AI - Top 20 Results

This week there were over 32 million votes cast (and none of them were mine!).

The group song is "Joy to the World" & is very fun!

Guys up for 1st elimination: Phil, Chris S, Sundance, Blake, & Jared are safe; Nick is out.

Girls: Stephanie, Gina, Sabrina, and Melinda are safe; Alaina is out. (She was too emotional to sing, so the rest of the girls came out on stage w/her to 'help'. Shots to the guys showed several of them teary as well!)

Kellie Pickler is here! With a few changes... her hair has aged about 40 years (it's shorter & curly, like a 60's do) and she's almost certainly had some 'enhancements'. Ryan was hilarious, asking her what she'd been spending her money on. She said "shoes," and he asked if there was anything else, & she said no. He said, "Really? Just shoes?!" But then left it at that.

She sang "I Wonder," which she (obviously) cowrote, as it talks about her mom not being around as she was growing up and wondering if she wonders about her. It wasn't bad. Apparently her album is gold already & she's touring as an opener for Brad Paisley!

Back to the guys: Chris R and Brandon are safe. Ryan brings Sanjaya & AJ down onto the stage and then tells AJ that he's been cut. I've seen extremely shocked faces at eliminations before, but Sanjaya's is right up there. He knows AJ was so much better than him... but that's not what it's about, at least not the way the producers edit (i.e. Sanjaya got tons of backstory and early screen time, whereas AJ? Absolutely nothing.). Paula echoes this, saying it's supposed to be a singing competition & tonight doesn't reflect that. Oh well... AJ sings, and is even better than he was Tuesday, which was pretty awesome. Definitely the best vocal performance of the week. Sure, let's vote him off! Makes sense to me.

Girls: Lakisha & Haley are immediately told they're safe & Ryan brings Antonella, Jordin, and Leslie down next to him. Jordin is safe, but unfortunately so in Antonella, leaving Leslie to go home. (Jordin & Gina cry.) We get the montage of all 4 so then Leslie's sing-out is cut-off around the middle. After starting the scat she sings, "Why did I just scat on American Idol? America don't care for jazz...."