I’m sure by now you probably know which contestant American Idol bid adieu to. And even if you didn’t, I’m pretty sure you had a good idea which lady was in danger. Out of all the eliminations during Season 12, this one was the easiest to predict. That’s why I’m not even going to wait til the jump to reveal that **SPOILER ALERT** Amber Holcomb was finally sent packing. Love the girl, but it was definitely time for her to go.

Proving her inability to pick the right song was part of her undoing, the 19-year-old selected Whitney Houston’s “I Believe In You And Me” as her farewell song. Why she picked it is mind-boggling. Her original cover wasn’t anywhere near her best performance during her entire run. And her second attempt at it wasn’t any better. Though I’ll give her a pass as I’m sure her emotions got the best of her. That end where Amber choked up à la Kelly Clarkson during the Season 1 finale was sorta adorable.

It’s usually a cliché when ousted contestants claim you’ll be hearing from them in the future, but I believe it in Amber’s case. She might be the Jennifer Hudson of the season. Given the right material, Holcomb could be huge.

Like Amber’s elimination, the rest of the show was anti-climatic. The hour featured performances by Season 7 winner David Cook, will.i.am and this week’s mentor Harry Connick Jr. The part I did enough from #ThrowbackThursday was catching up with Season 4 standout Constantine Maroulis. Congrats on being the first Idol alum to snag a Tony nomination. Check out all the performances, Amber’s elimination and Constantine’s update below.

watch all the videos after the jump

Apologies for the delayed American Idol recap. I injured myself on the swings while babysitting my niece yesterday. Don’t ask what happened. It’s far too embarrassing. Sufficed to say, I iced my poor self last night and fell asleep while watching my shows. I’m going to keep this short and sweet.

Before we get to the performances, can we talk about Harry Connick Jr? This guy needs to be on the judging panel next season. He’s not afraid to tell the contestants how it is, or the other judges. Loved that he called out Randy Jackson for his often contradictory critiques. Their debate was great to watch. Nicki Minaj’s facial expressions during it were everything. Nigel Lythgoe, make Harry happen next year. Don’t you agree?

This week, the girls sang two songs apiece- a song from “now” and standards from “then.” To be perfectly honest, none of them blew me away tonight. I think the nerves got to the better of some, while the others were thinking way too much about the end game. Check out their performances below.

check out all the performances after the jump

On American Idol last night, Ryan Seacrest informed viewers an important announcement regarding the rest of the competition would be made on the results show. I think everyone and their dog has a pretty good idea what it is. Before we get to the big reveal, let’s quickly discuss the filler.

In the sponsored by Ford Fiesta segment, the girls were on the hunt for Seacrest. The whole bit was pretty lame, especially the reveal that there are Ryan clones. Can you imagine the world with four Seacrests. The horror. The worst part of the segment was when Candice Glover, Amber Holcomb, Kree Harrison and Angie Miller read the teleprompter. None of them have futures as hosts #justsaying. Thankfully, the ladies did far better with their Alicia Keys “Girl On Fire” group performance.

After being spoiled with Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia, Clay Aiken and Carrie Underwood the past several weeks, we were “treated” to Stefano Langone and Lee DeWyze who is arguably the worst Idol winner to date. That’s saying a lot considering Taylor Hicks is also a winner. Both alums performed songs that reminded me other Idols. Stefano’s song sounded like something David Archuleta would sing, while DeWyze channeled his inner Phillip Phillips and jumped on the folk music bandwagon. Check out the performances below.

watch the performances and find out the elimination after the jump

I was tempted to skip this week’s American Idol post because it all seems pointless. We all know tomorrow will most likely end with a non-elimination. Ryan Seacrest even announced at the end of the show that he’s going to reveal something that will affect the rest of the competition. I wonder what that could be (not).

My gut feeling is, if Amber Holcomb is the bottom vote-getter, no one’s going home. I like her, but the judges and producers are trying way too hard to make Amber happen. It’s almost turning me off and I’m a fan. Their agenda is more obvious than Mariah Carey valiantly trying to make #pow happen. PS. It never will.

Speaking of Carey, I was curious to see her judging performance this week. After Hollywood Reporter’s claim that producers contemplated ousting her for Jennifer Lopez mid-season, I wondered how Mimi would respond. She didn’t ramble nearly as much and she even interacted with the other judges a few times. Me thinks thy lady is trying to save face. Love her as a singer and sometimes actress, but as a judge… not so much.

This week the girls performed three songs apiece. A duet, one of their own choice and another by a one hit wonder- a theme voted on by viewers. Personally, I feel all four dropped the ball with their one hit wonder song choices. IMHO, none of them really were in the spirit of the law, but merely followed the letter of the law. Check out all their performances below.

check out the performances and my rankings after the jump

According to the Hollywood Reporter, American Idol producers and Fox executives secretly hatched a plan to replace Mariah Carey with Jennifer Lopez mid-season. Reportedly, when Mimi’s team found out, they threatened legal action. The show had no choice but to kibosh the plan. Can you imagine if Idol actually did a panel change mid-season? The DRAMA that would’ve ensued would’ve been amazing.

The Season 12 premiere featuring Nicki Minaj, Randy Jackson, Keith Urban and Carey opened to decent numbers. Early on, the current season even bested previous year declines after the premiere. But as the weeks passed, viewers began leaving in droves, setting record lows for the veteran reality show. Making matters even worse was The Voice was experiencing season gains with the addition of Shakira and Usher.

Some say Carey’s passive and rambling comments are to blame, while others say that Minaj’s sharp-tongued quips have alienated the core viewer which is “a midwestern, Southern, older woman.” While I don’t necessarily disagree about Nicki’s aggressiveness, I enjoy her the most. Her comments are the most entertaining and memorable, IMHO. Onto other Idol-related news. Find out what the Top 4 girls are singing tomorrow.

find out what the girls are singing after the jump

Not only is today Homorazzi.com’s Alex’s birthday but it’s the original American Idol winner’s as well. So Happy Birthday to both divas. Can you believe the OG Idol is turning 31 today? Where did the time go? It seems just like yesterday when Kelly Clarkson was belting out Celine Dion songs in front of Simon Cowell and starring in From Justin to Kelly. Memba that hot mess?

In honor of Kelly’s birthday, I thought I’d share my Top 5 Clarkson songs to date. With five studio albums and a greatest hits compilation to her credit and three Grammys, narrowing it down proved very difficult. Do I go with perky Kelly, angry Kelly, pop-urban Kelly or ballad Kelly. After casting your votes in our poll below, keep reading to find out which Clarkson tracks are my favorite.

 Loading ...

find out my Top 5 after the jump

If there was a theme to the American Idol results show it was all about random cameos. Season 3 winner Fantasia and Season 2 runner-up Clay Aiken were on the docket, but how random was it seeing Jordin Sparks with boyfriend Jason Derulo and Season 3′s LaToya London. It didn’t end there, Fall Out Boy was also sitting in the audience and Glee‘s Matthew Morrison popped up in the sponsored by Ford Focus segment. But the mother of all random appearances was Paula Abdul. She was on hand to praise Candice’s cover of “Straight Up.” Loved the moment when Abdul sat on the panel with Nicki and Mariah. Nigel, make this trio happen and get rid of Randy and Keith.

It was kinda hilarious how Clay got an entire segment about his philanthropic work and post-Idol career, while Fantasia’s package was all about updating us on London’s career. That said, Fantasia tore the house down with a performance of her killer new song, “Lose To Win.” Nicki Minaj was black girl snapping all over the place after her performance. Aiken did usual thing with “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

The five divas kicked off the night with a Donna Summer medley. Seems a year late and random, but I appreciated it. The girls were accompanied by backup dancers as they belted out “Last Dance”, “Dim All the Lights”, “Heaven Knows” and “She Works Hard for the Money.” Now onto the results.

Oops my bad. I wanted to talk about Jimmy Iovine first. He’s mentioned that he doesn’t want to be on the panel, but given all the airtime the show gives him, he might as well just suck it up and become an official judge. Not only did he comment on the performances during last night’s show, but once again he shared his thoughts during the results show. What gives? Now I’m done. Onto the results.

find out who was eliminated after the jump

After a bit of producer manipulation, American Idol is finally going to get a girl winner. You seriously can’t tell me with a straight face that Lazaro Arbos and his male counterparts were the best the country had to offer this season. Speaking of Arbos, as much as Nigel and company wanted him gone, I’m sure they fully expected him to outlast one of the girls. With him gone and the judges save never used, if things go according to plan, American Idol Season 12 will end a week early. FOX isn’t going to let that happen. I fully expect a non-elimination on Thursday night or next week.

Without Arbos in the mix, it was much easier to determine who the weakest girl is. She may be a cute little marshmallow, but Janelle Arthur just didn’t bring it tonight. The other girls had at least one shining moment, where as the blond country singer didn’t.

Side note: Is it me, or were the judges interacting more with each other tonight? After Nigel’s public comments earlier this week about the lack of chemistry on the panel, I felt Mariah, Randy, Keith and Nicki tried to bring it. Speaking of the “Pound Da Alarm” rapper, at point she told Mariah to “simmer down, sir” and then minutes later praise her vocal talents. Love or hate Nicki, she keeps things colorful on the panel. Without further ado, check out all the performances below and my rankings.

check out the performances and my rankings after the jump