Yesterday, we complained about a new innovation on American Idol we thought would only serve to humiliate contestants — and today we applaud one! On last night’s episode, Ryan Seacrest explained the brand-new “Judges’ Save†rule — if the four judges unanimously agree that an eliminated singer was voted off prematurely, they now have the power to give him or her another shot. But, since it can only be used once (and only while more than five competitors remain), here’s what will effectively happen six more hilarious times before the finale: Seacrest will spend 50 minutes revealing which unlucky person America likes least. Next, said loser will be forced to sing a song that everyone hated the night before. Then, after he’s already been rejected and embarrassed before 25 million viewers, he’ll stand before the judges, begging to be spared. And one of them will adopt a serious tone, look the contestant in the eye, and say, “No!â€
Last night’s doubly dismissed outcasts were Jasmine Murray and Jorge Nuñez, just as we predicted. Neither was too visibly upset after Ryan told them they’d received the lowest votes, but by the time they learned they’d not be saved, both looked like they’d just lost a puppy (surely they must have known the judges wouldn’t waste their new power on the first night, right?). And while we have nothing against Jorge or Jasmine (or puppies), we completely approve of this brilliant new rule, since there are approximately four remaining contestants we can’t wait to see this happen to.
Sure, this will only give Idol producers another string to pull in a competition that’s already constantly under suspicion of being a total sham — but it’ll make for awesome television. We bet America will regret voting off Tatiana last week!