Most of the big, emotional "American Idol" stories are gone now.
The show has shed both single moms ... and its oilfield-worker father of two ... and now its virtually blind prodigy, Scott MacIntyre.
These are talented people, but most don't quite have voices good enough to be in the final crop. (The exception is single mom Alexis Grace, who really shouldn't have been dumped.)
Tonight, we see the final seven performers work with Quentin Tarantino on movie-music week. (Please catch my previous blog, a rather silly one.) Meanwhile, here's the interview story I wrote the day after MacIntyre was eliminated:
Scott MacIntyre grants that he never quite fit the "American Idol" mold.
Many contestants grew up on rock and pop music. For MacIntyre -- who was eliminated from the show Wednesday -- that was almost an afterthought.
"I really had no idea what was going on in pop music and what was hip and on the radio until I was 14," MacIntyre, who is virtually blind, said by phone Thursday.
By then, he was already a classical piano prodigy. He had studied intensively when he moved to Toronto (from California) with his family at 10; he continued after moving to Arizona at 14. He graduated from Arizona State, added a Master's Degree from the Royal College of Music in London; he also studied in Boston and Salzburg, Austria.
"I'm kind of the academic-guy-turned-pop-star," he said.
Definitely academic. MacIntyre may be the first person in "Idol" interviews to use the word "expressivity" and the phrase "vocally and pianistically."
Still, he said, his passion is now on the pop side. "I actually have a huge catalog of original (pop) songs."
In recent years, he said, he's been working on several fronts. In addition to classical -- he's won competitions and soloed with orchestras -- he's had:
-- The Glutes, a duo with his brother which he calls "punk pop power-rock."
-- Solo work. He calls it "pop, rock, singer-songwriter" music in the John Mayer vein.
-- The MacIntyre Family Singers, who do acoustic jazz, Broadway and such. It includes the entire family, except for his father. "He auditions for the MacIntyre Family Singers every year and never makes the cut."
MacIntyre hadn't tried out for "Idol" previously, but couldn't resist when the auditions came to Phoenix, near his Scottsdale home. He said he savored being on the show, with fun-loving contestants.
Judges were less relaxed. One week, Paula Abdul suggested he perform without his piano; he did that this week and the other three judges said it was a mistake.
"It's very common," he said. "They will tell you one thing and then something very different the next time."
Still, he said Abdul's urging wasn't the reason he made the change. He wanted to surprise viewers with some electric-guitar licks.
Viewers were surprised, but didn't vote for him. A narrow margin -- about one-tenth of one percent of the total votes -- separated him from Anoop Desai, who had the second-lowest total.
Judges split 2-2 on the question of saving him, but MacIntyre seemed in good spirits the next day,
He's looking forward to his recording career he said, and to the "Idol" tour. "There's something magical about being on stage in front of that many people."