American Idol

Who Got Kicked off 'American Idol' May 19th? Goodbye, Casey James

By JJ on

(Getty Images)

ABOUT CASEY JAMES

27 years old, from Fort Worth, Texas
Listens to every musical genre available
Would like to be a magician
Keeps a positive attitude

Casey James' American Idol journey wrapped up on Wednesday night, when he was cut from the show's top three contestants. The singer and guitarist was gracious as he told host Ryan Seacrest, "It's been an amazing, amazing journey, and I'm just so honored that I'm here."

Casey James reacts to being eliminated. (From American Idol)
Casey, 27, had a tough road into the finals. When he was 21, Casey was involved in a motorcycle accident that left him near death. Doctors told him that his left arm was so badly damaged that he would likely never play guitar again. After years of recovery, Casey would go on to become one of the best guitarists to be featured on American Idol.

Even after making it to the Denver auditions, Casey didn't have it easy. Shortly after he began singing, judge Simon Cowell stopped him and said, "All right Casey, this is a bad audition." It was only after guest judge Victoria Beckham asked Casey to let down his long hair (and take off his shirt) during his audition that she and Kara DioGuardi were charmed by Casey's "model" good looks. He was sent to Hollywood despite Simon's protests after Randy Jackson said yes "for the girls."

On Tuesday night, Casey's first selection, Eric Hutchinson's "OK, It's Alright with Me" was panned by all four judges, but his second selection, "Daughters" garnered rave reviews from Randy, Ellen DeGeneres and Kara. Simon still refused to give the singer credit.

"I think it was a much, much better song choice than the first one," he said. "The only issue I have is that... it was a bit of a lazy arrangement because they've chosen a song where the climax is a quite limp guitar solo."

Casey's elimination leaves contestants Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox to compete for the top prize. While Crystal has been the frontrunner throughout Season 9, Lee made up ground Tuesday night with a memorable take on Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah."

In Photos: Casey James