Last night was eliminations night on American Idol.

This is my quick and dirty summary of last night, since I have somewhere to be in 20 minutes!

This week, Paula taught the finalists their choreography for the group song, and we saw video of her working with them. When she's in her element, she actually appears coherent! Paula announced them from the stage. They started in the audience, the guys wearing sunglasses. Paula struck a pose as they passed and seemed to want to join in, but restrained herself. Oddly, for the first segment, the camera was in the ceiling with the guys singing up to it. I guess they had to dress the girls so that there was no embarrassing cleavage. Anoop Desai could handle the higher range of this song ("Shake Your Body to the Ground" by Michael Jackson), but Matt Giraud couldn't. The first part might have been live, although for parts of the song, they were clearly lip-syncing. I have to say, the disco look worked for Anoop. And Adam Lambert really had the hip action going! Damn! (video)

For the Ford ad this week, the finalists were trying (and failing) at various jobs: working in a bakery, at a construction site, at a dog spa, continually messing up. Finally, they all enter a cafe with a sing reading "Singers Wanted." I'm sure that even those cut will try to find jobs in the entertainment field. The song was "I'm Good, I'm Gone."

Then the results began. Starting with Lil Rounds, Ryan sent her to the far side of the stage. I thought for sure they were going to do the "choose your group" thing they often do at this stage in the game: splitting finalists into two groups and then forcing the final person (usually the frontrunner) to choose where s/he belongs. Instead, he summarily proclaimed her run over. On the sidelines, Danny Gokey looked mystified at the sudden result.

Then, three disco stars performed their hits: Freda Payne, Thelma Houston and K.C. of K.C. and the Sunshine band. performs some great dance hits. Their hits were repetitive but nostalgia-evoking, and their fashion choices entertaining. Themla wore a champagne-colored glittery gown with a skirt that she probably didn't realize was see-through when back lit. She stumbled a bit on the words, but she might not have performed live for a long time. Thelma Houston wore what appeared to be a gold nightie but had the magnetism of someone wearing the swankiest cocktail dress. And K.C., a bit heavier, with a bit less hair, rocked the stage with his young back-up dancers.

Ryan ran down some more names: Kris, Adam, and Danny were safe (but Danny didn't learn this until Ryan stalled by trying to get Simon to define what he'd meant by calling Danny's performane "clumsy" the night before. Simon told him to get on with it and stop being facetious). Anoop learned he was in the bottom three. Then Allison and Matt had to stand, and Matt learned that, like the judges, "the nation decided to save you." This put Allison in the bottom three. (video)

While Allison and Anoop sweated it out in the tulip chairs, last year's runner-up, David Archuleta, performed his hit "Touch My Hand." It was upbeat, unlike many of his Idol picks, and I predict it will be a hit with his fans.

Ryan then took him over to say hi to Anoop and Allison and give them advice. He assured them the show opens up all sorts of possibilities and you don't have to make it to the top for that. He also old them they both have amazing voices. What a sweetie.

Finally, the results, out of 45 million votes. The second person going home was Anoop Desai. He seemed relieved to finally hear the words he'd been dreading so many weeks when he was in the bottom three. He gave his all for one last performance, all smiles (video).

Why was it time for Lil and Anoop to go?

Lil seemed to have a lot of potential at the beginning of the season. During the audition weeks, she seemed to have a strong voice, a strong personality and a good work ethic. She seemed destined to be another diva. Her first week in the semifinals, she sang a fresh-sounding contemporary R&B song, easily landing in the top 13.

Unfortunately, that's where the originality and excitement ended. After that, week after week Lil picked nothing but boring, overdone standards. Many times, they had been performed much better by other singers, including previous Idol contestants.

Not only that, but she lost her sense of sense, coming out in a different wig every week, changing her style from a stylish young woman into a parody of a singing sensation, wearing fussy ball gowns and sequined disasters. It was as if she was trying to live out something she'd seen as a little girl, as if she was trying to mold herself into what she thought a singer should be, rather than doing what came naturally.

To top it off, she began to demonstrate a negative attitude, talking back to the judges and asserting that she knew what she was doing, despite their advice to the contrary. It's OK to have an ego in the music business, but when you're just introducing yourself to your audience, and your success depends on them liking you, a certain amount of humility, or at least tactfulness, is helpful.

While song choice is important, even her choices might not have mattered if she'd sung them better. Ultimately, her vocal abilities did not live up to the songs she tried to sing.

Anoop has had a big fanbase from the start. I remember seeing buzz about him starting back in the audition week, with people sharing videos of him performing at college events. He's got the appeal of the boy-next-door, someone that reminds many viewers of someone they know. Unlike other finalists (such as Adam), he doesn't have a big star persona. This probably worked in his favor, since people like to see the underdog win, and they like to vote for someone who is like them.

From week to week, however, Anoop's performances wavered between mediocre to fairly solid to impressive. That lack of consistency likely hurt him, as did his angry talking back to the judges a few weeks ago when they tried to critique his song choice. Unlike Lil, however, he apologized and showed more restraint in the following weeks.

Anoop seemed to feel uncomfortable on the stage, had difficulty controlling his breath when he added movement, and had yet to come into his own as a performer. As I've heard others state, while many of his competitors already seem like professionals, it's difficult to picture Anoop headlining a concert.

People do not just vote for contestants that they like, even if they have an enjoyable voice. They vote for people whose albums they want to buy and whose concerts they would like to attend. Anoop did not excite America about the possibilities of his future offerings, and that cost him votes.

And so, this week, it was Lil and Anoop taking their bows.

All video clips come from mjsbigblog.

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