It's the end of the road for Nutsa Buzaladze, the Dubai resident who made waves on American Idol with her powerful vocals. The singer from Georgia failed to make it to the Top 10 during the latest elimination round, which aired in the US on Sunday.
Nutsa, who is referred to by her first name on the show, received the lowest number of votes, along with contestant Lucy Love.
"It’s a fond farewell to powerhouse vocalists Nutsa and Lucy Love," American Idol posted on Instagram soon after the episode aired.
Nutsa, 25, narrowly made it to the Top 12 last week when she also received the lowest votes among the remaining contestants, but was saved by judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan, who once called her "the JLo from Georgia".
The elimination episode also featured a performance by former American Idol finalist Adam Lambert, who performed a rendition of I Can't Stand the Rain, the 1973 song by Ann Peebles, popularised by Tina Turner in the 1980s.
Throughout the show, Nutsa has performed her versions of beloved songs, including the Jennifer Holliday classic And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going and Toni Braxton's Un-Break My Heart, to ensure she sailed through the reality competition. On Sunday, she chose Queen's The Show Must Go On.
The performance received a standing ovation from all judges.
"You straddled that performance. You don't always have to go to 10, sometimes you can control the room with a three and a four," Perry told her.
"You make all eyes in the room go on you," Bryan added.
"You are a star. You've made it as far as I'm concerned," Richie chimed in.
But the high praise wasn't enough to push Nutsa through to the Top 10.
The journey on American Idol has been a memorable one for Nutsa, whose audition video aired in February.
"I flew 17 hours from Dubai but it was totally worth it. I cannot believe I'm here," she told the judges in the clip, before wowing them with her performance.
Nutsa is already a singing reality show veteran, having won X Factor Georgia in 2015. In 2019, she released her debut album, Nutsa22.
