Whew ... Velasco
survives a close callMaui’s "Idol" hopeful made
the bottom 3 but won the
chance to sing another week
Last night, Camile Velasco received the scare of her life. The Maui entrant in this year's "American Idol" tournament found herself among the bottom three finalists during last night's results show, alongside Matthew Rogers of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., and Diana DeGarmo of Snellville, Ga.
Each week leading up to the show's May finale, the contestant drawing the least number of votes from viewers gets dropped from the competition. In the end, it was Rogers who was sent packing, though Velasco was next in line to leave.
"She never wants to be in that position again," said Velasco's stepfather, James West, who met with Velasco following the show. "She wants the people of Hawaii and everywhere on the mainland to get on (the phone) because she's going to do something special and really blow it out next week. She's taking a real positive attitude, like, 'OK, I'm going to pick it up and do a lot better.'"
While Velasco bolstered her resolve, West said she also shed a few tears following the broadcast. "She's really upset too, because she and Matt went through together from her group and Matt became friends with her. She was upset that Matt's off the show now. They were buddies."
While Verizon Hawaii recorded 2.98 million calls from Hawaii land lines during last Tuesday's voting period, spokesperson Ann Nishida said this week's tally plummeted to 1.68 million calls, a little more than half last week's numbers.
In areas of the country where telephone service is provided by Verizon, Nishida says the total number of calls made to "American Idol" numbers was 19.5 million, although this figure does not include text votes, calls from cellular phones or calls made through other service providers.
"It's a wake-up call for all her fans in Hawaii," remarked an irate Kim Navarro of Moiliili, a Velasco supporter who monitored "American Idol's" official Web site for real-time updates on the competition hours before it aired locally.
"I don't understand how somebody does better in their performance from the week before, and then gets less votes from her own home state. People need to get on it again," Navarro said.
VELASCO FANS can take heart in knowing that a poor showing one week doesn't necessarily mean dismissal the following week. Contestants Amy Adams and Jennifer Hudson wound up in the bottom three in last Wednesday's results show, but stayed clear of the cellar this week.
Likewise, rave reviews are difficult to acquire on a weekly basis, even for a singer like Jasmine Trias, Hawaii's other finalist, who received glowing endorsements from all three judges up until Tuesday night's show.
Rudy Trias, Jasmine's father, viewed the entire spectacle in person both nights. "It was disappointing," he said. "I think they both did good, but the judges sometimes think different. I gotta think optimistic, so I'm just hoping we can make it through another week."
If Jasmine was discouraged by the judges' indifference Tuesday night, she did a good job of hiding it, according to her dad.
"She probably knew she didn't do too good," he said. "I just told her 'You did your best and whatever happens, just be proud of yourself.' "
Celebrity judge Paula Abdul said Tuesday night that Jasmine's previous performances were strong enough so her misstep in singing "Breathe," made famous by Faith Hill, would not hurt her chances in the competition. She was right.
"But you don't know what's going to happen," said Rudy Trias, who, like West, is hoping for stronger showings for the Hawaii Idols next Tuesday. "There's always a surprise with this. You never know, right?"
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