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Luke never seemed completely comfortable commanding the stage. And I noted week after week that his vocals never seemed quite strong enough. His voice carried itself a bit whiny and weak for my tastes. But, if you watch him performing with his a cappella group Chapter 6, you can see how much better a performer he is when working and singing in tandem with a group.

Not surprisingly, in AOL's interview with Luke Menard, he indicated an interest in pursuing television work or maybe a stint on Broadway now. However, few contestants have managed to parlay a stint on American Idol into any sort of career in acting. Mikalah Gordon and Tamyra Gray dabbled a bit in television, and of course Jennifer Hudson nabbed Oscar gold for a singing/acting gig, but those are still some pretty steep odds.

Even in his farewell performance, Luke showed very little charisma. He knows how to smile for the camera and flex his guns, but beyond that he just doesn't have it. In that respect, he actually reminds me a lot of Ace Young.:


It's interesting how the contestants who went at the top of the rotation were cut this week. Not that Luke was really showing any reason why he should stay much beyond that. For some reason, Luke just never connected on a personal level with me as a viewer. He would smile and point and gesture and it all just felt shallow and empty:


Luke had a good vocal on "Killer Queen" during Top 20 week, but again it just wasn't strong enough. I don't know what it is exactly but he just doesn't command either the songs he sings or the stage he is on. In this case, you can't help but compare him to Freddie Mercury, and the way Mercury dominated the stage during every performance only further emphasizes just how much Luke doesn't.:


Luke started things off by putting everyone to sleep. This was a lilting song with virtually no rising or dropping notes, keeping a steady monotonous register throughout. In a competition where you need to struggle to stand out, from the beginning Luke never really figured out how to do it. Even the fact that we were pretty much introduced to him right here indicated how boring he was during the initial auditions and Hollywood rounds.:


That said, Luke really shines when performing as a part of the seven member a capella group Chapter 6. You can hear samples of their fantastic work on the official Chapter 6 website, as well as the Chapter 6 MySpace page. The group has garnered enough of a following and accumulated enough awards, they've even got their own Wikipedia page detailing all their impressive accomplishments.

Even if Luke didn't really do it for you as a solo performer, as was the case with me, if you're any kind of true music lover you should be able to appreciate the talent of Chapter 6 as a group. While mostly known for their live performances, and they have bookings going now into the summer (not sure if and when Luke will be rejoining them though I'd guess soon since he didn't even make Top 12), they did put together a fun concept video for their rendition of "What a Wonderful World.":


Here they are live with a very impressive take on a very difficult song, Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody":


And just for fun, here's one more. If you just can't get enough, you can look up their video and audio all over the net. For their finale, here's Chapter 6 with "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing":


Over at Reality TV World's report on Luke Menard's interview, he talked more about "The Four Horsemen" and what it meant to leave. As one of the four oldest contestants, he quickly became buddies with Jason Yeager, David Cook and Michael Johns. In fact, they connected from Day 1 in Hollywood and so were ecstatic to all make the Top 24 together. Now that the group is cut in half, maybe he can talk Jason Yeager into making guest appearances with Chapter 6. Yeager's theatrical style would fit well with such an endeavor.

Need more American Idol? Get an inside look at Season 7's contestants and think back to these scathing (and hilarious) Simon Cowell quotes. Also: Don't forget to choose your favorite Idol!!

As Kady before, Luke also said he didn't particularly listen to what Simon had to say, and his comments on it were pretty interesting. "Simon never gave me one compliment on camera," he said. "So I learned to really tune out his criticism. He didn't really give me much constructive criticism. It was pretty much degrading stuff." This sentiment has been brought up even on-air by Ryan Seacrest.

What purpose do the judges serve if they don't have constructive criticism? Or is it that some contestants they just consider beyond their "help," and so it's not worth their time. Or is it laziness setting in after six and a half seasons? It's just interesting to me how we have contestants now saying they don't even listen to what the judges have to say this season. That said, those contestants are now gone, so maybe there's still some value in what the judges have to say after all.

Luke is a happily married guy in a pretty successful singing group. He just got a world stage to showcase his own abilities, and George Michael stubbled face, so I'd think he now has a fair shot of either getting a foot in the door of the soaps world, or at least raising the profile of Chapter 6. Either way, a Top 16 finish is just fine with Luke. "I think I'm more excited for making the Top 16 than anything," he said. "Right now, that's overshadowing any disappointment I have in not going on any further."

IDOL SEASON 7 FAREWELLS
#16 - Kady Malloy
#17 - Robbie Carrico
#18 - Alaina Whitaker
#19 - Alexandrea Lushington
#20 - Jason Yeager
#21 - Colton Berry
#22 - Joanne Borgella
#23 - Amy Davis
#24 - Garrett Haley