American Idol's thirteenth season has lost another contestant and determined the competition's Top 2 finale contestants.
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Alex Preston, a 20-year-old from Mont Vernon, NH, became the eleventh finalist sent home from American Idol's thirteenth season on Thursday night after he had received the fewest home viewer votes cast following Wednesday night's Top 3 performance show, which had featured each finalist singing three songs each -- mentor Randy Jackson's pick, the judges' pick, and a song selected for each contestant by his or her hometown.
"Music is totally my outlet. The cool thing about it, is you can put all your emotions into the music, and then other people listen to it. And if it moves them, then that just shows how strong your emotions are. Whenever I get onstage, it's like a home because I kind of just completely zone out and forget everything. This show has definitely made me realize who I am as an artist. I'm still in shock, to be honest, it feels like a dream," Alex said in a video montage that played following his ouster.
Alex closed out the show by singing an original song entitled "Fairy Tales."
Alex's ouster set up a Caleb Johnson versus Jena Irene finale. Caleb, a 22-year-old from Asheville, NC, will perform in the finale with Kiss. Jena, a 17-year-old from Farmington Hills, MI, will take the stage with Paramore. Although Alex can no longer win the title of the next "American Idol," he will perform in the finale with Jason Mraz.
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During Wednesday night's performance show, Alex first took the stage with "Pompeii" by Bastille, which was Randy's song selection for him. The indie pop singer's rendition really impressed American Idol judges Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr. They all agreed he had stepped his game up a notch.
"I see you and I see what you're doing, Alex. I see the inner workings of everything that's going on right now. We've been telling you to create moments, we've been telling you, 'What are you going to do that's going to make it different?'... You just had me right from [the percussion]. And then you just took it and you went over to the crowd and it was a different Alex, a kind of elevated Alex. That was a great performance for me," Jennifer explained.
"Great credit is due to Randy for picking that song, because it kind of gave you everything you needed at this point in the competition. It gave you a young, hip song that made me envision what you would sound like on the radio doing something like that. It showcased a little bit of everything. The only thing I would say is I could see the wheels turning, which is not necessarily something I want to see... It felt a little piecemeal to me," Harry said.
"I agree to a certain degree. There were a few shaky bits because you've got to remember so many things right now... I get it. But despite that, the coolest moment is when you went to that drum and sang. That's when you became the most solid as a singer," Keith added. "I saw some great stuff in there."
Alex's best song of the night was a stripped down version of "Stay" by Rihanna. The judges' pick gave Alex a moment to be remembered, and both Jennifer and Keith gave him a standing ovation.
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"I knew you would sing the heck out of that song. Oh my God. It was beautiful. It was beautiful and it was all yours. We forgot about everybody; It was yours," Jennifer noted.
"It was beautiful. It was really, really strong. I could go on and on about all the things I loved about it," Harry told Alex.
"You're taking artistic choices and owning a song. For me, you just owned that song from beginning to end. The arrangement was killer... The audience responded, Jen got the goosies... I loved it, Alex. Excellent, man," Keith explained.
Alex followed up "Stay" with "Story Of My Life" by One Direction. His hometown of Mont Vernon selected it for him.
"This is so hard. It's so hard. America really has their work cut out for them. I see three people who want in this finale so bad, and it's just so hard because all of you are amazing. They have a tough choice tonight. That was a great job," Jennifer said.
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"Alex, your hometown really cares for you because this song really strikes a chord with people. I don't know of anyone who doesn't love that song... It was another sort of classic Alex performance. I think it was very strong. Nice job," Harry told him.
"For me, personally, I think it was very hard to come out after 'Stay.' Your version of 'Stay' was so good, man! So for me, that was probably coming down a little bit from that performance, but the fact you nailed that one tonight, your average is really, really strong," Keith explained.
American Idol's final performance show will air on Tuesday night. The last live results show of the season will then air on Wednesday night.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski