Good Evening , America! We’re back again for another night. But this time, it’s not to unfairly judge contestants I don’t like. No, tonight, we’re here to say good-bye to two of our wannabe hopefuls. Two contestants who have clawed and fought their way to get this far in the competition have to go home tonight without a recording contract, without being part of a tour that will play to half-full arenas around the country, and without a year’s supply of Rice-a-Roni. (It’s the San Francisco Treat!) Yes, tonight is elimination night. And this… is American Idol!

Ryan tells us there were 33 million votes last night, and I can honestly say only 11.5 million of those were from me voting for Adam. Kanye West (the self-proclaimed greatest artist of our generation) and Kelly Clarkson (Yay!) will be performing live for us tonight. Before we get to the results, Ryan tells us about the new rule called “The Judges Save”. In a nutshell, this means that the Judges have the power to save one contestant (up until the Top 5) from elimination. They can only do that once during the season. The week it is used, no contestant will be eliminated, but the following week, two contestants will go home. Hopefully, this will help keep American Idol from being strictly a popularity contest, and allow it to again be the talent competition it once was. (A rule like this could have saved my Season 1 favorite, Tamyra Gray, from going out 4^th and allowed her to go head-to-head with my girl Kelly in the finals.)

Ahh, time for filler. This time in the form of the first group sing of the finals – a medley of songs from The Jackson 5. I have to admit, I’ve been severely looking forward to this. Mainly to see what is done with the choreography for one specific contestant. (I won’t say who, but I’ll give you one guess.) All in all, it wasn’t bad, and I’ll refrain from making any truly nasty comments.

Oooh! I have to comment on something last night, and I have to thank my friend Halle for bringing it to my attention. I’m sure you all saw that Alexis’s phone number to call was 1-866-436-5736 instead of being 1-866-436-5713 even though she was the 13^th contestant. I just assumed it was because Idol didn’t have the use of 5713, that some other company did. You have no idea! I can’t tell you what it is, but I will say for you to not call that number from work, and don’t let your children call it. It is not a family-friendly number… if you get my drift. I have to wonder how many people accidentally called 5713 without thinking. I can only imagine Sanjaya’s poor little crying girl dialing it by accident and crying all over again while she listened. Ha ha!

Yay! It’s time for the Ford Music Video. (The only filler I like on results night. It’s always so cheesy, you just have to love it.) This time our Idols are singing “We Will Rock You” while being super-imposed on buildings as a Ford car drives through the empty streets of LA. Okay, so this wasn’t cheesy and fun, but I have hope for the rest of the season. Fingers crossed!

Finally, time to start the results. First up, Michael Sarver. ( Blah.) He’s safe. (Double blah.) Next, Allison Ireheta. She, too, is safe. (Yay for that!) Jasmine Murray is sent to the center of the stage to wait for further instructions. Matt Giraud is safe. Kris Allen and Megan Corkrey are both told to stand up. Kris is safe, but Megan is sent to stand with Jasmine. (Oooh, the tension is building.) One is safe, the other is going home. Without much fanfare, Megan is safe, and Jasmine is in danger of elimination if the Judges don’t save her. (Fat chance of that.) While she sang poorly, the judges decided not to save her, and Jasmine becomes the first casualty of the Finals. Can’t say I’m too broken up about it. She has a lot of potential. She’s just not ready yet.

Here to delay the results, Kanya West is singing “Heartless”. I’m not a big fan of his, but I love this song. (Okay, fast-forward.) Back to the results. First up, Scott “Pity Vote” MacIntyre. Of course, he’s safe. (I’ll keep my comments and impersonations to myself.) Next is Alexis Grace. She and her naughty side are here for another week. Danny Gokey, without a doubt, is safe. Anoop Desai, on the other hand, is sent to the center of the stage. (I give him credit for knowing he was headed there.) Adam Lambert is safe, and all is right with the world. Jorge Nunez and Lil Rounds are asked to stand, but Lil is safe, and Jorge is sent to stand with Anoop. At this point, I’m okay with either of those guys going home. They weren’t going to win, so they might as well go home now. (You know, till this moment, I didn’t realize how short Jorge was. I mean, for crying out loud, he’s shorter than Seacrest, and that’s short.)

Before we can find out who’s leaving us, Kelly Clarkson, our original American Idol, is here to sing her new hit song “My Life Would Suck Without You” from her new hit CD “All I Ever Wanted”. You can download her new cd on iTunes. Go to www.americanidol.com/iTunes for more details. (Tonight, this blog is brought to you by iTunes.) I heart Kelly and this song so much!  I love the fact that she’s still real-sized.

Back to the moment of truth. Anoop or Jorge? Jorge or Anoop? After 33 million votes, Anoop is safe to sing another week. Now the Judges can pretend to think about their decision while Jorge sings. Not surprisingly, the Judges send Jorge packing. Again, not too broken up about it.

Well, that’s our show for tonight. No real drama. The 2 people I wanted to go home are still around for another week. Thankfully, the 3 people I wanted most to stay are here as well. Tune in next week when our Top 11 take on some new selection of songs. Who will rise? Who will fall? Who will fall down? Let’s find out together. Same Steve Time. Same Steve Channel.