"Idol" Tells McGhee to Forget It

Thu., Mar. 16, 2006 10:00 AM PST by Sarah Hall

Tuesday's American Idol was a night of firsts for Melissa McGhee. It was also a night of lasts.

The aspiring crooner explained before her performance of Stevie Wonder's "Lately" that it would be her first time singing a ballad on the show, as well as the first time viewers would see her take the stage in a dress.

Unfortunately for McGhee, viewers were apparently less than impressed by both her song and wardrobe choices and voted accordingly, sending the 21-year-old Florida native home.

McGhee was not helped by the fact that she forgot her lyrics during her performance, an error the judges quickly pointed out, though Simon Cowell still called it her "best performance yet."

Tuesday marked the first night the top 12 finalists performed live. As it was Stevie Wonder Week on Idol, each contestant chose a song by the legendary vocalist, who made a guest appearance on the talent quest to coach them through his lyrics.

On Wednesday's results show, Wonder took the stage to perform his single "My Love Is on Fire," from his new record, A Time to Love.

When it came time to reveal which contestant would be eliminated, McGhee seemed resigned to her fate, telling Ryan Seacrest she had predicted she would be getting the boot.

Joining McGhee in the bottom three were 25-year-old Ace Young, whose rendition of Wonder's "Do I Do" was deemed "manic" by Cowell, and 16-year-old Lisa Tucker, whose performance of "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" was called "boring" by Randy Jackson.

However, both Young and Tucker managed to pull in enough of the more than 32 million votes cast by dedicated viewers to keep them in the competition for at least another week.

Now in its fifth season, Idol continues to dominate the ratings. Last week's airings held down the number one, two and four slots, with 28.6 million viewers tuning in for Tuesday's show, 30.4 million for Wednesday's show and 26.6 million for Thursday's show.

In good news for competing series, Idol dropped down to a two-night schedule this week. In bad news for competing series, the talent search virtually locked in another first-place finish with an average of 32.5 million viewers tuning in for Tuesday's episode.

Eleven finalists remain in the running to claim the Idol title: Young, Tucker, Paris Bennett, Katharine McPhee, Kellie Pickler, Mandisa, Taylor Hicks, Chris Daughtry, Elliott Yamin, Kevin Covais and Bucky Covington.

The winner is slated to be announced May 24.