It was a surprise to see Ramiele Malubay get eliminated this early in the American Idol Season 7 and get ranked 9th overall. Honestly, I wanted her to be at the bottom three vote getters to remind her that being sweet and cute alone cannot get her the victory. I got a lot more than what I wished for and she got a wake up that call that will last more than a week. She missed a chance to be with Mariah Carey! Any aspiring and professional Filipina singer would have been jealous of her. She should have set the standard by showing her vocal prowess.

The last Filipino American Idol finalists were Camille Velasco and Jasmine Trias of Season 3. Both of them were on the verge of getting eliminated in the same week that Ramiele was eliminated. Camille got the boot while Jasmine Trias responded well after that. Jasmine avoided getting the bottom three for four weeks after her wake up call and three weeks later she was finally eliminated to have a third place finish that was the best a Filipino-American fared in American Idol history.

I'm not saying that Ramiele does away with her nice self, but just being nice doesn't get new voters to win you over. Every time someone gets eliminated from the competition, those voters will either stop watching American Idol or switch allegiances to a new contestant. Jasmine also had that nice lovable personality. If you look back at those she had beaten she actually defeated Jennifer Hudson who won an Oscar for best supporting Actress in Dream Girls after her American Idol stint.

If Ramiele gave solid performances along the lines of her audition song entitled "You Make Me Feel (Like A Natural Woman)" of Arethra Franklin, she would have gone further. She settled for cute performances like Dolly Parton's "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind", The Beatles' "In My Life" and "I Should Have Known Better".

I hoped for a ballad showdown with David Archuleta in the finals. My allegiance has gone to the very young David Archuleta. Despite all of these comments, I feel proud that she is a finalist and it goes to show that size is not all that matters. All is not lost for her. Just ask Jennifer Hudson and Chris Daughtry. I am still proud to be a Filipino!