Michael Becker/FOXNo one was really shocked by Idol's Thursday night elimination of Jacob Lusk. We saw it coming from a mile away, but Lauren Alaina's lack of composure while standing in the bottom two made us stop and wonder what would happen if she was sent packing. Would she faint? Collapse into Ryan Seacrest's arms?
Thankfully, Lauren was safe and we didn't have to see a meltdown, but that doesn't mean she wasn't emotional over her near-elimination. Plus, how did Jacob handle his exit from the Idol stage after the cameras stopped rolling?
With only four contestants left, there's no doubt there will be big disappointments in the next couple weeks as Idol gears up for the finale. Thursday was a peek into the near future as fan favorite, Lauren, joined Jacob in the bottom two. Although she seemed to be OK when Ryan put her on one side of the stage opposite James Durbin, when the show cut to commercial she immediately started wiping away tears. Not even knowing if she was in the bottom two, she retreated to the couch with James, who looked like he was about to have a heart attack. While Lauren sat wiping away tear after tear, James sat with a hand over his heart and jaw slightly dropped.
The tension and panic only grew when Jacob and Lauren were announced they were up for elimination. Lauren sat on the couch waiting for Jennifer Lopez's performance looking distraught, but no one seemed to care. The other contestants, Jacob included, sat chatting and smiling with not even a pat on Lauren's back as if to say, 'It's OK.'
Obviously, Lauren was beyond thankful for her reprieve, but her reaction to the mere potential of being in the bottom two really says a lot about her confidence. The judges have made it clear she needs to stop holding back, but after this week's scare, we think Lauren could self-sabotage herself and not give it her all for fear of messing up. We're just speculating, but it wouldn't be the first time an Idol finalist cracked under pressure.
While we're talking about pressure, Jennifer wasn't about to take the Idol stage without proper preparation and her desire to prove her superstardom to an audience of 30 million. So you shouldn't be surprised to hear that her performance was, in fact, pretaped over a week ago. It was three-hour process that included 10 takes. The whole "Jennifer needs to change" line Ryan fed the audience at home was actually a little white lie. Jennifer was just hanging backstage. We're not hating, just wanted to share that little tidbit.
As for Jacob, well he didn't leave quietly. Rather than a somber farewell, Jacob tapped Idol's house band to start playing some hand-clappin', foot-stompin' gospel tunes. The judges, contestants, Jacob's mother and grandmother took over that stage and had a family celebration. While Jacob wailed into the mic, he successfully turned the Idol studio into one big house of the holy and everyone was loving it! So why didn't he do more fun stuff like that during his time on the show? We may never know, but damn...it was fun!
Are you bummed Jacob is gone? Or do you think the right person was sent home? Will Lauren stop holding back and make it to the finals? Let us know in the comments!
(Originally published May 5, 2011, at 7:44 p.m. PT)