powered by FreeFind

Apple iTunes

Archives

Idol: Rockwall kid in Top 10 while resident rocker goes home


Out and still in: rocker Amanda Overmyer, Rockwall's Jason Castro.

By ED BARK
American Idol cemented its top 10 and post-competition road show field Wednesday with the somewhat unexpected vote-off of rough-hewn Amanda Overmyer.

The oft-overbearing, gravel-voiced rocker got the boot instead of fellow Bottom Two-er Kristy Lee Cook, who keeps circling the drain.

Still solid is Rockwall's Jason Castro, despite the 20-year-old's unfortunate choice of the girly "Michelle" for his second Beatles tune on the previous night.

Both Castro and Overmyer, who did "Back in the USSR," got tepid reviews from the Idol judges. But so did just about everyone else, including Carly Smithson and her rendition of "Blackbird." She joined Overmyer and Cook among the show's three lowest vote-getters. The former failed MCA Records artist, who used to be Carly Hennessy, remains on her second voyage of "discovery" after her previous label reportedly spent $2.2 million trying to make her a star.

Idol also announced four upcoming "mentors" for the coming weeks. They are Dolly Parton, Neil Diamond, Mariah Carey and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

The seventh edition of the Fox mega-hit continues to play to big crowds. Tuesday's latest performance show drew 27.3 million viewers in the national Nielsens, crushing opposition in its second hour from ABC's Dancing with the Stars.