportunity to do the switch. After all, we're still in the middle of the semifinals, with three-episode weeks rather than the usual two. They can make the flip, and for the most part, it didn't affect the competition or the performances. (Perhaps the only thing they failed to change were the confirmation messages fans get when they vote through text: it mentioned the names of the girls rather than the guys.)
It would be interesting to see what the producers would do if Crystal--or any other contestant, for that matter--had to back out of Idol temporarily from Top 12 week onwards. Say, if Crystal was (heavens forbid) rushed to the hospital again in Top 6 week at the very last minute. Doctors wouldn't let her perform that night. Would the producers open voting for her like they did with Ashleigh on
SYTYCD? (Note: 19 Entertainment produces both shows.) Would they just open voting for five contestants and automatically send Crystal through to the Top 5? Would they force her to perform from her hospital bed?
Judging from past seasons, with contestants performing despite being sick, it seems we're going to see things done differently this year. Heck, Crystal's medical issues must've been pretty serious to warrant this sudden turn of events. It's something the rest of this year's contestants aren't getting--there was word, after all, that other contestants fell victim to the flu bug over the past week...
Still, I wish Crystal a speedy recovery. Oh, right, she's recovered. She's performing tonight! Fingers crossed nothing of this sort happens again... else we'd be faced with a bigger problem.
(Images courtesy of Fox)