Wednesday's Idol: So Long, Stephanie
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Episode 23
The speculating will continue at least another week about Sanjaya Malakar's staying power. The 17-year-old with the ear-to-ear grin was kept safe on Wednesday's elimination show while Stephanie Edwards was voted off American Idol.A week ago it might have been a jolt, but the field is narrow enough now – only the Top 10 remain – that one off performance can be enough to end a run. The old Dusty Springfield ballad, "You Don't Have to Love Me," was simply beyond the 19-year-old singer's command. And she'd probably articulated the weakest "personality" of the finalists. That left nothing to fall back on. Gina Glocksen may be a lesser singer than Stephanie, but she was probably shrewder in the way she's grabbed onto her "rock chick" identity.
A risky tinkering with his identity was what (surprisingly) put Chris Richardson in the Bottom Two, right above Stephanie. The judges may have liked his soft, change-of-pace "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" on Tuesday, but it probably made viewers at home restless and wondering where the super-charged Chris had gone. Next week will probably find him back hopping around on full adrenaline. I think he normally looks like a tadpole flung out of water, but America may not agree.
For more from last night, see AOL's Idol coverage.
