American Idol

You voted. And now it’s time for American Idol to send four of its Top 24 contestants home.

I suspect Chikezie and Colton Berry may be in trouble as far as the guys. And the girls? I’m saying it could be a tough night for Joanne Borgella and Amy Davis. But you never know; there definitely are a few others in the danger zone. So let’s get down to it.

7:01 p.m.

The cheesy videos and terrible group performances already are beginning. I seriously don’t know why this has to be part of the show. It’s so annoying. I really can’t deal with it. At all.

7:12 p.m.

After a look back at Tuesday’s show, Ryan Seacrest will start getting down to business.

Garrett Haley performs at Tuesday’s show. He was the first contestant eliminated from the Top 24 after his performance of Breaking Up Is Hard to Do.

With all the guys dressed in black suits, they sit in anticipation. First up to talk with Ryan is Garrett Haley, who immediately gets told he’s the first to go. It’s no surprise, really. In fact, the only big surprise is that there was a quick elimination without the dramatic commercial break.

7:24 p.m.

We’re back. And it’s time to send home one of the girls. But first, the recap. So, who will it be?

Kristy Lee Cook is the first up to talk with Ryan. So, will she be going? Of course not. That would be too obvious. The person leaving first, is Amy Davis. It was pretty obvious after last night’s show Amy would be one of the girls to go home. Nobody really had a chance to get to know her during the earlier episodes, and that certainly hurt her chances.

Amy Davis performs on Wednesday night’s show. Davis was the first female contestant to get voted from the Top 24.

The one thing I’ve always hated about this show — aside from the terrible group performances — is the fact contestants have to sing the song that got them voted off the show. Poor, Amy. It wasn’t good the first time. And this time, it’s even more dreadful. Ugh.

7:35 p.m.

After judging all the competition on the show, Paula Abdul finally is put in the spotlight. But, she can’t make her Idol debut on stage as a live performer. Oh, no. Instead, Abdul’s video featured on Randy Jackson’s new CD is being shown to give everyone a break from the eliminations. Because, let’s face it, they have been so exhausting.

What are your thoughts on this video and song? For me, I think it’s a pretty decent tune. The first time I heard it, I was surprised Abdul still had the pop vocals (give or take some editing) that made her a star back in the day. This certainly is a good jam to make its way through dance clubs across the country. Maybe Paula actually will perform the tune live later in the season … I would love to see Simon judge that performance!

“It’s surreal. It’s exciting,” Paula said of her comeback.

“She represents every color in the universe,” Simon said, referring to a comment made Tuesday night by the panel’s female judge.

Now, back to the eliminations. Joanne Borgella and Amanda Overmyer are brought to the middle of the stage. Here’s where the “after-the-break” suspense kicks in …

7:44 p.m.

And we’re back. Joann, as I predicted, is the next to go. I hate that she’s gone in the first week, because I really liked what Joanne brought to the competition. Her plus-size model backstory was a good one, plus she really has great vocals — we’ve heard them.

So, what’s next?

“I’m going to keep on singing, because I love singing,” Joanne said.

Joanne Borgella performs on Wednesday night’s show. The plus-size model was one of four contestants eliminated in the first week of live competition.

During Joanne’s farewell performance, many of the other contestants already were crying. Have the finalists already started to bond over their shared experience? It would appear so. Or maybe they, like me, really saw some big potential in Joanne. The tough part is one bad showing, especially this early in the competition, really can be the end of your time on Idol.

7:53 p.m.

Colton Berry was the final contestant eliminated from this week’s competition.

Chikezie and Colton Berry are asked to join Ryan at the middle of the stage. It looks like my expectations for tonight’s eliminations are going to be as accurate as possible. They both could go, and it would be OK. But it’s Colton’s night to leave the competition.

The teenager is one of the first to leave the competition after being the last contestant to join the Top 24 during Hollywood Week.

PARTING THOUGHTS: One of the interesting parts of tonight’s eliminations is the fact these four contestants got probably the least amount of exposure prior to this week’s episodes. It also is interesting to see that both Colton and Joanne were the final guy and girl picked to join the Top 24.

American Idol, Colton Berry, Joanne Borgella, Garrett Haley, Amy Davis, Paula Abdul