American Idol’s Thursday elimination show started off on a cryptic note, as for some reason Seacrest threw it to Randy Jackson to start off the night. Jackson applauded the songwriting from “yesteryear” (when was that, again, Randy?) and said it’s all about whether or not the contestants can “work it out.” The show then wasted a little time talking about Simon Cowell’s half-Bullwinkle look (he has a habit of placing one hand, splayed, against his temple) before it got on to the business at hand: narrowing the field of contestants.

The Top 20 Idols performed together in yet another poorly-choreographed routine which seemed to drag on for ever, and finally Ryan Seacrest turned his attention to the Top 10 Guys. The back row of seated guys stood up, with Michael Johns being told to safely sit first. Jason Castro and Chikezie were told to be seated as well, leaving only cutie Danny Noriega and Pepe la Pue Jason Yeager standing. Never for a second did I think Danny might be told to go - Yeager was quickly told he’d hit the end of his Idol road.

During his on-stage exit interview, Yeager talked about his own poor song choice. Simon Cowell explained the elimination to Yeager: “you don’t stand out in the crowd at the moment,” though he did tell Jason he’s “not a bad singer.” No, just bad at doing his own hair. He did put more of himself into his exit performance, at least.

Next, Ryan turned to the girls of the competition. Kristy Lee Cook, Asia’h Epperson, and Brooke White were told be seated. This left only Alexandrea Lushington and Amanda Overmyer, and for a moment I was concerned. I do, after all, just love Amanda. But Alexandrea, who only Wednesday said she felt like an underdog in the contest, was booted. Randy Jackson said it probably wasn’t the right choice for Alexandrea to go, but that it all came down to song choice. Yeah…and bad singing. As Alexandrea sang her song (with a little more heart this time, though the performance was still pretty poor and out-of-tune), David Archuleta cried. Don’t worry, David, you’ll make it to the Top 12, no sweat.

The girls remained the focus of attention as Ryan Seacrest turned to those remaining. Carly Smithson, Ramiele Malubay, and Syesha Mercado were immediately let off the hook, leaving only interchangeable blondes Kady Malloy and Alaina Whitaker. “Which one’s Kady?” My TV-watching companion cried, “That’s the one I don’t like!” Hell, I can barely tell them apart, myself. 

Kady, Alaina and Alexandrea rounded out the bottom three of the girls, not so surprising based upon the quality of their performances Wednesday (and their inability to strongly stand out). Kady Malloy, of the Britney Spears impersonation, was declared safe (though she looked even more surprised about that than I felt). Alaina immediately broke down and loudly cried “I can’t sing!” in what I’m pretty sure is an Idol first. Paula Abdul, for some reason, gave this a standing ovation.

Ryan attempted to calm weepy Alaina down, and all the judges remained kind in the face of her obvious meltdown. Paula Abdul enthused all over her, promising her a bright future, and told her “we think you’re promising” and “we love you.” We just don’t love the blue dress.

Then it was time for Alaina to do what she’s supposed to do - sing for our entertainment. “It’s gonna sound horrible,” she warned, and I had to laugh. Alaina, we know - that’s why you got voted out in the first place. So, she sang. Big surprise, it didn’t sound good - it didn’t sound good the first time she sang it, either. But Alaina did grow stronger near the end as the others gathered around to support her and Paula remained sunshiney on the sidelines. Kady Malloy, who looks very much like Alaina (they’re both blonde and cute, as if there isn’t enough of that on TV) seemed most upset with the elimination. I would be, too, Kady - remember, you barely escaped elimination yourself.

The show then took a break to promote itself in usual FOX fashion, touting the upcoming Idol Gives Back (scheduled for April 9) as well as the upcoming Top 12 reveal (March 11). I started to zone out until Ryan Seacrest said the names sure to pull me out of any haze - Lennon-McCartney. For the first time in the show’s history, Idol now has permission to use tunes from this extensive songbook.

And I have requests. Top 12 - I’m looking at you, whoever you are.

Luke Menard and Robbie Carrico were called front and center next. I forgot about Luke - I always forget about Luke - and jumped the gun by predicting Carrico would be booted before I realized Menard was still around. Then I saw Luke, remembered his terrible performance, and felt sure he’d be asked to leave instead. I was surprised, though not too much, when Carrico was kicked to the curb.

Carrico blamed bad song choice, then confidently said “I think I coulda done it better.” Well, here’s your chance, Robbie. Don’t blow it. Simon Cowell blamed authenticity for Robbie’s elimination, saying “it just never, ever felt real.” All four eliminates were called on stage next to watch their film footage, and Robbie Carrico had his chance to back up his bold claim.

I’ll admit, he put more feeling into the performance the second time around, but I didn’t get to see the whole thing anyway. Which leads me to a question I’ve long pondered: often, the last contestant to be eliminated runs out of time during their performance and gets cut off. Do the Idol producers, in their wisdom, put the person who got the fewest votes of all at the end? Or is it just a quirk of fate that Robbie got placed in this unenviable position? Perhaps we’ll never know, and it doesn’t really matter anyway.

One more four-at-a-time elimination, and it’s over. American Idol will have it’s Top 12. Then, the show can get to more important cross-promotions…like Ford music videos.