American Idol Season 8Top 8 Results

Bottom 3:
Scott MacIntyre
Lil Rounds
Anoop Desai

Eliminated: Scott MacIntyre

As it did last week, the show opens with a film montage of performance snippets intercut with judge critiques. Somehow, it's lost the pow it had last week. Maybe it's the clips they used this week. It's just not as effective. Ryan Seacrest chats up the judges. He tells Simon Cowell they have a clip of a song from the year he was born (1959! He hits the BIG 5-0 on Oct. 7). On the screen a video of Frankie Avalon singing "Venus," that looks like it might have been from "American Bandstand," is played. Suddenly, the screen slides apart and Avalon walks through. He looks and sounds amazing, especially considering he turned 70 in February. He can't hit all the big notes anymore, but the mellow tone has remained solid through the years. The judges, especially Simon, actually look surprised. What a fun treat, the best surprise of the season. This is what "Idol" should do more often if it wants to win back its audience. Little surprise treats like this one, instead of just pimping artists who have come out with new releases. BTW, check out the photo above. What's with the evening gloves on Paula Abdul? Where did she think she was going tonight? But even her gloves won't prevent her from wearing one of her QVC bracelets. Heh.

What video of Frankie Avalon singing "Venus" to Simon Cowell

Next is the group number, Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out of My Head," from 2002, the year, Ryan tells us, that "American Idol" was "born." The group sounds so bad, our ears begin to bleed. Please don't stop the music. Ugh. It's hard for a group of two girls and six guys to pull off a song sung by a woman. The only (barely) tolerable part is when the girls, including Adam Lambert, sing.

Watch video of the group number "Can't Get You Out of My Head"

Before the actual Ford commercial, set to Britney Spears' "Circus," we view a behind-the-scenes look at the filming of it. It looks like it could be good, until we actually see the video, which is far less interesting and entertaining than the behind-the-scenes look. Yawn.

Watch video of the Ford commercial "Circus"

Time for the results, but first Ryan asks Adam how he felt about Simon giving him a standing O. Would we even have to watch them make Adam suck up to Cowell if it hadn't made national news -- Simon Cowell gives contestant a standing ovation? Of course, they coyly didn't address the other "Idol" story that made national news on Wednesday -- America misses seeing the best performance of the night because show unnecessarily runs over by 7 minutes. Bah! The only funny thing about it was when Ryan asked Adam: "How did you feel when he [Cowell] got up on his heels there and lifts and stood up and praised you." At least some of the audience tittered and got it.

Ryan tells us the judges' save is still alive for three more weeks. Will it be used tonight? Adam, Kris Allen and Anoop are asked to stand. Ryan asks Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi and Paula to give Adam a further tongue bath by telling him what they thought of his performance on Tuesday. Lambert is then, of course, told he is safe. Seacrest says that either Kris or Anoop is in the Bottom 3. Hmmm, it's got to be Kris. No! It's Anoop. Wait. Even Kris' wife looks surprised. Kris got the lowest DialIdol.com score. Even if he wasn't eliminated, he's got to be in the Bottom 3. Uh-oh, the producers are playing games with the definition of "Bottom 3" again. (We especially believe this after we learn that Lil, who deserved to be in the Bottom 3 but came in fourth out of eight according to DialIdol, is in it. It's as if the judges want to put a scare in her for underachieving the past three weeks.)

Watch video ofAnoop Desai in the Bottom 3

Musical guest Flo Rida sings his current No. hit, "Right Round" (but without Katy Perry). Sorry, not our taste in music. Fortunately, you can't make out most of the lyrics. We can't help but wonder if family values-loving America would take kindly to this performance if they knew Flo was singing about paying for fellatio. Is this another little joke the producers are playing on the public or are they hoping to draw a younger audience by bringing in an edgy rapper?

Watch video of Flo Rida singing "Right Round"

Time for more results. Danny Gokey is safe, as is Matt Giraud, but not before Ryan screws with his head a bit, making him think he's not. Scott is told that the risk he took leaving the piano didn't work. He's in the Bottom 3. Actually it had nothing to do with the piano and everything to do with his lousy singing. Lil and Allison Iraheta stand. One of them is also in the Bottom 3. After Tuesday, if it's Allison, we'll know it's a fix. Wait, if it's Lil we'll also know that, heh. It's Lil, who in spite of her strong fan support, deserves to be there. Ryan says that's all we'll know until after Kellie Pickler's performance. Ryan asks Simon if the judges would consider saving anyone this week. Cowell says there are a couple of people they'd consider, one in particular (Lil?).

Watch video of Scott MacIntyre and Lil Rounds in the Bottom 3

We love Kellie Pickler and she looks great, but her live performance reminds us why, other than her personality, she didn't have a snowball's chance during Season 5. She sounds no better now than she did then. She soars on the money notes, but has no lower register whatsoever, and most of her new single, "Best Days of Your Life," which she wrote with Taylor Swift, is in the low range. If Auto-Tuning hadn't been invented she might still be serving burgers on roller skates in Albemarle, N.C. During the number she fake flirts at the judges' table, first with Simon and then with Randy. She's out of breath after her performance. How does she make it through a concert?

Watch video of Kellie Pickler singing "Best Days of Your life"

Time for the elimination. Ryan says he's sending someone back to safety. "Anoop," he says pausing, "stay where you are (pause) Lil you are safe." Whaaaaaat? What Ryan did to Anoop really puts the suck in sucker punch. So it's down to Scott and Anoop. Ryan says of the 34 million votes this week (which is 2 million votes less than either of the previous two weeks), only 30,000 votes separated the two. This time, Anoop really is safe and Scott will sing for his survival, fortunately without his electric geetar guitar. For the first 20 seconds, he's a bit better than Tuesday ... and then the screeching starts. Paula and Kara are dancing like deaf fools. Then the judges fake deliberate. Ryan asks Simon why last week he would't even consider using the judges' save with Megan Joy. Simon says, "Because I didn't care. I genuinely didn't care, I don't think she cared. And this is a whole different ballgame. And I'm going to be honest with you, two people think you should stay and two people think you should go." Ryan tells them to take a minute, but Simon just looks at the other three frustrated about what to do. No one seems to want to give on this. Paula doesn't look happy. Ryan goes back to Simon, who gives more deference to Scott than anyone else they've shoved out the door, saying "Scott, this is really tough. I really like you Scott. I'm looking over there and think there's a bunch of talented singers, so this decision isn't just based on you. It's whether I think somebody, or we think someone, is more talented over there. And this is the problem." Scott, pathetically trying to fill the silence, says "I know I can please you another week, Simon." Kara and Paula seem to be arguing for Scott, saying that he had been getting it right in previous weeks (oh, c'mon, no he hadn't), and although what he sang this week wasn't the right song for him, it doesn't diminish what he had done earlier. But isn't that true about everyone who has been eliminated? What about poor Alexis Grace? Surely she deserved to be saved more than anyone else based on previous merit. Why are they patronizing and groveling to Scott? We always hear that challenged people want to be treated the same as everyone else, not differently. Why are they making an exception with him, instead of treating him like the rest? If Anoop had been eliminated would they be bending over backwards like this? We'd put money on "no." Ryan says, "They're pushing for a verdict." Simon asks the other cowards, "You want me to make a decision?" They apparently say "yes." Simon turns and says, "Scott, someone's got to make a decision here, and I'm going to say it's the end of the competition. Sorry." Scott seems a little stunned and takes a second to digest this. They run Scott's journey video.

But before the show ends, Paula, being patronizing to the bitter end, has to have the last word. Looking like she's going to cry, she says, "On behalf of the judges, I just want to say that you've been an inspiration to the entire world for your commitment, through your talent. And we all watch 'American Idol' so that we, as an audience, get to witness unique and gifted artists as you, Scott, realize a dream that nearly seems impossible. You know what? You are one classy gentleman. God bless you. We love you." Damn! If they had kept Scott one more week, and he had sung one more ballad, he might have been able to solve the problem of world peace.

Watch video of Scott MacIntyre being eliminated

Next week, the theme is "Idols at the Movies," with the seven remaining finalists performing songs of the cinema under the guidance of director Quentin Tarantino (huh?). Yes, we know he was a guest judge once, but what does he know about music, other than he likes it? On Wednesday, Jennifer Hudson performs her new single, "If This Isn't Love" and Miley Cyrus sings "The Climb" from "Hannah Montana: The Movie."

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