In the Shinto religion, the afterlife is a process of the soul losing its individuality, merging with a common ancestor god. For the past five weeks (of TV time -- six months offscreen time), these 36 have completed the reverse of this process, gaining their individuality and thus achieving immortality.
Through sheer exercise of personal will they rose forth from the featureless human tide that poured into the stadiums to answer the Idol call. A mere three weeks ago, they were one in the very-hard-to-keep-track-of parade of stories and song snippets who nervously shuffled before the judges. Just last week, they were among the scores of cannon fodder sent storming the Omaha Beach of Hollywood Week.
And now, when the smoke clears, the brave survivors who walk forward (doing the Top 36 dance at the end of the show) come forth as heroes, each (or almost each) finally a person in their own right, with their own trail of tears, their own musical style and, beginning tonight, their own fanbase. Before tonight, they were one of some tens of thousands, hundreds or scores of hopeless. From here on in, their names will forever be remembered when in years to come we huddle around the fire and tell stories of Season Eight. And forever shall their images hang in that sacred hall of immortals - the contestants galleries on Americanidol.com.
There is little drama more harrowing in our culture than the Green Mile episode - so dubbed for its resemblance to the solitary walk prisoners must take to their execution. Having been brought to the very precipice of realizing a life beyond their wildest dreams, with greatness hanging in the balance against banishment and a return to eternal anonymity -- at that very point are they forced to walk alone to receive their fate, the moment dangled out endlessly by the tormenting judges (in a plushly upholstered judges mansion chosen, it seems, to give the sense of being received in an audience on Mt. Olympus).
The pure agonizing sorrow of those who have just learned their dreams have come to an end, alongside the jubilation of the chosen -- this is the stuff of which drama is made.
Typically at this point, weve seen the producers initial plans go a little haywire as contestants we built up relationships with in the auditions suddenly fall and a large number of people weve never seen make it through. This year, however, things seem to be going much according to the playbook, with almost all the Top 36, with just a couple of exceptions, having received some screen time thus far.
It must be said that although there is no clear front-runner at this point, there is an exceptionally large number of plausible contenders on the landscape. Close to 20 of these contestants seem plausible Top Sixers; in a typical year they are lucky to see half that number. Immortals though they may be, not all heroes are made equal and in the months ahead lie trials beyond anything they have ever experienced (not including the family tragedies in the stories of many).
For starters, next week will make the Hollywood Week demolition derby look like childs play, as a huge number of already beloved contestants are destined to fall. In the first week of the Top 36 rounds, 12 will perform and then America will vote. Only three will move forward (one boy, one girl and the next top vote-getter). The other nine will see their Idol careers come to an abrupt end. When one looks at the 12 for next week, it is very difficult to imagine how we can afford to say goodbye already to nine of these.
The list:
Alexis Grace
Allison Iraheta
Ann Marie Boskovich
Arianna Afsar
Casey Carlson
Felicia Barton
Jackie Tohn
Jasmine Murray
Jeanine Vailes
Jessie Langseth
Kendall Beard
Kristen McNamara
Lil Rounds
Megan Corkrey
Mishavonna Henson
Stevie Wright
Tatiana Nicole Del Toro
Taylor Vaifanua
Adam Lambert
Alexander Wagner-Trugman
Anoop Desai
Brent Keith
Danny Gokey
Jorge Nunez
JuNot Joyner
Kai Kalama
Kris Allen
Matt Breitzke
Matt Giraud
Michael Sarver
Nathaniel Marshall
Nick Mitchell
Ricky Braddy
Scott MacIntyre
Stephen Fowler
Von Smith
The good news for many screaming in outrage over her advancement is that Tatiana will now face the wrath of the electorate and her reign of terror should come to an abrupt finale (to be followed by appearances on the “Today" show, Leno, Ellen ...
Those who are eliminated will have one more chance at survival when some of the fallen will be brought back for a Wild Card round to air on March 5. The odds by them will be heavily stacked against them however.
Assuming Danny Gokey and Alexis Grace are almost guaranteed to move forward, can we really go on so soon without Anoop? Jackie Tohn? Say goodbye to Casey Carlson and our roughneck friend just next week? It seems unthinkable, but this is the life we in Idol Nation have chosen. And the mantle of history is upon us. Great days are at hand.
