Mike Hughes on TV

OK, I was as vigorous as anyone about feeling it was time for "American Idol" to oust Andrew Garcia and, maybe, Katie Stevens. They have decent talent, but nothing in the Crystal-Michael-Siobhan-Casey universe.

Still, I find both of them immensely likeable. Here's the story I sent to papers after a conference-call interview Thursday, the day after they were eliminated:

By MIKE HUGHES

Shortly after Katie Stevens was ousted
from “American Idol,” her mom put it in perspective.

She asked her to recall the swarms of
auditioners, Stevens said. Then she asked: “If someone had said,
'OK, Katie, you're … going to make it to the eighth spot,' would
you be happy?”

Deliriously so. And Andrew Garcia –
also dumped in Wednesday's double elimination – has a similar view.
“To get as far as I did is amazing,” he said.

Before “Idol,” Garcia, 24, had a
less-cluttered life. “I was a stay-at-home dad …. I would go out
on weekends and do (solo acoustic) gigs for $400.”

And before “Idol,” Stevens, 17, was
just a high school student … albeit one with a great fan. “My
grandmother has been to every performance I've ever had,” she said.

With her parents at work, Stevens was
raised by her grandparents, who speak Portuguese. She now speaks the
language fluently and is fervent about pleasing her grandmother.

“When she was diagnosed with
Alzheimer's, (I wanted) to have her see me accomplish something while
I still could,” she said. “And that's what I did.”

It got frustrating at times, she
admitted. Some judges obsessed on her age and asked her to be
youthful and current … while singing songs from Elvis Presley or
the Beatles.

To complicate things, her voice is
relatively mature; so, perhaps, is her attitude. “I usually hang
out with people a lot older than me.”

Garcia agreed that the judges have been
rough. “They've been really hard this year.”

Still, he kept his approach. “I like
to take pop songs and make them acoustic and put a twist on them.”

It worked well enough. Now he has parts
of a new life, mixed with parts of his own – including his child
and girlfriend. “I'm definitely going to propose to her sometime,”
he said.