LaKisha Jones commands the spotlight to the very end
And finally we cut into the bone.
On Wednesday night, “American Idol” said goodbye to its early co-front-runner, LaKisha Jones. Lost this season beneath the Sanjaya hysteria was the more quietly subversive spectacle of the Kiki Show.
Initially aloof from the other contestants (she told one interviewer quite plainly that she hadn’t come here to make friends -- although in the end she broke down and seemed to make some pals), LaKisha was a locomotive charging through the well-mannered, good-humored group. She was a force of pure determination every time she took the stage, to the point that on at least three occasions, most recently with Barry Gibb this week, she brazenly flouted the mentor’s advice.
In her final moments, Kiki went down swinging. Unlike Phil Stacey, who used his goodbye song to bond with his Idol family, LaKisha was clear that this was her last moment and she wasn’t sharing it with anyone.
Not entirely visible on TV, but very noticeable in the Idoldome, was the sight of surviving contestant Blake Lewis sauntering toward her to offer comfort at the beginning of her song.
LaKisha slapped his hand and charged on past into the audience.
Wanting to create one last group moment, the surviving three then positioned themselves at the end of the aisle as LaKisha finished her lap of the floor, only to have their fallen comrade stroll blithely past them and back on the stage.
Kiki’s raw force will be badly missed in the final two weeks.