Warning! The following contains spoilers for American Idol**! Read at your own risk.**
American Idol's Top 6 didn't make it easy on America this week, with each remaining competitor bringing the house down while simultaneously building it back up with each performance. Unfortunately, someone had to leave, but the judges' remaining save ensured either Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon or Laci Kaye Booth would advance. Left with one last opportunity to rescue an outbound contestant, the judges took things down to the wire and saved Booth. The internet, to put it mildly, thought that was a bad call.
One viewer summed up the foul feelings appropriately enough.
It was obvious that Season 17's stocked talent pool would lead to eliminations and other moments destined to set off angry fans once everything got down to the nitty gritty. Still, everyone assumedly held the faith that the judges would use that final save to ensure the "right" person could keep going if the votes went sour for certain beloved contestants.
The good news is American Idol's judges won't get another chance to let fans down with a save again this season. The bad news? Another huge fan favorite, Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon, is out of the competition. As evidenced above, fans are NOT being shy about letting the excitable Katy Perry and the rest of the judges know that they made the wrong call in saving Laci Kaye Booth. For example:
Lots of shaking heads out there, no doubt. Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon has been one of American Idol's most consistent performers in the competition since the beginning, and his story really caught the attention of fans. Harmon was at odds with his family after coming out as a gay man, but as he progressed throughout the competition, his family members slowly reached out to re-establish contact. It was one of the season's more heart-warming stories, and hopefully a tale that continues developing for him after the competition.
Again, though, it wasn't just the story but the talent that had Harmon's fans riled up after he was voted off.
Of course, the judges' save was only a safety net, so for every finger pointed at the three musicians after the latest episode, there were quite a few pointed back at the voters who didn't come together to vote Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon through in the first place. Had enough fans made their votes heard, Jeremiah would have been in Season 17's top 5 competitors without needing a save.
Had this fan made his voice heard loud enough, there probably would have been NSFW warnings blaring ahead of it.
A fair amount of aggressive opinions were pointed at Laci Kaye Booth after she was confirmed to continue, but she wasn't the only competitor that America thought didn't deserve the Top 5. As has been the trend for a few weeks now, the more vocal critics of Wade Cota made it known they did not believe he deserved that spot in the final round over Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon.
If American Idol ever held a mini-competition where fans got to vote on who remained a judge in the following season, this episode probably would have doomed them.
With the judges' save now used, there's nothing to save the remaining competitors, who will have one more chance to battle it out ahead of the finale. Right now Alejandro Aranda still feels like the favorite, although Laine Hardy and Wade Cota have both proven they have fans who will vote them through even when they're off their A-games. Will either man take out Aranda, or will Laci Kaye Booth or Madison VanDenBerg be the ones to shock the world?
Cota definitely won't if this person has anything to say about it.
The winner will be revealed soon as American Idol Season 17 has a couple weeks left on ABC Sundays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Stick with CinemaBlend for news on the competition, and other things happening in the world of television.
