S10E17: Last night we not only found out who was going home, but we also found that audience favorite (and all around awesome guy) Casey Abrams is in the hospital yet again, making us all a little worried that his Idol journey might get cut short if his health continues to be an obstacle. Though Ryan Seacrest kept the suspense about who was in the bottom three to a minimum, putting Ashthon Jones, Haley Reinhart, and Karen Rodriguez in the hot seat early on in the episode, they saved the hardest part for last. Ashthon received the lowest number of votes and was thus given the chance to redeem herself. If she blew the judges away, they could use their one and only save for the whole season to keep her in the competition. Ashthon took to the stage to try another hand at “When You Tell Me That You Love Me” by Diana Ross, and by the time she reached the end, she was in tears. Unfortunately for the singer, Jennifer Lopez delivered the unanimous vote not to use the save for her and she was sent off as a montage of her time on Idol played while her teary face showed up in a picture in picture format so we could all see how upset she was. A little harsh, don’t you think? She just lost, we could give her a little space and just watch the video. But that’s just me.
But did she deserve to go home? I think so, though I certainly didn’t expect her to be sent away before Karen Rodriguez. While I’m not a huge fan of Ashton’s because I think she really needs to figure out how to use her voice — the talent is there, but it badly needs some polish — I do think she deserved the chance to stay a bit longer and perhaps have the chance to improve. However, even if Karen went home this round, unless Ashthon amazed us all in the following weeks, her departure probably wouldn’t be that far behind.
Here’s Ashthon’s last performance on the Idol stage.
