Billboard requires a JavaScript enabled browser to get the full experience

'American Idol' Down To Nine As Michael Sarver Exits

Comments

  March 27, 2009 8:03 EDT

Michael Sarver got a crude awakening Thursday night from his "American Idol" life.

The 27-year-old oil rig worker from Jasper, Texas, made his final plea by belting out "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," but it just wasn't slick enough for the judges to overrule the votes of viewers.

Sarver was also in the bottom two last week, and put on a consensus weak performance in Wednesday night's performance round. Even sugary-sweet Paula Abdul chimed in, comparing the 27-year-old oil rig worker from Jasper, Texas, to an old-school Vegas lounge act.

His unrefined reprisal of the Temptations classic didn't appear to tempt the judges to spend their one-time save of a low-vote getter. The four got their heads together for a moment, then Simon Cowell told the married father of two children: "Michael, you're going home. Sorry."

Matt Giraud, 23, of Kalamazoo, Mich., was the other bottom vote-getter, despite the judges' positive appraisal of his "Let's Get it On" by Marvin Gaye.

Stevie Wonder kept the Motown mojo of this week's show going by singing a medley of his songs, energizing both the contestants — who were dancing and grooving along — and audience.

The nine contestants who remain on the Fox network's singing competition are Allison Iraheta, Adam Lambert, Anoop Desai, Danny Gokey, Kris Allen, Lil Rounds, Matt Giraud, Megan Corkrey and Scott MacIntyre.

Fox pushed this week's "American Idol" broadcasts back a day to steer clear of President Obama's prime-time news conference on Tuesday night.


AP LogoCopyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Up for Discussion

Post Comment

Sort By

More Features

All features

The Chart Game: Can you predict the hotness?

Get your recommended daily allowance of music news in one two-minute video dose.

Soundtrack of My Life

Thanks For Joining Billboard

Log in to create your profile, speak your mind and connect with listeners like you.

Why Join ?

Don't just hear it. Live it. Go deeper than a casual listen: Voice your feelings, build a profile around your favorite music, connect with people who share your passions and discover new ones. Sign up for free.

Complete Your Registration at Billboard.com!

Haven't Joined Yet ?

For the full Billboard experience, you need to be a member. Sign up. It's free.

Join Billboard

Forgot your password?

Enter the e-mail address you used to sign up and we will email you the password .

Email Sent !

Your password has been sent to the email address you provided. Please sign in below :

Log In

Forget your password ?

Action Successful

We'd love to hear your feedback on the new Billboard.com!

Whether it's a feature request or a bug

We want to hear from you. Please use this form to anonymously give us your input.

open
close

CLICK PLAY TO RESUME