Erika Van Pelt eliminated from American Idol

American Idol potential Erika Van Pelt could not get saved by judges and was forced to go home.

Erika Van Pelt was eliminated from “American Idol “on Wednesday evening.

After drastically cutting off her hair, her rendition of Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind,” could not convince the judges to keep her after it was revealed she was in the bottom three.

According to USA Today, this has been the first performance of this season that has upset people.
Pelt said, “It definitely makes me feel a little bit better about the whole thing, that I knew I has people behind me.”

After giving what most thought was a great performance, Pelt was puzzled by her elimination.
“That’s been the hardest part for me,” Pelt said. “I feel like I’ve given solid performances every time.”
“I haven’t had a really solid, clear idea of why I was ending up in the bottom, why people weren’t gravitating towards me, why I wasn’t getting the votes from America. It’s been really hard for me, certainly discouraging, and it’s been tough to keep my chin up and keep fighting every week.”

Pelt continued by saying, “Sometimes—and this is no way disrespectful to the general public—I think America gets excited about the obvious things. And by obvious things, I mean, like high notes and riffs. That’s just not my style as a singer.”

Pelt’s plans after Idol include preparing for the Idols Live summer tour, promoting her iTunes downloads and hopefully getting involved in musical theater.

Next Wednesday, the top nine: Deandre Brackensick, Hollie Cavanagh, Colton Dixon, Heejun Han, Skylar Laine, Joshua Ledet, Phillip Phillips, Jessica Sanchez and Elise Testone will be performing songs from their own Idols.

See performance below: