A montage of clips from Tuesday’s performance round as the Beatles music played in the background. Such was the intro of the Top 9 results show of American Idol 9. Would this results show be the one to feature the judges’ save? Ryan Seacrest promised “shocking” vote tallies at the top of the episode, which was jam-packed with a mishmash of performances (with a few results thrown in).

Idol Gives Back will air in two weeks. To aid in the effort, Idol judges are donating prizes and items to raise money. Just go to the official Web site for details or to give.

The Top 9 appeared on stage to sing a medley of Beatles tunes. Lee DeWyze kicked it off beautifully. As “Here, There and Everywhere” progressed and fans screamed, I couldn’t help but feel impressed. When Andrew Garcia came out with “Got To Get You Into My Life” the number truly became fun. The wardrobe was really, really good too. Other songs featured in the medley included “Fool on the Hill,” “All You Need is Love” and “She Loves You.” It was definitely the best group performance of the season.

After the rousing performance, the Idols sat on two rows of chairs to hear their fate in the competition. But first, it was time was another painfully bad Ford music video. The theme was kaleidoscopes, which has been done before.

Ryan Seacrest turned to Siobhan Magnus first. She changed it up a bit for her Tuesday performance, which was either a great decision or a very bad one. Seacrest allowed tension to mount while Siobhan waited to find out. He led her to the center of the stage before turning to Crystal Bowersox. Predictably, she was asked to stage at center stage with Siobhan. Both girls are very vocally talented and have often been considered front-runners in the contest, which made their pairing in the spotlight immediately frightening. Katie Stevens was addressed while the two waited. She joined the other girls at center stage.

“Do you think one of these girls could be headed home tonight?” Seacrest wanted to know. Randy Jackson was quick with his answer - “no, man.” Crystal Bowersox was decreed safe and sent on her way, leaving Katie and Siobhan standing on the stand. Both girls were also safe, which meant we would not be losing a female contender this week.

Jason Derulo walked through a cloud of smoke to grace the stage with his smooth vocals, a performance which quickly deteriorated into a bunch of “uhs,” hisses and copycat Michael Jackson stylings. Did Usher come back? No, it’s someone you’ve never heard of before named Jason. I will say this: it wasn’t such a bad song, and the show was pretty good. If you hear it on the radio it’s still going to be hard to know who he is. He’s apparently a protégé of Kara DioGuardi, which might explain why his sound is so generic. She gave him a standing ovation at the end of it all. “That was absolutely great. Well done,” Simon Cowell smiled pleasantly.

David Archuleta, Season 7’s runner-up, returned to the Idol stage to softly sing “Imagine,” a number which won him high praise the first time he performed it on the show. “Archie” looked and sounded great, and for good reason. “Imagine” is the greatest song ever written, and my personal favorite (though clearly I have no bias about it). David performed it the same way John Lennon once did - behind the piano, and with a beautiful singing voice.

Ryan Seacrest began to split the six remaining male Idols into two groups. Lee DeWyze was the first to stand. He was moved to the far side of the stage. Michael Lynche, a big favorite (pun intended), stood next. He was put into a separate group on the near side of the stage. This was immediately distressing - for how could the two most talented guys be in opposite groups? Casey James soon joined Lee DeWyze, which made their group’s stock increase.

Aaron Kelly stood next, nervousness written across his face. “You’re hard-working, very likable,” Simon Cowell encouraged him. Kelly went to stand next to Michael Lynche. Could it be possible that these two are part of the bottom group? Tim Urban was the next to stand. He joined Lee and Casey, which changed the dynamic of things considerably.

Only Andrew Garcia remained. He, of course, went to stand next to Michael and Aaron. It was a truly odd split, and seemed utterly impossible that either group could be the bottom three performers. Ellen DeGeneres predicted that the trio of Mike, Aaron and Andrew was the bottom three. “Either way, it’s horrible,” she added.

DeGeneres was right - amazingly. Michael Lynche, Andrew Garcia and Aaron Kelly stood stunned as the group of Bottom Three. Aaron Kelly was quickly granted a stay of safety courtesy of Ryan Seacrest. The host was right after all - seeing Andrew and Michael in the bottom group was truly a shock. But before the final result could be read, another song.

Rihanna looked lovely for her Idol performance, though the song and the stage show were both utterly horrendous. If you didn’t think so, her new album will be out soon. Her vocals were off, the lyrics of the song were repetitive and really, I can’t come up with enough adjectives to relate just how painful the whole thing was. The absence of the judges clearly marked this as a pre-recorded performance, and really that just makes everything so much worse.

More than one hundred and thirty million votes have been logged this season, but it seems that Michael Lynche didn’t receive enough of them this week. It’s the curse of being too good on American Idol - people just don’t vote because they think you’re safe. Lynche gorgeously sang “This Woman’s Work” to try and please the judges, while the other Idols stood clutching each other in despair. The fans in the theater began to go crazy as Lynche belted it out, and there’s no wonder. He’s been consistently fantastic every week, and there’s no way his star is going to stop rising with or without American Idol.

But did the judges think his talent was worth saving? As the audience screamed and jumped up and down, chanting for a save, Simon Cowell calmly took a sip from his sponsor cup. “The frustrating thing is, Michael, that we all wish you did something like this yesterday,” he sighed. Truthfully, I thought Lynche’s performance Tuesday night was one of the best we’ve seen. “We only have one save in the competition. This is unanimous, Michael, if that’s any comfort…and we have decided we’re going to see you next week,” Cowell ended his comments on a smile. Everyone but him in the theater was on their feet by the end of it all.

Thank goodness. Michael Lynche is just way too good to leave the competition. Don’t let the Idol curse strike again - make sure you vote next week for the ones you love. In the meantime, keep track of all the spoilers, gossip and recaps - read all our American Idol 9 posts.