American Idol eliminated Paige Miles and determined its Top 10 ninth-season finalists during Wednesday night's live results show broadcast on Fox.
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Miles -- a 24-year-old pre-school and after-school teacher from Naples, FL who currently resides in Houston, TX -- became the second finalist sent home from American Idol's ninth-season finals after she received the fewest home viewer votes following Tuesday night's live performance broadcast that saw the Top 11 finalists perform songs which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
While she had managed to survive the season's three semifinals rounds and last week's initial Top 12 finals round, Miles' performances had underwhelmed American Idol's judges in recent weeks and her elimination became final seconds after Idol host Ryan Seacrest announced she was the week's low vote-getter.
Instead of following the show's normal format and giving Miles a chance to "sing for her life" and convince American Idol's judges to use "The Judges' Save" to prevent her ouster, Simon Cowell immediately announced he and the other judges would not be using their once-per-season power to keep her in the competition and overrule the voting results.
"Regardless of your singing, you're going to end up going home tonight. It's got to a point where it's not working. I don't want to give you any false hope here, it's the end," Cowell said.
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Instead, Cowell urged Miles -- who the judges had originally labeled the season's best female voice before her more recent performances began frustrating them -- to find a way to rediscover the talent they had originally been impressed with.
"In terms of encouragement, take yourself back to where we first saw you. Because you really genuinely had a great voice. So you've got to take yourself back, work things out," he said. "You performed in front of millions of people and you've got to use that to your advantage. I'm really sorry, but I don't want to give you any false [hope]."
"Is that the unanimous decision? All of you agree?" Seacrest asked Cowell.
"100% unanimous, yeah," Cowell replied.
Miles, who had also dealt with a case of laryngitis prior to last week's performance show, took the news of her elimination well.
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"I had a blast, you know I had a lot of health issues going on out here with the laryngitis and some fallbacks and bad song choices and things like that," she said. "But I still had a blast and it was a great learning experience."
Miles presumably anticipated her elimination given the judges had completely panned her Tuesday night performance of Mariah Carey's "Against All Odds" and she had also been among last week's bottom three vote-getters.
"Honestly, I don't know if your voice is back or whatever is happening but that was honestly terrible. It was terrible. Really, honestly," Randy Jackson said. "I know you're probably better than that so maybe you don't have your voice back. I don't know man, but it was terrible."
"I'm going to start with the positive: you didn't fall down and that's a good thing, right? That's an accomplishment," Ellen DeGeneres added as she struggled to find something positive to say.
"Paige, somewhere along the line I think you stopped competing, and you stopped listening to what we were saying," Kara DioGuardi said. "I have to say, and I'm sorry to say it, it was the worst vocal that I've ever heard from you and possibly of the season. Sorry."
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"I think what Kara said is right, it's like you stopped competing and you stopped believing in yourself, and it's such a shame. Because you were so good weeks ago. But that song, I think it's just killed you," Cowell said. "I think you're going to be in serious, serious trouble [on Wednesday night] sweetheart, I really do."
Prior to Miles' elimination, Timothy "Tim" Urban, a 20-year-old college student from Duncanville, TX, and Katie Stevens, a 17-year-old high school student from Middlebury, CT, were revealed to be the other members of the week's bottom three vote-getters.
Seacrest then revealed Stevens was safe, leaving Miles and Urban -- who like Miles, had also been in last week's bottom threesome -- still facing elimination from American Idol.
About The Author: Steven Rogers