I think with that title, you already know the outcome, but I’m going to recap last night’s “American Idol” results show anyway. Heck, at this stage, every elimination will be sort of shocking, because anyone left can win the whole thing.

The show began a Carole King medley that, well, I forwarded through. Then last season’s runner-up, Crystal Bowersox, sang her new single and it was decent but, to be honest, she would have no business being among this season’s Top 6.

Ryan Seacrest then started bringing the finalists to the center of the stage one by one. Haley Reinhart, safe. Scotty McCreery, go back to the chairs. Hmmm. Lauren Alaina, safe. Casey Abrams, back to chairs. James Durbin, safe. Jacob Lusk, back to the chairs. Of course, that meant Scotty, Casey and Jacob were the Bottom 3. So why did Seacrest not send them to the other side of the stage? Who knows? It was weird. They also had Jimmy Iovine weigh in on each performance the night before, which was kind of cool.

Then Bruno Mars performed his single about going back to sleep and/or doing nothing. I think all of us have wanted or want to have a day like that, don’t we?

Back to the results……Jacob Lusk, safe! So it was down to Casey and Scotty, and Scotty has never fallen this far. Would it be his time? Nope, it was Casey, who kind of sang a mildly unknown song on Wednesday that may have been his undoing. It was also funny to hear Jimmy say that Casey needs to stop his during-performance growling, because “the family dog doesn’t vote.” Classic. But I think Casey’s weirdness ultimately cost him, while most of the others have mass appeal.

So now what? I have to pat myself on the back somewhat, because I had pegged Lauren as someone who could win it all way back when, along with Steven Tyler. But I never would have thought Scotty or James would get this far, and either of them could win, especially James, who many might even see as the frontrunner now. Jacob and Haley will likely be the next to go, but any slip-up or bad song choice can spell doom for any of the five.

So that’s it…next week they each do two songs–one from today and one from the ’60’s. And J-Lo will perform next Thursday as will Lady Antebellum. See you then!

Last night’s episode of “American Idol” was a special one, because they were celebrating the songs of the great Carole King, one of the greatest American songwriters of all-time, and easily among the top five living songwriters. Couple that with the fact that Jimmy Iovine brought in Kenneth Babyface Edmunds to mentor the contestants this week, and you have the recipe for some amazing performances.

But then, the awesome has become the status quo this season and anything south of awesome is fodder for elimination. And last night most of the performances were really good, including the duets the remaining six did. Let’s recap, shall we?

Jacob Lusk kicked things off with a newer King song, “Oh No Not My Baby” and for me it was good but not awesome (uh-oh, read what I said above). Steven said it “shook his tail feathers” and Jacob has so much character, J-Lo said it was a tricky song but that Jacob turned in a good performance, and Randy said there were a few rough spots but overall he loved that Jacob just sang rather than emoted. Jacob is surely in danger again this week, especially since he went first.

Lauren Alaina was next and did “Where You Lead” but not before having a surprise visit from Miley Cyrus during rehearsal. Yikes. And it begs the question, if you closed your eyes, would you think Miley was Jimmy and Jimmy was Miley? Anyway, Lauren was good but she didn’t wow me (uh-oh). J-Lo said she was proud that Lauren pushed harder this week, Randy said Lauren had some extra swagger but that the song choice was a bit safe, and Steven told Lauren to keep going for it. Wow, Steven has become Ellen DeGeneres at times.

Then came the first duet, Haley Reinhart and Casey Abrams doing “I Feel the Earth Move,” and it was really good. Steven flat out asked, “Hey weird beard, are you in love with Haley?” Yikes.

Next was Scotty McCreery who did a super cool version of “You’ve Got a Friend.” Babyface asked Scotty to sing rather than drop his voice into that deep baritone, and Scotty did just that and slayed it. It was subtle but I think one of his best yet. Randy said Scotty is in it to win it, Steven said Scotty has never sang better, and J-Lo said Scotty keeps getting better and she loves his storytelling aspect.

James Durbin did “Will You Still Love Me?” and I he said there would be no theatrics, and I thought this would be him and the guitar and it would be so cool. Well, it started that way but then the band kicked in after about 20 seconds. Still, this was a great performance and James is proving he could win it all. Steven said James did it again, J-Lo said it was magical and that James is strong and consistent, and Randy said James might win it all.

Then came the obvious duet between Lauren and Scotty of “Up on the Roof” and that was really great too. J-Lo said it was beautiful and that Lauren sang her ass off. I think J-Lo is still really pulling for the ladies to hang on.

Casey then did an interesting song–Blood, Sweat and Tears’ version of Carole’s “Hi-De-Ho” and it was different and awesome at the same time, in true Casey form. Randy said it was very entertaining, Steven said Casey had found his niche, and J-Lo said Casey was in his element.

Haley then closed out the solo performances with “Beautiful” and she did a great job, but once again Haley sang great but lacked just a bit of emotion. Steven said he just saw God and that Haley nailed it (say what???), J-Lo said Haley has one of the best voices in the competition (more lobbying for ladies), and Randy said the beginning was boring but that it got better, after which J-Lo gave him a bunch of crap.

Finally, Jacob and James closed out the night with a duet of “I’m Into Something Good,” complete with turning J-Lo around in her office chair and having her have to cross her legs quickly due to a very short dress she was wearing. D’oh! But the guys did a great job with the song and it was definitely entertaining. Enough to keep Jacob safe? Probably not. And Steven didn’t get it, saying “What the hell was that?” Ha!

Anyway, I think your Bottom 3 will be Jacob, Haley and either Lauren or Casey. Scotty and James are going to be safe for sure. What do you think, America?

“American Idol” got down from 16 contestants to 12 last night, in effect reaching the “magical” Top 12 final round. From here on out, everyone will perform on one night and the results, with one person being eliminated each week, will be announced the following night. There were a few surprises last night, and probably two that America really got correct. As Seacrest would say, “dim the lights, here we go….”

The show opened with the Top 16 singing their ridiculous weekly group number, this week a Michael Buble song that I’m happy to report I’ve never heard before. Then Ryan announced that next week the contestants will be choosing songs by The Rolling Stones. I’m pretty excited about this….it doesn’t get any more legendary in rock than the Stones, and it should be fun trying to guess who will sing what.

Anyway, on to the results…..they had those 12 metal bucket stools set up, and Seacrest would be sending them there one by one as they learned their fate. Didi Benami, in. Siobhan Magnus, in. I hope Siobhan does “Gimme Shelter” next week, but there are probably 100 others I haven’t thought of yet. Next, Paige Miles and Katelyn Epperly to the front of the stage. One was going home, one was staying. Paige Miles, in, Katelyn, out. Then, since I missed Tuesday’s performances, I got to see just why Katelyn was booted off. Her version of Carole King’s “I Feel the Earth Move” as she sang her way out was just awful.

On to the guys…..Seacrest brought out Tim Urban, Todrick Hall, Lee Dewyze, and Casey James to the front of the stage. He went through them, one by one, talking about what they sang the night before and what the judges thought. First one in, Casey. Second one in, Tim. Vote for the Worst contingent rejoices, but Tim was not horrible on Wednesday even if he chose a tired song. So down to Todrick and Lee. Lee in, Todrick out. Well, this one I saw coming, and while I also thought Todrick was super talented, he wasn’t gonna win this thing.

Then they brought back two contestants from last season–Matt Giraud and Scott McIntyre, and they did a cheesy “dueling piano” version of Billy Joel’s “Tell Her About It.” It wasn’t that bad, especially when Matt sang and played, but Scott….geez, you can tell how bad he is when he’s trading vocal lines with Matt. Then Seacrest, while pimping both guys, calls McIntyre “Scotty the Body.” He calls everyone named Scott this, and it’s mildly disturbing.

Next, more results. Crystal Bowersox, in. Michael Lynche, in. Seacrest jokingly asks Michael if he will fit on the metal bucket stool, and Michael could care less if he breaks one right there on national TV. Lacey Brown, in. What??? Aaron Kelly, in. What????? Now I’m getting slightly annoyed. Really, America? Someone is going home that shouldn’t be.

Left on stage–Alex Lambert, Andrew Garcia, Katie Stevens and Lilly Scott. First up, the guys. Alex and Andrew. Alex had the best voice among all the guys, and Andrew was the dude who turned dance pop into cool singer/songwriter material. Andrew, in. Alex, going home. He tries not to cry, but he’s clearly bummed, and so am I…I liked both of these guys, but I think Alex going home is premature. He has a great voice but lacks the performance skills, which ultimately hurt him. Andrew will keep bucking the ordinary and doing things his way. Meanwhile, Seacrest asks Ellen DeGeneres if she has advice for Alex, and she says, “You’re so good!” Thankfully no more banana references.

So the final spot is down to Katie and Lilly. Katie is the young chickadee who has a big voice for her age, and Lilly the already-established quirky singer/songwriter. Katie, in. Lilly, out. I really was surprised at this, and especially surprised that she was out instead of Lacey or Paige. Lilly was also surprised, saying, “Lots of talent is going home tonight” and “I don’t know what America wants to hear.” I’ll tell you what they want to hear, Lilly. Pitchy cheeseball faux country music by nerdy boys like Aaron Kelly, and awful renditions of anything by Lacey Brown. Kind of bums me out, but those two won’t last long here and neither will Paige.

So your finalists America, as you chose them–Didi Benami, Siobhan Magnus, Paige Miles, Tim Urban, Lee Dewyze, Casey James, Crystal Bowersox, Michael Lynche, Lacey Brown, Aaron Kelly, Andrew Garcia and Katie Stevens. I see this as a two-person race between Siobhan and Crystal, and maybe Michael if he keeps getting Ruben Studdard type love from the judges. Maybe even Andrew if he gets his mojo back.

We’re on to the next chapter, folks…..see you next week with Mick and the Stones!

THE BAD

Tara Mathews, a 21-year old local Goth girl (a Goth in Salt Lake is like a peanut in Italian food) said that she had ESP powers. Well that’s good, because she sure can’t sing….they only showed a few seconds of this girl Aleesha, who I’ll call vibrato girl, but her audition made me laugh out loud…..there was Chris, who brought along his friend Greg the Rabbit. Greg wore a pink bunny costume, and Chris said that Greg was his “good luck charm, like a rabbit’s foot.” Ugh, what these people won’t do on national TV. Chris wasn’t bad, but not good enough…and the rabbit was as funny as it was a dumb stunt….there was Andrew Gibson, a 21 year old who sang a Gospel type song and was just not good…..finally, since they only showed these clunkers, they blazed through a medley of bad auditions, something that I’m sure made all of you as happy as it made me.

THE GOOD

The show kicked off with 28 year old David Osmond, whose dad is Alan Osmond of Osmond brothers fame. Alan has multiple sclerosis and David has battled it too, but he is out of his wheelchair and seemed to be doing great. He also has a hell of a voice and is moving on….Frankie Jordan, a 24 year old from Hollywood, sang Amy Winehouse and looked a bit like Amy too (at her most sober), and was really good and unique. Frankie won’t have to commute very far for the Hollywood round, but I could have done without Ryan Seacrest saying “Frankie goes to Hollywood”…really now Ryan?…..Megan Corkery, 23, is a recently divorced single mom and decided that she would take advantage of her newfound freedom and audition. Megan has a massive tattoo on her right arm that was distracting, but she has a cute natural look and a great voice. She sang some old standard and has a unique quality about her, something Simon Cowell in particular said he would remember…..Austin, a 17 year old dude, sang a Train song and was barely good enough to get through….Taylor, who is 16 but acted more like 26, sang “Joyful Joyful” and really has some natural talent, especially for her age. Randy Jackson said it was one of the best auditions this season so far….finally, Rose Flack, a cute 17 year old blonde girl from Idaho, was the heartwarming story of this round. Rose lost her dad four years ago and her mom two years ago, and is living with a friends’ family. Her dad instilled a passion for music in Rose, and apparently an amazing vocal ability. Rose sang Carole King’s “I Feel The Earth Move,” and not only did she do a great job, but she has such a likability about her. I don’t know how Rose will handle Hollywood, but she is someone I’ll be rooting for.

So now six audition rounds are done, but FOX is throwing a curveball at us…..there is a bonus episode tonight, in which they will combine the New York City and San Juan auditions into one final audition show, and this one too is only one hour! Then next week the Hollywood rounds begin. I have to say, I like the way they are doing this, because every season Hollywood week cannot come fast enough. See you all tomorrow…