A friend on Facebook said Scotty was in the bottom three one time and that James never was. So, being the curious sort (I love research) I had to go back through my blogs and then do a little research on the Internet to track down the information required. So here for the rest of you curious folks is what I found:
Top 13 (March 10) Bottom Three: Ashthon, Haley, Karen
Top 12 (March 17) Bottom Three: Haley, Karen, Naima
Top 11 (March 24) Bottom Three: Casey, Stefano, Thia
Top 11, part 2, (March 31) Bottom Three: Naima, Paul, Thia
Top 9 (April 7) Bottom Three: Haley, Jacob, James
Top 8 (April 14) Bottom Three: Haley, Paul, Stefano
Top 7 (April 21) Bottom Three: Haley, Jacob, Stefano
Top 6 (April 28) ― NO Bottom Three announced: Only the contestant who was leaving was announced. All others were told they were safe in random order. Scotty and Casey were the final two on the stage, but Ryan made a point of telling the audience that they were not the bottom two.
From USA Today, 4/28/11: "On a night when American Idol didn't offer viewers a Bottom Three and Ryan Seacrest sent individual contestants back to safety 'in random order,' the growling jazz singer from Idyllwild, Calif., got the news that he was going home. For real this time."
Top 5 (May 5) Bottom Two (not Three): Jacob and Lauren
Top 4 (May 12) ― TOP Three announced: Once again, only the contestant going home was announced, and that was James
Have I mentioned I was a bookkeeper in my former (pre-writing) life? So I had to look at the numbers. Here's how it stacked up for our final four.
Haley: 5 times in the bottom three
James: 1 time in the bottom three
Lauren: 1 time in the bottom two
Scotty: 0 times in the bottom two/three
Looks to me like Haley is our miracle girl! But does that also show us who the winner will be?
~robin
I'm still a little flabbergasted at how this has turned out. Nothing at all like I expected. I thought for sure Hayley would be going home tonight. What about you?
Posted by: Rachel Carrington | Thursday, May 12, 2011 at 09:28 PM
I agree with Rachel. I was stunned. Haley had two very weak performances the last two weeks, James has been strong (IMO) almost every performance. He was definitely the Daughtry of this season. I honestly saw him taking this whole thing, even though I'm a Scotty fan.
Posted by: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1041093039 | Thursday, May 12, 2011 at 09:42 PM
Rachel, I thought it would be a girl who went home tonight and I thought the odds were heavily in favor of the girl being Haley. No wonder I thought that, seeing she'd been in the bottom three 5 times!
Posted by: Robin Lee Hatcher | Thursday, May 12, 2011 at 09:48 PM
As a country music fan (and a Randy Travis fan who Scotty reminds me of), I too am partial to Scotty. But James really won my admiration with his consistently excellent performances and with all he's overcome. And from everything they've shown us, he is a loving husband and father so that makes him appealing as well. I'm going to miss him in the finals.
Posted by: Robin Lee Hatcher | Thursday, May 12, 2011 at 09:53 PM
I'm edging back into my "conspiracy theory" mode with Idol. I'm not sure our "votes" really matter... I'm not so sure that the producers don't decide who wins. Remember last year? There's no WAY Lee should have won that competition. Anyway...they really need a girl to win this year. It's been quite a long time since a girl won (Jordin?), so I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a Lauren/Haley finale.
Posted by: Jeff Bickley | Friday, May 13, 2011 at 05:44 AM
I, too, am a Scotty fan, but I also really love James. I split my votes between Scotty and James last week and would have done the same thing again this week, but since I was at Wicked, I missed voting.
James, by far, was the best this year. I am totally shocked that he got the boot last night. And to be quite honest, his departure has made it so that I'm not all that interested anymore. I don't like either of the girls...especially can't stand Haley. And while Scotty is good, James is fabulous. He has always put on a great, entertaining show. Without him, I'm just not much interested anymore.
I'm kind of with Jeff Bickley...not really sure it's our votes that do anything. The show wants a girl winner, so they might just make sure it happens.
Posted by: Patti | Friday, May 13, 2011 at 05:54 AM
LOL! Sorry. I don't buy the "conspiracy theory." I think it is much for the vagaries of the voting public.
Posted by: Robin Lee Hatcher | Friday, May 13, 2011 at 08:00 AM
I'm starting to have visions of Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts in "Conspiracy Theory." You and Jeff aren't hoarding weird stuff in your houses, are you? LOL! As much as Idol may want another girl to win, I think Scotty may pull it off, especially if Haley and Lauren split the votes of those who want a female winner.
Posted by: Robin Lee Hatcher | Friday, May 13, 2011 at 08:04 AM
Have to admit I was shocked to see James go home. So was he. But while I admire him for all he has overcome and for his obvious love of his wife and son, I didn't like the heavy metal he loves. That's the kind of artist he wants to be. Loved when he did songs that showcased his voice and range. Hated when he screeched. It'll be interesting to see if Scotty carries the day or one of the girls.
Posted by: Sunni | Friday, May 13, 2011 at 09:36 PM
Yeah, I'm no heavy metal fan either. I think the odds are in Scotty's favor, but I wouldn't bet money on the outcome at this point. Who will James's fans vote for now? Will they bother to vote? Guess we'll know in two weeks.
Posted by: Robin Lee Hatcher | Saturday, May 14, 2011 at 07:53 AM