Kris Allen of 'American Idol'

Credit: Ray Mickshaw/FOX

9:00 p.m. Sniffle. Sniffle. Still digesting that "Scrubs" finale. Will I have any tears left for whichever contestant gets eliminated on Wednesday (May 6) night's "American Idol"?

9:01 p.m. Who will graduate from the 'Idol' School of Rock and who will just get schooled?" That's Ryan Seacrest's big question. My big question: Have they fixed the "American Idol" stage yet?

9:02 p.m. We had over 64 million votes registered last night, the show's most-ever for an episode outside of the finale.

[Results and recap after the break...]

9:03 p.m. We've got No Doubt and Daughtry coming up later in the show, plus Paula Abdul's first-ever performance on the "Idol" stage, which stands an equal chance of being sad as awesome.

9:04 p.m. The Ford commercial is set to "Move Along." It's the second time this season that a Ford video has included the contestants coming to life on a print publication. Several weeks ago it was a magazine. Tonight, a newspaper. What is this, 1954? Or are they just being nostalgic for better days for the auto industry.

9:05 p.m. With Slash on lead-guitar, the evening's Group Lip-Synch is set to "School's Out." Again, I'm forced to wonder if they're singing out loud, both because of some unfortunate speaker feedback and Danny Gokey's difficulties singing in tune.

9:07 p.m. Slash thinks things went well last night. Have I ever told y'all about the time I helped Super-Producer Robert Evans up the steps at his mansion to greet Slash at a Comedy Central TCA party? That's pretty much the story, I guess.

9:12 p.m. What's the vibe with the Final Four? Danny says this whole Wednesday experience puts him to sleep. Kris says this feels surreal. He feels blessed. Simon instructs Kris to feel like he belongs. "Look, Kris, we don't want humble here anymore," Simon says. Adam's still happy at both getting to sing Zeppelin last night and also his outfit. He doesn't say which made him happier. We have our suspicions. 

9:14 p.m. Danny rewatched his Aerosmith-meets-miserable-alley-cat performance from last night and his reaction is, "I laughed the whole night," adding, "I think it's my funniest moment on 'American Idol,' that last note." That's a surprisingly charming reaction from Danny. Somebody coached him well.

9:15 p.m. Singing "I'm Just Here for the Music," it's Paula. If it's possible, she's singing even less than Jamie Foxx did last week. It's true when she sings "I'm only here to dance." And dance she does. No, she isn't singing at all, but she's performing up a storm. And that dive from the platform into her dancers' arms? Death-defying.

9:19 p.m. "Gentlemen, I'm just here for the music," Paula yells at the end in the livest part of her vocal. Not sad at all. I apologize, Paula.

9:24 p.m. Paula's chatting with Ryan now. "It's the most undeniable happy place to be," she says of the stage. 

9:24 p.m. I know that No Doubt doesn't have any new material to perform, but going all the way back to "Just a Girl," complete with Gwen Stefani repeating all of her 1995 move, complete with the call-and-response from the girls in the crowd? I do like the way she works "American Idol" into the lyrics, the equivalent of "Hello, Cleveland!" Like Abdul, Stefani is in tremendous shape, despite her long No Doubt hiatus. 

9:29 p.m. The tour, Stefani tells us, is really just an excuse to get her out of the house and away from her kids. Gavin Rossdale: Overpaid Babysitter.

9:33 p.m. Let's hint at results, with the Final Four standing backstage. The contestants who remain in the competition get to return to their hometowns this week. A chance to visit their local FOX affiliates? Talk about living the dream.

9:35 p.m. The Finalists take the stage in random order, Kris, Adam, Danny and then Allison. Here we go...

9:36 p.m. Ryan reads the critiques for Allison and Danny. He pauses. "After the nationwide vote... We move on to Adam," Ryan teases, going through Adam and Kris' reviews.

9:37 p.m. The first person in our Top Three is... Kris Allen. Ryan doesn't say if we're supposed to assume that Kris was the leading votegetter, or if this was just random.

9:43 p.m. Remember who we eliminated at this stage in Season Five? Chris Daughtry. Can I just say that I was blogging "Idol" then as well and Chris' elimination, while marginally surprising, wasn't shocking. Taylor, Katharine and Elliott all had huge fanbases and although Chris may have been a tentative favorite, it was hardly prohibitive. I'm just saying...

9:45 p.m. The first singer on Daughtry's new album is "No Surprise." No surprise, it sounds like many of the songs on Daughtry's first album. There's nothing wrong with that. This just isn't some sort of shocking departure for the shiny-domed rocker.

9:48 p.m. Picking at a still-raw wound, Ryan asks Chris how it felt to be eliminated from "American Idol." He says it hurt for 30 seconds. You lie, Daughtry. Kris was sent backstage to get a plaque saying that Daughtry's first album has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide.

9:50 p.m. The Red Sox are making for a disheartening semi-distraction, but the Celtics are looking far better tonight than they did on Monday, with the possible exception of Brian "Veal" Scalabrine's facial hair. 

9:54 p.m. Who will join Kris? Keeping in mind that this is in random order, the second person in the Top Three is... Adam Lambert. Adam had his scare last week. There really wasn't any purpose in torturing him again.

9:55 p.m. "Danny... You are safe." That means that Allison is heading home. Poor Allison. She was better than Danny or Kris last night. But she cheated death for too long.

9:56 p.m. Allison smiles and cries, watching her clip reel.

9:58 p.m. Farewell, Allison. Hello, All-Male Top Three.

9:59 p.m. The emotion of the night gives Allison's rendition of "Cry Baby" some of the edge it lacked last night. 

Thoughts on the results?