And then there were six

Right at the top of the show they flashed a sign on the screen that said “Another results shocker on Idol”. With Hollie and Elise already in the bottom three, that last group of three had to be where the loser was coming from. Jessica was sent to safety first, which pretty much wrote Colton’s epitaph. Phil-Phil ain’t going anywhere; and of course Hollie or Elise wouldn’t exactly be a shocker.

Colton went from safe to already gone in a single week. Here is the short list of sudden departures (never been in a hard chair) between 7^th place and 4^th place:

Tamyra Gray (4^th, season 1)

Constantine Maroulis (6^th, season 4)

Kelly Pickler (6^th, season 5)

Siobhan Magnus (6^th, season 9)

James Durbin (4^th, season 10)

Colton Dixon (7^th, season 11)

That’s it. Colton lands in a pretty stout group. Look at those names. Other than Siobhan, all of them ended up with recording contracts, and have sold albums. Gray sold 123,000 copies of her first album, peaking at number 23. Maroulis hit the top 10 indy albums chart twice, and has had a long run of Broadway success. Pickler sold well over a million copies of her three albums combined, reached number one with the first two (the third one is currently number 2), and has one gold and one platinum single. Durbs has already sold over 100,000 albums and he’s just getting out on tour. Even Siobhan, who turned down record deals from Idol affiliates to go her own way, became the first Idol finalist to produce and release a full studio album without an established record label backing her.

Finishing this low, and sort of on a bad note, drastically reduces Colton’s options. I doubt that Jimmy is interested, based on his previous comments (he’s not much of a Colton fan). Will someone else step up? It’s hard to say. I think he’s commercial enough to sell records, and if his songs are good he should be able to find a label. Idols have been denting the charts up pretty good lately, so their cache in the industry is fairly strong again. My guess is he’ll get a deal.

Power Rankings:

6- Hollie: She has been bottom two 3 times now, tied with Stefano from last season for the most times ever. Can she do it one more time?

5- Elise: On borrowed time already, she should quit talking to the judges. It’s not helping her.

4- Joshua: Polarizing style keeps him from being a serious contender for the crown.

3- Jessica: Looking a wee bit shaky emotionally, and it’s not for sure that she has any voice left.

2- Skylar: She might be more likely to win than anyone now, butColton’s ouster probably guarantees Phil a spot in the finale.

1- Phil: Genius, or put-on?America is buying, so it doesn’t matter.

Odds of winning:

Hollie 8 gazillion-1

Elise 50-1

Joshua 25-1

Jessica 5-2

Phil 2-1

Skylar 2-1

It’s a three way race now, withColton out of the picture.