The judges on American Idol season 19 decided not to put Graham DeFranco into the Top 12, and viewers are shocked by this result. DeFranco auditioned for the show by performing Band of Horses' "Part One" in front of American Idol judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, and Lionel Richie. He received a very positive reception, with Bryan saying DeFranco has a "world-class voice." After making it through Hollywood Week and the Showstopper round, DeFranco finally got to sing for America's votes. And while he made it into the Top 16, the good news stopped there.
After performing Frank Sinatra's "That's Life" during the Top 16 round, DeFranco didn't receive enough votes to make it into America's Top 10. But he had one more opportunity during Monday night's results show. He performed Jason Isbell's "Cover Me Up" for the chance at one of the judges' two saves.
Unfortunately for DeFranco, the American Idol judges (with Paula Abdul filling in for Bryan) decided to save Madison Watkins and Beane. This meant that DeFranco, Colin Jamieson, and Alanis Sophia were eliminated from the competition, just one step short of making it into the Top 12 on American Idol season 19. Viewers are expressing their shock and disappointment on social media.
It's clear a lot of viewers are unhappy with the American Idol season 19 judges over their decision. At the same time, not enough viewers voted for DeFranco in the Top 16 round. He would not have been put in this situation to begin with if enough of his fans turned out to vote. Situations like this happen all the time on Idol. Music is a very subjective art, and not everyone will agree with each other's opinions on performances, no matter how good the contestants are. Strong singers are sometimes eliminated way too early, and then there are average singers who end up advancing far longer than they should.
The judges end up taking a lot of heat when they have to make the decisions. Whether it's the auditions, Hollywood Week, the Showstopper round, the semifinals, or the Judges' Save during the live shows, viewers always end up taking their anger out on Perry, Bryan, and Richie. It's one thing if the viewers themselves eliminated a strong singer (like Jennifer Hudson or Chris Daughtry), which is still very frustrating. But in this case, it seems like both the judges and viewers are at fault.
Despite this result, there are some really talented contestants still left in the competition on American Idol season 19, including Deshawn Goncalves, Ava August, Alyssa Wray, Willie Spence, and Grace Kinstler. Viewers will have another opportunity to vote for their favorites on Sunday night when the theme is Oscar-nominated music. Then on Monday night, 10 contestants from season 18 will return to compete in the comeback round, since they weren't able to perform on the big stage at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic last year. It's clear viewers will continue sharing their strong opinions. Going forward, though, the judges will no longer have a say in who stays and who is eliminated. The results will be solely based on America's votes.
American Idol airs Sundays and Mondays at 8pm on ABC.
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