UNC Fans Bummed That Anoop Got ‘Idol’ Boot

ABC News On Campus reporter Carly Swain blogs:

Disco fever struck “American Idol” this week and took out Chapel Hill’s Anoop Desai.  Both Desai and contestant Lil Rounds said their goodbyes on Wednesday’s show.

Desai is a Chapel Hill, N.C., native and a UNC Chapel Hill graduate.  Watch and voting parties had become a weekly occurrence in the college town as students rallied to support their friend and alum. An ever-positive Desai noted that although he was disappointed, “I have to look at the bright side: I’m going back to Chapel Hill.”

A fan site devoted to Desai, anoopdog.com, echoed that sentiment.  Blogger “ADog” wrote that although he was bummed that Desai was off the show, “Anoop Desai is a household name and more importantly, the world (not just America) knows exactly how incredibly talented this young man is.”

UNC senior Alyson Omeara said that the "judge’s save" –a new rule in the competition–is what did Desai in.

“I think it’s really unfair how that guy [contestant Matt Giraud] got voted off and then they saved him last week,” she said. “I think Anoop would’ve been around still if they didn’t have to kick off two people.”

Ironically, it was a rule change that secured Desai’s spot in the top six. 

Desai’s rise on the FOX reality show was unprecedented.  As the judges narrowed down the top spots, notoriously blunt judge Simon Cowell informed Desai that they had decided to make an exception to the “Top 12” rule.  Desai would round out the first-ever “Top 13” in the show’s eight seasons.

With a comforting word to students at his alma mater on the one-year anniversary of the murder of their student body president, Desai showed viewers his tender side. When he gave a shout-out to UNC’s NCAA Championship basketball team the night after its big win, he showed the nation his fun side, too.

The judges offered mixed reactions to Desai’s performances.  Cowell blasted Desai’s “complete and utter mess” of an Usher song one week, then praised him for going from “zero to hero” another week with his poignant rendition of “You Were Always on My Mind.”

One thing is certain: UNC’s Bell Tower will toll for Desai when he returns home, and fans will eagerly await his tour with American Idol’s Top 13 later this year.