American Idol voted out the sixth of its fifth season finalists during last night's live results show, with Ace Young, a 25-year-old from Los Angeles, CA, being eliminated from the Fox reality talent competition as a result of receiving the fewest home viewer votes.
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In addition to being a member of last week's bottom three vote-getters, Ace had also been a member of Week 2 and Week 3's bottom threesome.
Joining Ace in the week's bottom three vote-getters were Paris Bennett and Chris Daughtry. While Paris had been a previous member of the show's prior bottom threesomes, the inclusion of Chris -- considered to be one of the competition's strongest singers -- was unexpected.
Chris, a 26-year-old from McLeansville, NC, had performed "What A Wonderful World" during Tuesday night's show. After weeks of prodding from Simon, the song had marked Chris' first departure from the rock format with which he had admitted being most comfortable -- and Simon hadn't hesitated to take credit for Chris' strong performance of the song on Tuesday. However, after Wednesday's broadcast revealed that the performance had landed Chris in the week's bottom three, Simon quickly changed his tune. "I wasn't the one who was singing," Simon replied curtly when Idol host Ryan Seacrest asked the Idol judge about the turn of events.
Paris, a 17-year-old from Fayetteville, GA, had sung "These Foolish Things." All three judges had largely praised the performance. "This was a classy, great performance," Idol judge Randy Jackson had remarked, deeming it her greatest performance ever. "I thought it was terrific," normally sharp-tongued Simon had added.
After revealing the bottom three vote-getters, Ryan disclosed that Paris had finished as the week's third lowest vote-getter, leaving Ace and Chris to face elimination alone.
Ace took his elimination well. "I've had a blast and I can't wait to perform [on Idol's summer concert tour] with all the Top 10 and see all my fans that have seen me through the TV," he told Ryan after his fate was revealed.
Next week will see another of Idol's finalists eliminated, with the six remaining contestants once again taking to the stage during Tuesday's 8PM ET/PT performance show and later learning their fate during Wednesday's 9:00-9:30PM ET/PT live results show.
The six contestants still competing in American Idol 5's finals are:
 Paris Bennett, a 17-year-old from Fayetteville, GA (Auditioned in Greensboro)
Paris began singing at the age of 4. She has performed in numerous concerts and has opened for many groups, including Bow Wow. Paris is a skilled dancer in hip-hop, jazz and modern African dance. |
 Chris Daughtry, a 26-year-old from McLeansville, NC (Auditioned in Denver)
Chris discovered his singing ability in algebra class. A gifted guitar player and songwriter, Chris has already recorded a CD with his band Absent Element. For the past three years, Chris has been a service advisor for a car dealership in Greensboro, NC. In 2000, Chris married his wife Deanna and became a stepfather of two. |
 Taylor Hicks, a 29-year-old from Birmingham, AL (Auditioned in Las Vegas)
Taylor is a blue-eyed soul singer who has played every honky-tonk imaginable. A talented writer and harmonica player, Taylor enters the competition with almost 29 years of singing experience, as he has been singing since he could crawl. |
 Katharine McPhee, a 21-year-old from Sherman Oaks, CA (Auditioned in San Francisco)
Katharine was born and raised in Los Angeles. She was exposed at an early age to the joy of singing by her mother, a vocal coach. After high school, Katharine attended the prestigious Boston Conservatory for one semester and majored in musical theater. |
 Kellie Pickler, a 19-year-old from Albemarle, NC (Auditioned in Greensboro)
Kellie is a waitress who currently lives in Albemarle, NC, and enjoys singing, dancing and shopping for shoes. Kellie has been singing for as long as she can remember, but only began performing for crowds four years ago. |
