Top 20 Results Recap

Another week, another results show. This time they make some jokes about Simon's right hand before doing the group sing. Like last week, the group sing is a medley of songs from the theme decade.

Holy cow! The first song in the medley is Todd Rundgren's "I Saw the Light"! What a rare moment of good taste! Why is it that the only ones who get solos for it are overrated pimpees Michael, David C. and David A.? My mother comments that David C. looks really smug, and I have to agree. He's smirking the whole time he sings. Oh well. I'm glad they used a great underappreciated song for this medley. The next song is Bonnie Tyler's "Nothing But a Heartache." First two solos are by singing mannequin Kristy and queen plant Carly. Then it's Alexandréa. Six solos in and finally we get someone who isn't pimped! Whoa, it's Amanda, and her voice sounds like an electric can opener. With every note she probably loses another fan. Next is 10cc's "The Things We Do For Love," then it's Carole King's "I Feel the Earth Move." Not surprisingly, Brooke gets a solo on the latter. I almost don't recognize her at first with her new straight hair. I'm just glad she got to sing a song by one of her own idols. Overall, I'd say this group sing was much better than last week's. It actually seemed like they were having fun this time.

Fun's over! It's time to eliminate someone! Ryan focuses on the guys first. He tells the back row to stand up. Michael's safe. Chikezie's safe. Ryan tries to fake out Jason C. and then tells him he's safe. It's down to Danny and Jason Y., and Jason is going home. Well, this stinks. I had some hope after he placed second on DialIdol, but technically it did say he was still vulnerable. Ryan chats with him, and a clearly disappointed Jason says he was surprised at the criticism he got on Tuesday, because he honestly felt like he gave his all in his performance. He thinks the problem was that he wasn't able to find that perfect song choice. Are you listening, Nigel? Either ditch the iTunes deal or put in more work to get songs cleared. The show and its contestants are suffering. Ryan asks Simon why he thinks Jason's going home, and Simon says it's because he doesn't stand out. No, it's because you guys aren't pimping him. He stood out to me from the beginning. Jason sings "Long Train Runnin'" one last time before the rest of the guys crowd around him to bid him farewell. Good luck, Jason. You'll be missed.

Next it's a girl's turn to fall. Once again they start with the back row. Kristy is safe. Asia'h is safe. Brooke is safe. It's down to Amanda and Alexandréa. I voted for both, but if I had to choose I'd like to see Alexandréa stay. Of course, Ryan then tells us that Alexandréa is leaving. Decked out in peace signs and a t-shirt that says "Rock on!", she walks to center stage for her turn to chat with Ryan and the judges. Randy says he doesn't think she should be going home, but the problem was that she made a bad song choice. Enough about song choice, already! These kids only have a small list of songs to choose from. Ryan mentions her great-grandmother, and she tells Ryan "You were supposed to bring her to California, freak!" Oh well. I have to wonder if that woman in her 90's really wanted to make the trip. It's just a shame. I have a feeling if Alexandréa had tried out a few years later she would've been a top contender. As she sings "If You Leave Me Now" yet again the camera shows us several shots of David A. crying on Luke's shoulder. I guess we know which guy was closest to her. As soon as her sing-out ends she goes over to give David a hug. I really wish America had recognized this girl's talent. Contestants need to remember not to sing songs that deal with leaving, saying goodbye, not being able to make someone love you, not winning or going down in a blaze of glory. It's a curse, I tell you.

After the break another girl has to leave. The front row stands up. Carly's safe (rats!). Ramiele's safe (I guess she avoided the curse I just mentioned). Syesha's safe (double rats!). It's down to Kady and Alaina. I voted for Alaina, didn't vote for Kady. I hope Kady's going. Ryan tells us that the person who's safe was in the bottom three vote-getters. That safe person is Kady. Kady looks surprised, and Alaina tries to fake a smile. They cut to a shot of the couches, where Ramiele looks shocked and Syesha looks completely uninterested. Alaina starts crying, and is obviously embarrassed to be doing so on national TV. What is it with girls named Alaina on this show? Just like last year a really emotional girl with that name goes home the second week of Semifinals. After being consoled by Ryan and Paula, Alaina is given the option of not singing if she wishes. She says she doesn't want to, but the girls on the couches all convince her to do it. As the girls crowd around Alaina for her sing-out she announces it's going to sound terrible, but she actually ends up not sounding that bad. I'm going to miss her. She has much more likability than some of these other girls.

Ryan gives us a special announcement. They've gotten the rights to the Lennon-McCartney songbook, and with this year's Top 12 being the best ever (Dang it! Just when I thought they'd given up on perpetuating that lie!), the first week of Finals will have a Beatles theme. That should be fun, but it's a shame we don't have better contestants to do it with. Ryan then announces that they're doing "Idol Gives Back" again this year, and they show a clip of the highlights from last year. It's a good cause, but these highlights are nothing more than filler.

Finally, one of the guys from the front row has to leave. The three Davids are all safe, so Luke and Robbie have to come to center stage. Ryan talks about Luke's song choice and the judges' comments and suddenly prepares to announce the result. Realizing his mistake, he then does the same for Robbie. Amazing. You rarely see Seacrest mess up like that. He then announces that Robbie is going home. Finally, someone I didn't vote for gets eliminated. It's a shame he has to leave under a cloud of poseurdom. Ryan asks him what went wrong, and Robbie says he thinks it was a bad song choice and he could've sung it better. Argh. I'm glad he's not making excuses, but it's getting ridiculous how none of these contestants seem capable of making a good song choice (thanks, Nigel!). Simon says he thinks the problem was authenticity. He believes America saw what they saw: that it didn't feel real. Did America see that, or did you and Randy convince them of it, Simon? They show the exit tape of the eliminated contestants' journeys and Robbie gets to sing "Hot Blooded" one more time. This guy may wear a wig, but he is a pretty good singer. I hope he can continue doing his thing, even if I won't be supporting his career.

Next week we get songs from the 80's. That should be interesting.