James Durbin Gets His Homecoming Anyway

Officials from James’ hometown of Santa Cruz were planning a major celebration for his homecoming today, but then James was eliminated…

However, those officials managed to lobby the show and give James his homecoming anyway.

“Originally, ‘American Idol’ indicated that James' return to Santa Cruz depended on him making it to the final 3 because of obligations to the show,” said Kris Reyes, community relations director for the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in a press release. “After the results Thursday night, we made a strong appeal to ‘American Idol’ that he be allowed to attend his Santa Cruz homecoming as planned. ‘Idol’ ultimately agreed.”

As far as I can remember this is unprecedented. It’s one more example of the show relaxing its rules, but it’s also one more example of how much the show loved James. And you know I'm wondering whether the show would have done the same for Haley...

And I should point out that we don't know if "Idol" will show us any footage from James' homecoming. I think that would actually be a little unfair since that honor is supposed to be reserved for the Top 3, but...

For more information on James’ homecoming, you can visit the event’s website…