Bye Bye Kellie Pickler

[queeniebee]

Kellie was definitely entertaining but was in over her head as a singer. She will be missed

"Idol" Unchains Kellie Pickler

By Sarah Hall 35 minutes ago

American Idol fans have picked off Kellie Pickler.

The twangiest of the Southern twangers ever to compete on the talent search met her demise Wednesday after receiving the lowest tally of the record 47.5 million votes cast by viewers.

The bubbly blonde seemed a likely contender for elimination after her performance of "Unchained Melody" failed to impress the judges on Tuesday.

Randy Jackson called the song "strange," while Simon Cowell compared Pickler to "a robot." But it was Paula Abdul who was uncharacteristically critical.

"I don't see you raising the bar each week," Abdul said. "At this point it is about greatness, and I don't feel that in you."

The majority of Idol voters apparently weren't feeling it either, and cast their ballots accordingly, declining to "Pick Pickler."

"After seeing my performance last night, I feel like I deserve to be here," Pickler confessed, after learning that she and Paris Bennett were in the bottom two.

It was the second week in a row that Pickler's vocals failed to live up to the challenge.

Last week, she confessed that she "butchered" her performance of "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered," playing a humility card that ultimately paid off, as she managed to escape elimination and even avoided the bottom three.

This time around, however, her luck finally ran out.

It's fair to say that Pickler may not have lasted as long as she did on the competition were it not for the support of two very different factions of voters.

She has long been the contestant of choice for Idol-bashing Website VoteFortheWorst.com, which urges its visitors to vote for the singer it deems the least talented--just to keep things interesting. (The site is currently conducting a poll to determine who to throw its might behind next--so far, Taylor Hicks has the lead.)

Less cynical support came from her hometown of Ablemarle, North Carolina (population 15,600), where a Pick Pickler phone bank was erected so that residents could cast free text votes on Wednesday nights after watching their girl perform on Idol. According to a local North Carolina NBC affiliate, more than 11,000 votes were cast through the 50-phone setup last week.

Despite her town's best efforts to keep her in Hollywood, Pickler is headed home.

Wednesday's results show featured a performance by Andrea Bocelli, who served as this week's celebrity coach, along with David Foster.

Meanwhile, after telling People magazine last week that he and Abdul weren't speaking due to a disagreement, Ryan Seacrest seems to have moved past his feud with the "Forever Your Girl" singer--at least on camera.

When asked by Cowell, "Are you two talking yet, by the way?" Seacrest tersely replied, "Yes," while Abdul gushed, "We love each other." (Good thing the show's about finding singers, not actors.)

Five contestants remain in the running to become the next Idol: Katharine McPhee, Chris Daughtry, Elliott Yamin, Bennett and Hicks. The winner will be announced May 24.


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