It was only one night, but here's betting it's one Chikezie will want to forget.
After exhausting his store of Luther Vandross tunes, the 22-year-old former airport screener was eliminated from American Idol Wednesday, leaving nine finalists in the mix to become pop music's next big thing.
Even though he was criticized by Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell last week for his frenetic-tempo twist on the Beatles' "I've Just Seen a Face," they didn't particularly enjoy his simple crooner's take on Vandross' "If Only for One Night," either.
"This went back to a very old-school" style," Randy said, adding, "I didn't love it for you…It wasn't hip and cool."
Paula Abdul, who on the other hand seemed to love everything everybody did last night as the contestants took on songs from the year they were born, continued to profusely praise his singing skills.
But while this journey has ended, Chikezie made it far enough in the competition to ensure himself a spot on this summer's American Idols Live tour, so that's not it for the Inglewood, Calif., native.
Plus, Chikezie (minus the Eze) is headed for a Thursday appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, part of an agreement with the Burbank-based late-night chatfest to feature each top-10 Idol also-ran as the weeks go by. (Similarly, Jimmy Kimmel Live features Dancing with the Stars' castoffs on Tuesdays.)
Also probably headed for the couch in the near future is Syesha Mercado, safe for another week but in the bottom three Wednesday despite getting raves from Randy and Paula after belting out Gladys Knight's "If I Were Your Woman" (rerecorded by Stephanie Mills in 1987).
She managed to recapture some of the excitement she first sparked during those early Hollywood rounds, at least as far as the judges were concerned, but week after week of questionable song choices and pitch problems may have already secured her a seat on the train to nowhere.
The preternaturally surprised-looking Jason Castro said, however, that he was not shocked to find himself in the bottom three for the first time, especially following a warning from Simon last night to look alive.
Castro, who claims he's in it to win it, strummed along to Sting's "Fragile," a performance that reminded the Brit of a street musician playing for coins in a subway station.
"I think you've had two bad weeks and I think it's time that you start taking this a little bit more seriously," Simon advised the dreadlocked college student, who also celebrated his 21st birthday on Tuesday.
Also for the first time, Kristy Lee Cook was not left clutching the bottom rungs after sneaking back into America's good graces with what was easily her best performance to date, a heartfelt rendition of Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the U.S.A."
"That was the most clever song choice I've heard in years," Simon said, presumably referring to both the song's suitability for Cook's voice and the fact that it would be hard for many voters to resist such an uplifting, patriotic song, especially in this day and age.
Besides, whether they entered elimination territory or not, there were several other singers who deserved one of the bottom spots far more than Cook did this week.
Ramiele Malubay seemingly gambled and lost by tackling Heart's "Alone," which was already woman-handled so proficiently last year by Gina Glocksen. But, perhaps because she was singing through sickness or because she's just so darn cute, off she went into the final nine.
This time around, it was sheer reputation alone that kept David Archuleta out of the bottom three, considering his song choice—"You're the Voice" by Australian artist John Farnham—was suspect, to say the least.
"Maybe I got a little carried away," the 17-year-old said when asked Wednesday about his "theme park"-reminiscent routine.
But, "it's actually one of my favorite songs, so I’m kind of confused as to why they think I didn't choose it myself," he said backstage, referring to Simon's certainty that Archuleta had help when it came to picking that kid-friendly ditty, which unfortunately came off as a poor man's "Heal the World" rather than a top-10 Idol performance.
Brooke White and Carly Smithson also eked their way out of the danger zone after so-so showings last night.
White started off strong doing an acoustic, solo-piano version of "Every Breath You Take," but veered off course once the full band joined in, rendering it a cheap Police knockoff in the end. And Smithson turned in yet another strong, layered vocal—this time on Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart—but, as Simon pointed out, the girl needs to lighten up!
She even admitted onstage Wednesday that she was off her game the night before, attributing her apparent discomfort to the shape-molding undergarments she was wearing.
Finally taking it to the next level, meanwhile, was Michael Johns, who went for mass appeal with Queen's arena anthem "We Will Rock You" mixed with the band's other sports-rock standard, "We Are the Champions."
"Tonight, you got it just right," said Simon, who for the first time since the field was whittled down to 12 didn't have to temper his criticism with "you just haven't found the right song yet."
And a week after underwhelming the resident crabapple, David Cook capped off the night with a Chris Cornell-approved version of the Michael Jackson classic "Billie Jean."
By choosing the alt-rocker version of the song, he avoided the paradoxical pitfall that downs each of the contestants at some point—they're either compared unfavorably to the original artist or they get lambasted for bringing nothing new or original to the song—and hoisted Randy onto the "you could win it all, baby!" bandwagon.
Wednesday's show also featured the usual rap session with the contestants and judges answering viewer-submitted questions (White would like to duet with John Mayer, Simon assured a teenage girl angling for Ryan Seacrest's job that not much talent is needed) and a performance by season two finalist Kimberley Locke.
Next week, the remaining nine finalists will sing the tunes of guest mentor Dolly Parton, and the iconic country star will perform her new single, "Jesus & Gravity."