Last night’s “American Idol” results show was a grueling hour long, but at last, we are down to the final 12. As they have been doing the last few seasons, they had 12 seats and filled them one by one, slowly working their way to who was being eliminated this week.

But first, last season’s runner-up, Blake Lewis, performed his new single, “How Many Words.” As you would expect, it was heavy on the beatboxing. But the song’s chorus absolutely soars. Then, after giving some love to Paula Abdul for having the #1 song on iTunes right now, it was on to the lengthy recaps of the last two nights.

Finally, Ryan Seacrest faced the guys and started to swing the axe. First up, David Cook, who sang that great version of Lionel Ritchie’s “Hello” on Tuesday. Seacrest said he spoke to Ritchie, who admitted he loved David’s version of the song. Cook was IN the top 12.

David Archuleta, also no surprise, IN.

Jason Castro….a moment of hanging on for dear life, then IN.

After a break, it was on to the ladies…..Brooke White, who did that really cool acoustic version of Pat Benatar. IN. Syesha Mercado, IN.

Then Kady Malloy, and by now we knew what was coming….definitely OUT. Kady was pretty bad on Wednesday singing Queen’s “Who Wants To Live Forever,” and she knew it.

Then, back to the guys. David Hernandez, IN. Michael Johns, IN. Luke Menard, OUT. Luke did that karaoke cover of Wham’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go,” and this was pretty much no surprise either.

Back to the girls. Ramiel, IN. Carly Smithson, IN. Amanda Overmyer, IN. Then after having Kristy Lee Cook and Asia’h Epperson join him on the front of the stage, Ryan Seacrest deferred to a commercial break. After the break, Kristy, IN, Asia’h, OUT. As she was singing out, it was pretty clear that Asia’h has a great voice, but it shows how high the level of talent is right now among the final 14 or so.

Finally, it was down to the guys, Chikezie and Danny Noriega. Chikezie, IN, Danny, OUT. Chikezie looked surprised, and a shot of his mom saying “Praise the Lord” was absolutely priceless. Danny, meanwhile, has a great voice and probably some sort of career ahead of him. Simon Cowell just breathed a big sigh of relief, too.

So there you have it folks…I think David Archuleta, David Cook, Carly Smithson and Amanda Overmyer could be your top 4, but these things don’t always go as you think they might. Jason Castro, meanwhile, could hang around for a long time the way Elliott Yamin did a couple of seasons ago.

“American Idol” is entering its glory, let the hype machine begin!