Episode Report Card Shack: D+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT First Dubya, now this
By Shack | Season 1 | Episode 12 | Aired on 08.20.2002
Back at The Octagon, it's time to start revealing the bottom two. Kelly is safe, to nobody's surprise. Actually, Kelly (Eeeeeee!) looks gobsmacked. She really thought she did poorly. Nikki got tons of praise, but is still heading back to the bottom two. The only round that poor Nikki has not been in the bottom group was on '60s night. And before we find out whether it's Justin or Tamyra who will join her, there's the requisite commercial break.
When we return, Black and Decker repeat the judges' comments for Justin and Tamyra, before revealing that the second person to join Nikki on The Octagon of Judgment is Tamyra. I really, really thought it would be Justin. Tamyra doesn't seem at all shocked and does a Ryan Starr-like skip across the stage to join Nikki, who is practically crying already. And now, commercials. Seriously, there was less than two minutes of show between the two commercial breaks.
When we return, it's time to reveal the ejectee. I swear, I was certain that this would be Nikki's last show. But it's not. Tamyra is eliminated. It was her first journey to the bottom of the barrel, and out she goes. Tamyra handles it very gracefully, though the audience starts booing loudly. Paula and Nikki are both devastated. Simon looks like he's turned to stone. Tamyra, of course, realizes that this isn't really the end of anything as far as her future is concerned. Eventually everybody, including the judges, gives Tamyra a big standing ovation. In her final comments, Tamyra thanks everybody for this "amazing journey" and for their support. Black and Decker ask Tamyra if she was surprised, but she says she wasn't.
In Tamyra's final clip show, we see the early audition clips (I miss the afro puff!) of her bouncing off the walls with energy and sliding down a banister. She was the first person voted into the final ten. She sings in front of her choir. She plays with Treven. She jumps in the pool. She says it was a learning experience. "Afflicted with muscular dystrophy" music plays in the background.
We return for final comments from the judges. Randy "Tamyra, Tamyra, Tamyra"s that Tamyra is a superstar and that he's disappointed in the voting for the first time. He says he's sure Tamyra will go much further than this show, and offers to do anything he can to make it happen for her. Paula still can't find her way to a music-related metaphor and says that seeing Tamyra getting voted out is like "seeing Muhammad Ali getting knocked down for the first time." She concludes that just as Ali got back up, so will Tamyra, and she'll go on to "conquer show business." Simon takes a moment to address the other three and inform them that none of them is safe now, because the criteria by which the public is voting for them has changed from the days when they were competing against awful singers like Jim and A.J. He says that they have to respect the public vote, even though he thinks they got it wrong. He repeats that Tamyra is world-class and tells her to "Watch this space," which is an advertising term, like "Stay tuned for an important announcement." Then he gives her a little wink.