Idol loses 2 female finalists

It’s not easy to see someone being stripped of her dream of being the first Philippine Idol. The agony is doubled when you are watching two dreams broken on the same night. It’s even worst when one of the strong contenders got booted out of the competition earlier than expected.

Last Monday’s results show was another intense episode in Philippine Idol as two female finalists were eliminated – Jeli Mateo and Arms Cruz. Some viewers were actually surprised, not necessarily disappointed, to see Jeli in the hotspot since she was never a low vote-getter.

Jeli and Pow Chavez were the first two contestants host Ryan Agoncillo asked to stay in the hotspot. Almost everyone was sure Pow’s going to be eliminated since it was her second time to hit bottom. Finally, when Ryan announced, "Pow, you’re safe!" everybody inside the Philippine Idol theater at SM Megamall screamed at the top of their lungs while Jeli tried to hide her tears. But she wasn’t able to contain her emotions as her exit VTR flashed on the big screen. Jeli sang for the last time You Don’t Know Me which got a not-so-bad review from two resident judges Mr. Ryan Cayabyab and Pilita Corrales and guest judge Luke Mijares.

Pow, however, was happy to escape the elimination for the second time around. She is the Maestro’s bet to be the first Philippine Idol and she’s feeling the pressure especially now that she hit bottom twice. "Nakaka-pressure talaga. I don’t want to disappoint Mr. C. I will try my best to make my next performance not just okay but spectacular," she gushes.

When it was time to announce the finalist who got the second lowest votes, Ryan called out Apple Chiu and then Arms. The audience then was anxious seeing two of the strongest contenders in the bottom four. Ryan even asked the judges why they think these two girls should stay and why should they go. Mr. C, Mamita and Luke agreed Apple and Arms are two of the best performers in the lot and no one between them should go. Finally, Ryan told Apple to take her seat as she was safe and Arms was the one to go home that night. Arms’ supporters wept while Apple’s fans didn’t know how to react. Arms sang her last performance on the show with so much passion while the audience gave her standing ovation, just like what they did to Reymond Sajor, the third finalist to be voted off.

There were some theories on why Jeli and Arms were the ones eliminated. One of these, they say, was because of the sudden change in the voting mechanics.

Last Sunday, before the show ended, Ryan announced the new rules on voting. Instead of overnight, the voting window for Philippine Idol will now be patterned after American Idol and will only be for two hours right after the performance night.

Most viewers were caught off guard with the announcement specially Arms’ supporters from Zamboanga. According to Arms, she was hoping for a miracle before the announcement last Monday. She claimed she got a lot of feedback from Zamboanga telling her many of them weren’t able to vote because they thought the voting is still overnight. "Medyo na-feel ko na na parang ako na ang matatanggal. Many of my supporters were not able to vote. Yung iba Sunday pa dapat boboto at nagulat sila tapos na pala ang botohan," she narrates. Still, Arms tries to look at the bright side, "I know there’s a reason for everything. I guess this is really my time to go. I’m sad, not because I got booted out but because I will miss all my friends in the show," she adds.

Jeli, on the other hand, is still optimistic. "Being in the top 12 was more than enough for me. I’m happy to have gotten this far in the competition." Asked if she thought the new voting rule was unfair, she quickly replies, "You may call everything unfair, what’s fair in life, nothing. But I have no qualms in the voting system."

There’s also this theory that voters of Apple and Jan Nieto have their own strategies. They are thinking like the contestants in the hit reality series, Survivor, where they vote for the weakest so they will go up against them in the finals. No wonder Ken Dingle never experiences being in the bottom three even if, most often than not, the judges diss his performance. He, however, was able to redeem himself last Monday when he sang Get Here.

There were also unconfirmed reports claiming that had the elimination continued on the Pinoy band hits theme, where no one got booted out due to technical glitches of the two telecommunications companies, the bottom three would have been Mau, Gian and Apple. If these were true, the new voting rules actually saved them from the elimination.

Whether these theories are true or not, one thing’s for sure: the seven remaining contestants – Pow, Mau, Apple, Gian, Jan, Ken and Miguel – must jazz up their performance every week to prove they deserve to be in the competition. Who will stand out in the next episode of Philippine Idol where the theme is dance/disco night? Will viewers finally get it right in voting? We will find out tonight at 9 (results night) on ABC 5.