In Memoriam: American Idol Loser Didi Benami

As Tim Urban enjoyed another three-minute bath in elimination lighting during last night's Idol, our beleaguered Princess Toadstool -- the lovely Didi Benami -- stood by his side as Seacrest announced she was the lowest vote-getter. A stirring performance of "Rhiannon" wasn't enough to save the Los Angeles waitress, and Simon reluctantly flushed her down a CBS Television City urinal. You may have caught on to my slight Didi adoration over the past few weeks. Hehe. I'm sure I'll be fine. Let's give her a stately eulogy after the jump. Spoiler: Caps Lock approaching.

Let's Get My Capitalized Feelings Out of the Way: WHAT. WHAT. NO. NO, GOD. NOT MY EMOTIONALLY FRACTURED "MEET VIRGINIA" WAITRESS OF PASSION. NO. NO, INDEEDY, DIDI. YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO WIN THIS WITH CRYSTAL BOWERSOX AND START UP A WHISTLESTOP SALOON WHERE YOU GIRLS CAN SIT ON A PORCH, WATCH THE TRAINS PASS, AND SING SONGS ABOUT TRAILS. AHEHHHH. CUT THE TAPE. THE TAPE ON MY THROAT.

My Gorgon Rage Continued, Plus Quibbles About Fairness and Katie Stevens' Dumb Face: Now that the outrage is over, this bears repeating: Below-average knee-slider Tim Urban is still crooning for our texts. Michael Lynche is still churning out Heffalump stage actions and feeling all James Brown about it. And Didi Bemani, an exceptional vocalist, is out. And what about Katie Stevens's dumb face? So dumb.

Legacy: After reinvigorating invigorating our faith in Kara DioGuardi's competence with an acoustic version of the songwriter panelist's "Terrified," Didi went on to chirp, warble, and meow her way into becoming a contemporary, mayonnaise-lite version of Rickie Lee Jones. Her takes on "Play With Fire," "Rhiannon," "The Way I Am" and "You're No Good" shimmered with bleats, brass and vulnerability. She emanated the kind of fragility you associate with... well, things that bawl and almost break in half when you tell them to stop singing Bill Withers tunes. Cheer up, you cat in the dark!

What Could've Been: A woozy foray into psychedelia with "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" during next week's Lennon/McCartney episode. A "We are Family" church basement stompalong during Disco Week. An attempt at dirtying her face with permanent markers and sidewalk chalk in order to "stay current" and resemble Ke$ha during Boys Trynna Touch My Junk week.

We Already Miss: Her squabbles with the judges. Her ability to overthink song choices. The tranquilizer dart she embedded in her side before performing "You're No Good." Her actual talent.

Closing Remarks: Didi, I'm bereft. You were a fine challenger, a sincere vocalist and a self-aware artist. But maybe winning would've compelled you to shed the hardest Zoloft-shaped tears of all, and we all know little Aaron Kelly couldn't ford those rapids in his little Mouse Detective outfit. For the safety of everyone here (and for the sake of your own sanity, which is its own unpredictable character actress), we bid you adieu.



Comments

  • Nick says:

    Look at who is there left standing and that will tell you what this show has become. The tweenie with cell phones show. No adult in their right mind would be voting as "talent" the likes of Tim Urban, Andrew whastever his spanish name is, Katie whatsherface (just a little girl with fair chops and nothing else...like personality), and even the young kid 16 Aaron Kelly? Who actually CAN sing (and deserves to be there on talent) but c'mon...he's 16! He barely understands the words he's singing. My point is who's voting.
    Then they vote off true talent like Alex Lambert, Lily Scott, Lacey Brown and now Didi Bemani?
    ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
    Thank God Crystal is soooo good she has developed a "real" fan base.
    Otherwise this year is now officially done...put a fork in it.

  • Mike says:

    I think it's fair to call last night this season's first "shock" - I can't believe Didi was eliminated, paving the way for a lot of movement in rankings of contestants this week. The biggest gainer? Lee Dewyze, who's upward surge on the chart is the biggest of any contestant this season. The biggest loser? It's a surprise - and one you won't see coming. All the rankings here: http://thesmogger.com/2010/04/01/idol-hangover-its-time-for-the-final-9/

  • js says:

    So glad she's gone. She's so inauthentic and creepy and looks way older than her supposed 23 years. Maybe she's had a hard life. Anyway, I guess exploiting your friend's death only gets a person so far.

  • OldTowneTavern says:

    She wasn't going to win it anyway, and she made the tour. She's good looking, and has a well defined musical style, so she's bound to get signed by someone. Things will be fine for her.

  • getbacktowork says:

    louis, i feel your pain... cuz i've felt it before, but not for didi. she needed to go. she was a little flower with a lot of talent, but she really sucked at this competition. as someone pointed out, she'll get to do the tour, and she still might end up somewhere- maybe on that salloon porch with crystal, afterall. but, she wasn't going to win. she hadn't really killed anything and her stage presence was embarrassing (sorry). as for dumb face katie, am i the only one who she's starting to grow on? i'm not minding her anymore. she is respectful, and tries hard to take their criticism and use it. i don't mind her. and aaron kelly is so damn cute i could eat him up. okay, he shouldn't win, and i'm not voting for him, but i think he is ADORABLE. don't worry though, i don't feel the same about tim urban... he'll be gone in a week.

  • Louis Virtel says:

    I was going to say that Didi was this season's Alexis Grace, but Alexis never had a great Idol moment. I think Didi had several. But I agree, Lee DeWyze is on the ups.
    As for Tim Urban -- I could see him outlasting Andrew Garcia and Katie Stevens. Because he's an underworld emperor or something.

  • Greg says:

    Who write this crap? I mean really. There are a lot of very talented people in this competition. I would certainly agree that Tim needs to go, as does Andrew. Neither of them have wowwed anyone with what they can do.
    And while I thought Didi was very attractive, her singing was not even close to the others, except those mentioned above. She should have had a few more weeks perhaps but she would never have made it beyond that.
    Tim is only sticking around because the target audience for the show is teenage/young adult females. That is why every year the females in the top twelve start to drop like flies unless they are really really good.
    YOur top three is easy to pick at this point Lee, Crystal and Casey. Big Mike has a great voice but he is not contemporary with his song choices, Aaron can sign well enough but he has little appeal and personality to bring in votes, Katie is cute but the females will only let her stay a while longer, she can sign but hasn;t shown much range. Tim and Andrew have nothing going for them at all. I liked Andrew in the beginning but he has been an utter disappointment since then.
    Miss Magnus is your one wild card. She has talent and could jump into the top three if she continues to get better, which would be bad for Lee since he is in the bottom portion of that group.
    Crystal should win this thing easily. She has poise, personality, a great voice that she knows how to use. She is consistent, and talented. She is this years David Cook, without the consistent improvement, becasue she doesn;t need it.

  • MOSKI says:

    I loved the tone in Didi's voice but felt she made some poor song choices.I think she will do well in the future however as she has made a solid fan base and her sound is truly unique and tone crystal clear.As for Katie she drove me nuts for the first few weeks as she was SO off pitch on so many songs that I could not understand how she stand on the show.Now she sounds so much better since she has gone to the blues and R&B sound.Kara is right there and Simon so wrong.Crystal is just great everytime she preforms and I would go pay now to see her in concert alone,same with Siobhan who has an amazing voice and this weeks quieter tender version was a nice change,and showed her versatility.Andrew is talented but makes some extremely poor song choices so often that I cannot believe he is still there.Tim is cute and has a nice pleasant voice,His rendition of Hallelujah I saved and still listen to almost everyday as it soothes me.Lee is ok but there are so many artists like him that I do not find anything very unique about him.Michael has a good voice but his dancing is awful and his personality grates on me especially when he threatens the judges with physical violence.Picking up Ryan Seacrist I thought was extremely tacky and embarrassing to him.Aaron has a good country voice but he is very young and his voice still needs to mature some more.In a few years he will be a powerhouse.Casey is my favorite of the men .He is respectful od the judges and has a great blues and jazz voice with a nice rasp to it that reminds me of Bob Seeger one of my favorites.Would love to hear Casey sing "traveling man".Well thats my take for what it worth!!