Finals Elimination, Week One
Recap
Kanye West and Kelly Clarkson both performed on the elimination episode that sent home the first two American Idol finals.... or did it?
Well, yes, it did.
But not before a new rule was added to the mix that actually could have saved Jasmine Murray or Jorge Nunez.
First, back to Murray: she was brought on stage alongside Megan Joy Corkrey, two of the contestants from Tuesday night whose performances were not well-received. Ryan Seacrest announced that Murray had received the fewest number of viewers votes... but wait!
The show was enacting the Judges' Save this season. If the panel unanimously agrees, it may save one contestant from elimination this season. Seacrest said the rule was made in order to avoid past controversies that saw singers such as Chris Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson voted our early by fans.
As a result, Murray was actually asked to sing Michael Jackson's "I'll Be There" again, at which point the judges would confer and decide on her fate. She did. And they did. Sorry, Jasmine, but you basically got rejected twice: first by the viewers; and then by the judges after your second attempt to win them over with this song.
Nunez - who was brought on stage next to Anoop Desai - suffered the same result. He sang again for the panel, but it wasn't enough. He joined Murray as the first pair of eliminated finalists.
We're down to 11.
