Thaddeus Johnson is probably wondering what he could possibly have done -- short of becoming a thin white boy who forgets his lyrics -- to have earned a spot in the Top 24.
Too much injustice in this world, but I have to say something about the cutting of Thaddeus Johnson from American Idol last night. I think I was one of many watching the show (intermittently) who thought his rendition of 'Man in the Middle' (which, admittedly, is an overplayed, tired warhorse) was the best performance of the show's first weeks:
But, he's gone, cut last night. Instead we get off-key white boy dimple cheeks. Damn, and the tweenie voters will keep him around for weeks.
Until Hollywood Week, we'd never heard hide nor hair from Tim Urban. [The cutie on the right at the top of this diary]. And when we were introduced to him, it was via a series of flat notes as he butchered David Cook's "Come Back To Me." Meanwhile, Thaddeus got the red carpet rolled out for him during the Best of the Rest episode with Kara hollering for the 16-year-old's audition like she was having a spiritual experience (or a song-induced orgasm) and Randy Jackson declared Thaddeus, "one of the best 16-year-olds I have ever heard. I'm impressed." . . .
So, why did Idol choose the barely seen Tim over the lauded Thaddeus? Are Tim's dimples magic? Did Thaddeus' curse-filled temper tantrum after rejection cool the judges' passions? We may never know, but I for one will be wishing we were watching soulful Thaddeus next week when Tim Urban takes the stage.
Of course, it might not have been racism or weightism. There was that haircut.
Thaddeus also didn't make the cut, which I kind of predicted because the show portrayed him having way more confidence than you're allowed on this show. He sobbed. More importantly, how would you describe his haircut? It's sort of like a dome to me, a grown-in mohawk.
Yeah, abundant confidence, bad, America. And, btw, how many Lee Dewyzes, soul-patched paint-by-numbers David Clayton Thomases by way of Chris Cornell, have we had to bear these many, post-cable (can't afford it) Idol years? Have mercy!
. . . a visibly upset Thaddeus - who I felt was better than several of the finalists, including Aaron Kelly and Lee Dewyze - was left to figure out for himself why he was the last one cut after even the judges told him that he "did nothing wrong."
He sought refuge in the bathroom. There he could hide from the cameras, but not his spotlight-hogging mother, who followed her 17-year-old son into the men's room stall without thinking twice.
Thaddeus rejected then chased into duh baffroom
Then again, as it sez up there, and weirder still, it might not have been racism or weightism, or the weird hair style, but instead his pride and self-confidence that did him in. Or was it arrogance? Who cares? The show's producers do, apparently, and they seemed to think they'd found sadistic voyeur gold in Thaddeus's pain.
In all seriousness, though, everyone knows that pride indeed goeth before a fall on Idol, and even the slightest hint of arrogance will not go unnoticed or unpunished by fans - or by the production itself. In Thaddeus' case, it might've been less painful (not to mention infinitely more enjoyable) to take a trip on the Hogwarts Express and put a hex on his own Idol chances than to go around boasting how he ''killed it'' on his good-not-great version of ''Man in the Mirror.'' Still, I was horrified to discover Idol's powers-that-be concluded that a teenager's misguided belief in his own infallibility was an offense punishable by having a camera follow him - sobbing and emotionally devastated - into a bathroom stall for all of America to enjoy.
But, at least give Thaddeus the apparent last word.
On the other hand, it was hard not to remember Thaddeus Johnson. He spent most of this night sobbing on his mother's shoulder. The judges generally lauded his onstage performances, but he was not the most physically appealing of the contestants. Tyler's comments in leaving: "I killed it. I just thought it was my time." When asked if being cut was a big shock, he said, "Yes, it's a big shock, because they acted like they loved me, but it was kind of fake." (Ouch!)
But this is Hollywood reality (TV), and maybe that's not the last word. Probly not after a few of those distraught words, but there's a chance Thaddeus gets back on the show. . .
THADDEUS JOHNSON -- Sent home. He was another one we were set up to believe in. Seems the obvious choice to replace Michael Lynche if Lynche is indeed eliminated because family members leaked his getting into the Top 24 to the media. Johnson has a nice combination of confidence and vulnerability that could work in his favor.
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