Good Evening, America! It’s Wednesday night, and that can only mean that 5 minutes worth of programming will find a way to be miraculously stretched into an hour of your time. How do they do it you ask? Ancient Chinese secret, I say. But the truth? Filler. Lots and lots of filler. And somewhere in the midst of all the useless video montages and guest star performances, some unlucky wannabe will be reduced to tears. Sounds like fun, right? This… is American Idol!

I’ve decided that whoever is dressing Randy hates him more than Paula’s stylist hates her. Honestly, I mean, come on. What’s up with the ugly sweaters? Anyway, tonight while waiting for the results, Miley Cyrus and Jennifer Hudson are here to sing for us.

We go straight into the Ford Music Video to “Freeze Frame” where our Idols are gracing the covers of various magazines. Except for poor Matt Giraud. He doesn’t get to play in any reindeer games. Matt is forced to bop around like a dork. What’s the word of the week, kiddies? L-A-M-E. Can you say ‘lame’ boys and girls? I knew you could.

Our Group Sing this week is “Maniac” from the movie “Flashdance”. I can’t tell whether they are lip-synching or not, but this week I don’t care. This is too wonderfully cheesy not to love. The only thing that disappoints me is that they didn’t let Adam Lambert-Martin to go all Jennifer Beals and dance with a chair and have water poured on him. Maybe next time.

This week, as you all know, we are down to our Final 7, and for those of you who remember in years past, this is what I like to call “Evil Week”. This is the week where Ryan divides the Idols into two groups of 3, then makes the poor 7^th person stand with which group they think is safe. It’s never fun for the 7^th person, and it’s never fun for us, because this is usually the week where a front-runner gets unexpectedly booted from the show. (Jennifer Hudson, I’m looking at you.) I hate “Evil Week”.

Alison is the first person to stand. Ryan tells her that she’s safe. What? He’s not being evil this year. Oh, my world has spun off its axis. Well, at least she’s safe. Next up, my Adam Lambert-Martin. And he’s SAFE!!!! Ahhh, what a good night. Anoop stands up to get his results, and while Ryan reads his critiques, the camera pans to Randy yawning. Yes, Randy, those are my thoughts on Anoop as well. America must agree because Anoop is again in the Bottom 3. (Called it!)

Coming home to American Idol is Oscar and Grammy Winner, Jennifer Hudson!!! She’s here to sing “If This Isn’t Love”. It’s a great R&B song with some big Jennifer vocals at the end. If you like Ms. Hudson and you don’t have this cd, get yourself over to iTunes and download it right now. I’ll wait till you get back. You won’t regret it.

Back to the results. We’re about to finish out the Bottom 3. Kris and Lil stand. Appropriately, Kris is safe, and Lil is in the Bottom 3. (Called it!) Now to Matt and Danny. Danny is safe, and Matt rounds out the Bottom 3. (Called it again! Man, I’m good.) So, we have Anoop, Lil, and Matt. All of them deserve to be where they are. Time for someone to go back to safety, and that person is… Anoop? Well, shut my mouth and paint me red! Well, shoot the horse and slap me silly! Well, stomp on frogs and shove a crowbar up my nose! (Can you tell I’m shocked?) I didn’t see that coming.

It’s Miley time! As Tweens around the world pee their pants, Ms. Miley Cyrus takes the stage to sing her new song “The Climb” from “Hannah Montana: The Movie”. She looks very grown up and beautiful, which is such a nice change from her usual rebellious teenage skank look. Now, I’ll admit it, I like me some Miley. Not a huge fan of this song, but it’s growing on me. Could be because they are playing it at least 2X an hour on the radio.

Back to the results, and the eliminated Idol is… Matt Giraud? I didn’t see that coming either. I thought for sure that Lil was a goner. It’s time for Matt to “Sing for his Life”. He is sans piano tonight. The Judges are huddled together. This might be the first week where they are truly considering using the Judges Save. (I think last week was just for show.) Paula and Kara are standing and swaying. Matt messed up on the bridge again. There was a bit more passion behind his performance tonight, but vocally, I think he did better last night. The crowd is chanting “Save! Save! Save!” The other 6 Idols are pulling for him to stay. You can feel the excitement swell. (I’m so nervous, I could just spit!) Simon tells Matt that he doesn’t have a chance to win the completion, but in the end the Judges have chosen to… SAVE HIM! The crowd is on its feet! The other Idols mob him with excitement and hugs. Paula, unsurprisingly, is crying. What a night! Before the party can continue, Simon ruins everyone’s fun by reminding us that 2 Idols have to go home next week, and next week is also Disco Week.

Well, that’s our show… and what a show it was! Not only were Adam Lambert-Martin and Allison safe, but we got to see the return of Jennifer Hudson… and to top it off, Idol history was made with the first-ever use of the Judge’s Save, thus sparing Matt Giraud from going home. It was almost too much excitement for one 60 minute show. Before I sign off, I’d like to send big birthday wishes to Mr. Brady Powers and Ms. Lisa Almond! Join us back here next week when our Idols tackle Disco and learn to do the Hustle. Same Steve Time. Same Steve Channel.