When Alex Lambert was asked why he chose to sing “Trouble” last week in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, he replied, “I had another song in mind: “Let Me Love You” by Mario. It’s an R&B song, but I was going to change it up and make it my own. But it was a song a lot of people didn’t know so I went with my second choice because one of the producers was telling me, “If you do this song, you’ll get more votes.” But obviously I didn’t get enough. I wish I would’ve done the other song. I wish I didn’t listen to the producer. But I still feel like, vocally, the song I sang, I didn’t think it was bad enough for me to go home, but it is what it is.”

A few days later, he took the opportunity to give us a taste of what his gut was telling him all along, by singing his version of Mario’s “Let Me Love You” during his appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (video below). To say America loved Lambert's performance is an understatement. Comments started pouring in on the Ellen video all over the web, and the opinion was universal across the board: “WHY DIDN’T ALEX SING THIS ON IDOL!?”
It’s no wonder Tim Urban sailed through with the younger voting crowd. Even the Idol fans that were rooting for pretty face, Urban, have been commenting that Alex's version of "Let Me Love You" was a thousand times better than what he DID sing! While “Trouble” was a perfect fit for Alex’s tone of voice, it’s more in the adult contemporary genre, and “Let Me Love You” would have been a hit with viewers, being that its current and appeals to his demographic. Go ask a 14yr old if they even know who Ray LaMontagne is, and then ask the same 14 year old about Mario. It doesn't take a genius to figure out the response. After seeing how much positive feedback he received on the internet for his performance on Ellen, a large majority of this feedback coming from the younger voters; I have no doubt that he could still be there as you read this.

Let Me Love You is a well-known R&B song that Lambert added a slight twist to by covering it acoustically, and that innovation and creativity is exactly what American Idol preaches about in what they want to see on the show! His take on the song made people everywhere immediately fall in love… all over again, mind you. Here he is, a 19 year old inexperienced singer that found himself on one of the world’s BIGGEST television shows to date, trying to do everything possible to do make America proud while not throwing up in the process, and what do you expect?

Viewer Beth Hart writes, “He’s standing before someone he believes is a very experienced knowledgeable entertainment producer, who knows what audiences want, and they tell him that he’d get more votes if he takes their advice and doesn't perform the song he wants to! What the heck does he know? Why would he do anything other than pick the song, this "Expert" says, will get more votes! That would be like ignoring my stock broker after he advises me to sell GE cause the numbers he’s seeing are indicating they’re going to file bankruptcy. I'd be an idiot not to!”

It looks as though whatever Idol producer gave “Trouble” to him as a “you’ll get more votes” suggestion, didn’t have the slightest clue what they were doing. Or did they? It’s hard to believe that after having a highly successful nine season run, the producers DON’T know what they are doing at this point. So, why the push to switch songs? Not only did Alex mention his love of the original choice while on Ellen, but it was obvious how comfortable he was singing it, and that’s a clear point to the type of artist he could see himself being. Even I still catch myself humming back his Ellen performance, and I’m a die-hard LaMontagne fan. Now, not only is he prematurely gone, but we’re left with a mediocre show, at best, and Alex wishing he never listened to the producer. Way to go Idol! I guess America’s opinion doesn’t matter if it doesn’t match up with what you already have in mind. Not exactly an opinion anymore, is it?

With the ever growing fan petition (currently on it’s way to almost 18,000 signatures) circling the web for Alex Lambert to be reinstated on the show, the statistic downfall in this season’s ratings, and a lack of talent in over half of the remaining contestants… the media is now starting to realize what a serious error this was on Idol’s part, and people can’t help but wonder, will American Idol producers listen to the almost 18,000 fans and bring Lambert back?

Another viewer over on Idol’s message boards asks, “Had Ryan stood up there with that heartbroken boy, and asked him on camera why he chose "Trouble", and Alex stated before 22 million viewers, "Well I wanted to do a Mario song that was more me, but one of the producers told me "If you do this song, you'll get more votes…" Can you imagine just how unfair that would look?? Once people realize their favorite Idols aren't picking their songs, but are being criticized by the judges for picking them in front of millions, and going down for them, what are they going to do?”

Alex Lambert's performance on Ellen does make Tim’s Hallelujah performance look older and less relevant, so, naturally its making people wonder if he could have taken Tim’s votes, and that could spell trouble.

American Idol fans, please take action. Let Fox hear your voice!

Please be sure to sign the petition, here, to demand Alex Lambert come back to Idol.

by: Jessica Bongiorno