‘American Idol’: Did Jacob Lusk Pre-Plan His Exit Jam Session?

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Jacob Lusk sure knows how to send himself off in style. The latest contestant booted from “American Idol” not only sang his swan song beautifully, but he turned it into an all-out jam-session dance party with lots of vocal riffing, high notes being hit, and dancing.

But was that burst of musical exuberance spontaneous? Or pre-planned? From my vantage in Section D, Row 6, Seat 1 at Tuesday night’s results show, it appeared…well, let me explain. During the commercial break, right before Ryan Seacrest told viewers Jacob going home and not Lauren Alaina was headed home, the R&B singer ran off stage and spoke to music director Ray Chew. I saw Jacob point to the stage and both men nod in agreement. Did Jacob have a feeling the axe was going to fall and decide at the last minute to end his song with the jam session?
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What else happened on the inside?

Here are some observations:

How did Lauren handle the drama? She was was in tears after hearing she was safe. When she returned to the couch, she cried into Scotty McCreery’s arms. The emotional teen might have had a rough night, but James Durbin really had a tough time keeping it together.

Viewers only saw a bit of his emotional struggle. The audience saw much more when the cameras weren’t rolling. His eyes were full of tears as he waited for the results, clutching his necklace, shifting his weight from side to side, bowing his head, biting his lip, and with his eyes and eyebrows twitching uncontrollable, a symptom of his Tourette’s.

A young girl sitting in front of me held up a sign that read, “James Durbin inspired everyone with Tourette’s.” When I asked her if that included her, she said, “Yes. I’m over it because I take meds, but it’s coming out tonight because I’m nervous for James.”

Did Steven Tyler really throw his scarf out to a fan in the crowd? Nope. He tossed it to his bodyguard and got it back later.

Who does the studio audience seem to love the most? Well, it’s not one of the finalists, that’s for sure. It’s Tyler, as evidenced by the fact that there are more fan signs for him in the crowd than there are for the contestants.

Out of the contestants, who does the studio audience show the most love for? Scotty. It’s no contest. I counted seven signs, including marriage proposals and prom date request).

How was Jennifer live? She was pre-taped. Not live at all.