No tears for Pia Toscano on American Idol

I don't know how many of you share my sentiment, but I was very pleased with the American Idol results show last night. It was time for Pia Toscano to go home.

I won't argue that she can sing, but I don't believe she deserved to win the whole thing. First of all, I thought her performance on Idol's Wednesday night episode left a lot to be desired. When Pia sang “River Deep – Mountain High,” she only hit about every other note. When the judges all but bowed at her feet, it made me feel like we had a whole row of Paula’s sitting there.

Lately, I've been feeling too that she has this attitude that comes across as though she'd already won. There's never been any real humility about Pia, and as the last few weeks have come and gone on Idol, I think that has gotten even worse. You could tell just looking at her every Thursday night (during the results show) that she never expected to go home. I don't like arrogance in someone who is in the company of so many other talented people.

Which brings me to another reason that Thursday night's Idol honked me off: Did you hear all of the people booing when Pia was sent home? I understand that she had fans that were not happy that she got voted off. What really bothered me was when the judges joined in, so adamantly opposed to her leaving. What they were saying, in effect, is that the other people who were in the bottom three deserved to go home more than she did, which makes Randy, JLo and Steven hypocrites, if you ask me.

Jacob Lusk and Stefano Langone were in the sad seats with Pia before Ryan announced who was going home. All three judges have all but kissed the feet of both of those men after each of their performances. (Personally, I was ready to see all three of them go home last night.) Supposedly, Randy, JLo and Steven all LOVE Jacob and Stefano, so how do you suppose Jacob and Stefano felt when the judges were so against Pia going home? (Meaning, then, that they would have rather lost one of those men.)

I guess the reason for my blog today is basically that I'm just sick of a lot of the contestants already, and I'm sick of the judges loving everyone. All of the contestants are not that wonderful. They all have bad nights and hit bad notes. (And don't get me started on Haley Reinhart. If you ever get the chance to listen to her sing in between that ridiculous growl, be ready to cringe. She's rarely on pitch, which must be why she sounds like a cat in heat most of the time – she's trying to hide the fact that she can't sing.)

My reasons for sending Stefano and Jacob home? Stefano comes across as a cruise ship entertainer. I just can't stand watching him sing. He makes me feel greasy. Jacob is annoying to watch, too, and his voice isn't unique enough for me. I wouldn't turn to a different station if Jacob came on the radio, but there is nothing about his voice or his performance style that would make me want to buy one of his albums.

Who do I like? Every week I look forward to Casey Abrams and Scotty McCreery. Casey has one of the most original sounds American Idol has to offer. He's humble, he's personable, he can sing – well – and I think he'll go far. That upright base of his is a welcome diversion from all the electric, techno music being offered by so many artists these days. And then there's 17-year-old Scotty. I have to remind myself when he sings how young he is! That voice of his warms me from the inside out, and I'm always smiling by the time he hits the chorus of any song he's singing. Either one of these guys could win it all and I'd feel like there was justice on the American Idol stage.