Scoop from Wednesday's show...

Here’s some behind-the-scenes scoop from Wednesday’s results show for you…

Would you have known that Fergie’s performance was on tape if I hadn’t told you? The producers worked so hard to make it seamless that the audience didn’t even know she wasn’t going to be there until she showed up on the giant screen in the studio, causing an “Awww!” of disappointment…

The way the contestants were eliminated this week was the brainchild of Nigel Lythgoe. And Melinda Doolittle let him have it for putting her in the position to choose which group was safe. During the commercial break, she ran off the stage to confront him in the audience…

Speaking of Nigel, he gasped in surprise when Sanjaya was eliminated…

Sanjaya, however, was not surprised as he began crying during the commercial break after the bottom three were named. Melinda, and then Chris, gave him a hug before they came back from commercial. When it was announced that Sanjaya was going home, the stage manager had to physically separate Sanjaya from LaKisha, so they could get the shot of him with Ryan during the goodbye video…

Final Thoughts...

So FINALLY, America does the right thing, but in the process both LaKisha and Blake get wake up calls. And clearly, being in the bottom two hit LaKisha pretty hard as evidenced by her tears and Blake holding her hand while they waited on the votes.

So why did Blake end up in the bottom two? It’s possible that his fan base thought he was safe and didn’t vote enough—or in my case, voted for other people. Or, maybe the show wanted to give him a little jolt after his comments to “Entertainment Weekly.” With this show, anything’s possible.

Which leads me to ask this question: Did Sanjaya actually get the lowest number of votes? Based on all of the feedback I’ve read on the Internet today, yes I believe he did. The novelty had worn off and it was time for him to go. The audience’s reaction when Ryan gave him the news was evidence of that…

I told all of you who were getting frustrated with the show to just hang on, that things would work themselves out. Now that they have, we can get down to business.

Remember that next week’s theme will be “life anthems,” which I think is just code for a Whitney/Mariah snoozefest, but we’ll see…

The Results...

9:53 We’re back…LaKisha and Blake are holding hands…Ryan gets ready to send on of them to safety…The audience wants Blake…Blake is safe. THANK GOD!!!...

9:54 Simon is smiling…Now it’s interesting…Sanjaya and LaKisha have their arms around each other…Here it is…Biggest top 7 vote in Idol history, over 38 million…Sanjaya…is going home. WOO HOO! The audience lets out a big cheer…

9:55 Sanjaya “Home” goodbye video featuring all of the stars raving about him. Sanjaya is now a mess as Ryan smiles while trying to keep him together…

9:56 Melinda holds LaKisha as she bawls. Sanjaya speaks, but we can’t understand him through his tears…Ryan tells Sanjaya we’ll never forget him and we are glad he was a part of this season…

9:58 Sanjaya does “Something to Talk About”…He changes the words to “something to talk about other than hair”…Simon is clearly pleased…The Idols join Sanjaya on stage…

9:59 And we’re out as he gets cut off…

I'm getting nervous...

9:41 We’re back…Ryan sits with the bottom three…Blake takes LaKisha’s hand…

9:41 Taped Package: The Idols get a DreamWorks tour from CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and a sneak preview of “Shrek the Third”…Blake I am so sorry that I didn’t vote for you more than five times and I also voted for Phil five times. I should’ve given all 10 votes to you…Antonio Banderas comes to visit with them. He likes Blake’s impersonation…

9:44 Antonio Banderas is in the audience with Melanie Griffith, their kids and Jeffrey Katzenberg…

9:46 Jeffrey Katzenberg introduces Martina McBride…I’m so nervous I can barely type…She’s singing “Anyway” from her new CD…Blake looks a little nervous…Is it a coincidence that Blake is in the bottom three for the first time the same week he admits he has broken “Idol” rules? I don’t think so…

9:49 Martina’s daughter, Emma, joins her on the stage with Ryan…Ryan asks Martina about the bottom three but Emma interrupts. Ryan asks again…Martina just plugs the break…

Please, Please, Please, Please, let it be Sanjaya. PLEASE!!!

Is a shocker on the way?

9:31 Ryan is splitting them into two groups. He’s getting so predictable…

9:31 Sanjaya to right side…Phil to opposite side…Jordin joins Phil…LaKisha joins Sanjaya. The crowd goes quiet…Blake joins Sanjaya and LaKisha…Chris with Phil and Jordin…???...Melinda remains…

9:33 Sanjaya, LaKisha, Blake in one group…Chris, Jordin and Phil in the other…Melinda is studying them with Ryan’s help…Melinda is safe…

9:33 Now Ryan wants her to choose. She’s shaking her head. What a cruel thing for her. You know she loves everyone…She sits in the middle of the stage and refuses to play along. She gets an ovation…

9:35 Ryan asks her to slide to her left…AAAHHHH! Blake’s in the bottom three! WHAT????!!!!!!

9:35 The bottom three is Sanjaya, LaKisha and Blake. Is there a big shocker coming? Randy says it’s crazy that Blake is there…Paula says she understands why two of them are up there…Simon is happy and says he’s beginning to sense something…

9:36 After the break…

The Top 7 Results: The First Half-Hour

In case you missed it, here’s what happened in the first half-hour…

Ryan gave Simon a chance to explain his eye roll and I swear I heard Simon’s voice quiver. He was clearly upset about the whole thing. AND they played the actual tape of Simon’s conversation with Paula to prove he was telling the truth…

Ryan did another man-on-the-street piece to ask people what they thought about the show…

We got a group sing of “I’m Alright.” LaKisha horribly over-enunciated again and Phil proved once again that country is good for him. Jordin showed some serious harmony chops and Melinda and Blake made sweet music together…

We met the American Idol Challenge winner, who is from Ohio!...

A taped piece where the Idols told what they’re listening to now. Chris says he’s listening to Peter Noone’s greatest hits, because “he saved [his] life”…

A taped performance by Fergie of her new single, “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” that they tried very hard to pass off as live. Blake even gave her a standing ovation when Ryan introduced her. It was a good performance but there was a strange moment when a little girl came awkwardly up to her to hold her hand. It was clearly planned, but someone should have told the little girl to smile or something…

The Ford ad to “I Ran.” The Idols play spies trying to steal a suitcase from each other. Sanjaya was in a “Matrix” outfit. It was actually kind of cool…

The “Idol Gives Back” plug which named the artists we already knew AND a duet we’ll “have to see to believe” as two of music’s biggest stars come together. There’s also now a MySpace page for the event…

Now on with the show…

The Results Show: Let's Get This Started...

So the Internet buzz is that Haley is going home. You know I would love to see Phil spared…

Let’s get this started…

8:59 Intro. Ryan asks who’s going home and gives Sanjaya a funny look. Could we stop milking this please…

9:00 Eva Longoria and Sharon Osbourne in the house…Ryan asks for the audience to scream their favorites…

9:01 Introduction of the judges…Simon winks at Paula…Ryan asks Randy to sum up the night. Randy says it was “a tall order”…Ryan asks Paula if she saw a new side to the contestants. Simon and Paula start snickering…Ryan asks how Simon is feeling about the compliment he gave Sanjaya last night. Simon says he slept fine…

9:02 Group sing: “Bailamos”…Chris gets a bunch of screams. Why?...Melinda sounds awesome. She really should have done that one…Haley and Sanjaya barely get through their part. Sanjaya actually outsings her…Maybe Phil should have done it…Blake and Lakisha sound good together…So why no Jennifer Lopez songs at all over the two nights?...They’re giving each Idol a lot of camera time…There goes Blake singing to me again…They let Sanjaya do the Spanish part…That right there is why I love Phil. He sounded fantastic!...After the break…

What happened?

Okay, so what happened? Well, one of my cardinal rules is to never admit an accident is your fault—even if it is. It’s the same thing about bad performances. Chris should have never admitted it was bad. He should have kept the sense of humor we all know and love and just shrugged it off. But his continual harping on his mistakes did him in. I didn’t really think it was that bad…

Next week it’s Tony Bennett, which I’m guessing means standards, which probably means strong weeks for both Haley and Sanjaya—as if their performances even matter any more…

I just really don’t know what else to say…

Your thoughts?...

"Bye, Bye Curly"...

9:25 We’re back…Gina and Chris S. are left as candidates for the bottom three…They both stand…Gina looks pretty upset…Chris is in the bottom three…Uh-oh…

9:25 Time to send one to safety…Haley…needs to stand there a little longer…YES! Phil is safe…Thank goodness!!!

9:26 Ryan asks Randy and Paula who is going home and neither one answers. Simon says it’s “Bye, bye curly”…

9:27 Haley is safe. HOLY CRAP!!! Chris tries to smile, but it doesn’t really work. “Home” goodbye video…Chris is still trying to muster a smile…

9:28 Ryan calls Chris one of the cleverest contestants the show has ever had and tells him “we’ll miss you”…Chris’ wife is stunned and starts to cry…

9:29 Chris does “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”…Haley is way too happy…

9:30 Chris (who is known as the hugger) gives each of the contestants a hug…He tells Phil he owes him $50. Did Phil think he was going home too?...Blake shakes his head…

9:30 And we’re out…

"The Sweet Escape"

9:14 We’re back…Apparently Ryan accidentally said Ryan and Stacey were in the bottom two before the break. I missed it because I was too busy kicking myself for not voting for Phil more…The American Idol Challenge…

9:15 Exxon Mobil answered Ryan’s begging for “Idol Gives Back”…

9:16 Gwen Stefani starts “The Sweet Escape” complete with the Harajuku girls…Now, Akon joins her. Where was he at the beginning?...He doesn’t really fit into her theatrics, so he takes the stage in the middle of the audience and high fives Randy…I never realized this song was so long…Haley looks sick…And Akon was apparently unaware of when the song was going to end…Gwen plugs her tour…And Ryan plugs her participation on “Idol Gives Back.” Apparently we’ll see a performance of her from the tour…After the break…

Phil, I am so sorry...

9:06 We’re back…Ford commercial: “I Fought the Law”…The Idols are fighting Chris R. in the old west, chasing him with Ford Mustangs…Yeah, okay…

9:07 Ryan is looking for the three people with the lowest number of votes…Blake stands…He’s safe…LaKisha stands…She’s safe

9:08 Phil stands…Phil is in the bottom three. I’m so sorry, Phil!...

9:08 Melinda stands…She’s safe…Chris R. stands…He’s safe. BOO HISS!...

9:09 Sanjaya stands…And he is of course, safe. Phil, I am so sorry…

9:09 Haley stands…She’s in the bottom three and she knew it when she heard Sanjaya was safe…

9:10 Jordin stands…She’s safe. That leaves Gina and Chris. Uh-oh…

9:10 Break. Phil seems way too happy for a guy who may be going home soon…

Could Chris' "my bad" send him home?...

The Opening Act...

8:59 Intro…Ryan says there are two important questions to answer: Who is going home and how will Sanjaya wear his hair? It’s back to normal…

9:00 Ryan comes out wearing a Mohawk wig…Randy is flabbergasted, but Sanjaya loves it…Ryan gives the rundown as he loses the wig…

9:01 Quick intro of the judges…Recap…I’m really worried that I didn’t vote enough for Phil…Haley really does deserve to go home for butchering Cyndi Lauper…

9:03 After the break…