Great look, fun personality, average singing voice.

Megan Joy went as far as she could with those attributes this season, but her name was called on this week's American Idol results show.

Upon her elimination, Joy - who appeared ready to go home and be with her son - said: "Contestants, you are the best! Judges, I love you. America, I love you," and, to her son, Ryder, "Baby, I'm

Look, we could praise Adam Lambert after every single audition this season.

The singer is as talented and as original as any singer in the history of American Idol.

For the sake of not boring our readers, though, we're simply gonna acknowledge another terrific performance by Lambert last night for his rendition of "Play That Funky Music" and move on to the other top crooner of the

Not much of an American Idol shocker last night.

While many fans were aghast that Alexis Grace was sent home a week ago, almost everyone saw Michael Sarver's elimination coming this time around. Nice guy, decent singer, not American Idol material.

We were surprised to see Matt Giraud join Michael Sarver in the bottom two.

So... we're down to 9 American Idol finalists. Can anyone

In a word: WOW!

There shouldn't have been much doubt before, but now we can certainly say for sure: this competition is Adam Lambert's to lose.

The singer blew away judges and viewers last night with his acoustic rendition of "Tracks of My Tears." Simon called it the best of the night, and that almost feels like an understatement.

Other performances that caught our attention - in

Tuesday's country night generated more than 31 million votes from viewers, and the surprising results were announced on American Idol Wednesday.

We thought she would be safe, but Alexis Grace instead landed in the back of the pack after delivering a weakish rendition of Dolly Parton's "Jolene."

Because of the newly instituted Judges' Save rule - and because the judges have liked

The second week of the American Idol finals featured some surprises, bombs and some steady performances by those we've come to expect them from.

The biggest comeback of the week? Anoop Desai, who bounced back strong with Willie Nelson's “Always on My Mind.” Megan Joy Corkrey's cover of “Walking After Midnight” was also an improvement over a week ago.

Most

A new twist to the American Idol elimination system was not enough to save Jasmine Murrary or Jorge Nunez.

The contestants were voted off the show last night, even after performing their Michael Jackson renditions for the second consecutive evening. Allow us to explain:

Early in the show, Ryan Seacrest announced the "judges' save." Under the new rule, the panel will have the power

Might American Idol have already found its top two singers? Is there even a reason to continue with the competition?

Okay, we might be exaggerating a big. But, hey, we're not alone!

Paula Abdul pretty much crowned Adam Lambert and Danny Gokey the final two last night, after each performed a rousing rendition of a Michael Jackson favorite.

It wasn't at the level of this season's controversial finale on The Bachelor.

But American Idol threw a twist at fans this week, as the series named 13 finalists for the first time in the show's history. 

On last night's Wild Card round, the judges - not the viewers - decided that a trio of new finalists simply weren't enough. As a result, Jasmine Murray, Megan Joy Corkrey,

We're still irate over the fact that Tatiana del Toro was named to this season's Wild Card round, but we'll get to that in a moment.

First, let's celebrate the fact that America got it right. We agree with all three finalists voted through to the next round:

Lil Rounds and Jorge Nunez are American Idol finalists. Congrats!

Following

Last night's third round of semifinal auditions was highlighted by a number of impressive performance.

None was more powerful, however, than Lil Rounds' rendition of Mary J. Blige's "Be Without You." Simon Cowell said it was the best audition of the season so far... and we agree!

Take a look and judge for yourself:

Lil Rounds b Audition

To recap the rest of the night:

Adam Lambert, Allison Iraheta and Kris Allen are officially American Idol finalists. Congrats to the trio!

Here are excerpts of interviews each singer gave this week to TV Guide:

Adam Lambert on...

... his first musical theater role: "It was a production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. I was 10 years old, and I played Linus. It was downtown San Diego, and it was pretty

Six down, six to go.

Three more finalists were named on American Idol last night, as Allison Iraheta, Adam Lambert and Kris Allen received the most viewer votes.

Who is your favorite new finalist?

They join the first trio of singers to move on to the show's round of 12: Danny Gokey, Alexis Grace and Michael Sarver.

Next Tuesday, a dozen more semifinalists will compete for three

There were two big winners from last night's second round of semifinal auditions on American Idol.

Allow us to explain:

Lambert put on the best performance - by far - of an otherwise woeful series of auditions. Yes, Allison Iraheta surprised the judges and the viewers. But Lambert was the true star.

He closed the show with a rendition of "Satisfaction"

Who will win this year's American Idol title?

Simon Cowell doesn't know for sure, but he revealed a few of his feelings about season eight so far during a recent interview with People Magazine:

On who which gender will win: “[It will be a] boy this year"On the Joanna Pacitti controversy: “I like scandals. It’s not American Idol without a scandal. In fact I hope

One second you're an American Idol semifinalst, the next second, the dream is over.

Such is the life of a contestant on the world's most popular reality show, as proven this week: Danny Gokey accepts a berth in the final round of 12, while Tatiana del Toro is left in tears.

This photo says it all...

This wasn't on par with Michael Johns or Chris Daughtry being voted off earlier than expected, but we definitely didn't think Michael Sarver's name would be called last night.

The oil rig worker gave a decent rendition of Gavin McGraw's "I Don't Wanna Be" on Tuesday, and we agree with Simon Cowell that he seems like a very nice guy, but did Sarver deserve a spot in the finals over

One-third of American Idol's 36 semifinalists took to the stage last night during the first round of fan voting.

While Jackie Tohn kicked the show off with an energetic performance of "A Little Less Conversation," and while Anoop Desai once again proved that his vocal talent belies his youthful, innocent appearance, two contestants truly separated themselves from the others.

The opening round of season eight's semifinals kick off tomorrow night.

Only 12 of the show's final 36 contestants will sing for the judges, and we've uncovered the identities of this initial set of American Idol hopefuls.

Prepare to vote on the following competitors tomorrow night:

Earlier this week, Joanna Pacitti was disqualified from the round of 36 on American Idol.

The show cited the singer's connections to executives at the record label associated it. Was the decision to cut Pacitti a fair one?

Here's what a few past finalists have to say about it:

Season 2 champion Ruben Studdard: "This opportunity wasn't for her. Maybe God has something else for