Skylar Laine of "American Idol"

 

Credit: FOX

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Much excitement in FOX-dom already this afternoon with the announcement that "Fringe" has been renewed for a fifth and final season.

But now it's time to take a deep breath and move on to "American Idol," which will feature another elimination, as well as performances by Katy Perry and Stefano Langone.

Whee! Click through for all the excitement.

8 p.m. ET. Yes, I'm assuming that Skylar Laine is safe tonight. I could be wrong. But I don't think I am.

8:02 p.m. Look at how reinvigorated Ryan Seacrest looks! He must have been fully transfused with the blood of a stallion. He also may have guzzled gallons of stem cells. Youth comes at a cost.

8:03 p.m. We had 58 million votes cast last night, which Seacrest tells us is 10 million more than the same time last year.

8:04 p.m. We start with The Queen Extravaganza, a band fronted by a vocalist who does far better by Freddie Mercury than any of our singers last night did. And even he's not especially Mercury-perfect.

8:08 p.m. That lasted a long time. Long enough for the Colts to draft the person they could have drafted five months ago. The NFL Draft is not a thrilling spectacle.

8:11 p.m. Ford Commercial Time, set to "Magic." Do they just shoot on the NYC street on the Fox Lot every week now? I get that some of these commercials have to be cheaper than others, but still...

8:12 p.m. Seriously? The Idols were sent to TMZ? Don't make me barf. Harvey Levin's all, "We're repulsive, but when you die, we'll report it first, so be nice." Oh God. STOP PRETENDING SKYLAR AND COLTON WERE DATING. I go out of my way to avoid watching the TMZ TV show. Why am I being forced to watch it now? Oh look. Robert Griffin III. Good pick, Redskins. 

8:14 p.m. I kinda like the TMZ reporter who looks a bit like January Jones. But otherwise? Away with all y'all.

8:15 p.m. Seacrest is calling people in pairs, starting with Jessica Sanchez and Elise Testone. Jimmy called Jessica's rendition of "Bohemian Rhapsody" just "a plain old mistake," but he thought her Luther Vandross cover was magnificent. "She sang it brilliantly," Jimmy says of Jessica's "Dance With My Father." Jimmy thought Elise picked the wrong Queen song and her performance came off "clubby." Jimmy also thought "Bold as Love" was a bad choice. Elise hates being on this show at this point.

8:20 p.m. Between Jessica and Elise, one is in the Bottom 3 and the other is in the Top 3. Seacrest is an ass before telling Jessica that she's safe. And Elise is in the Bottom 3. That makes sense. Meanwhile, is Stefano an "'Idol' fan favorite?" I mean, people don't hate him, obviously... But a fan favorite? Shrug.

8:25 p.m. The "Idol" tour kicks off in Detroit on July 6.

8:25 p.m. Casey Abrams is back! And he hasn't groomed lately! He advises the contestants to be prepared for pranks. It's weird that Casey beat Stefano, but Casey's just there to talk, while Stefano's there to cheese.

8:27 p.m. This is an astoundingly bad. It's Rebecca Black bad. It's Disney Boy Band bad. Wow. Stefano always had a tendency towards corniness, but that's a skid I would have steered away from, rather than into. Shows what I know.

8:32 p.m. Hollie Cavanagh and Joshua Ledet face judgement next.  In my predictions, I didn't have either of these two in the Bottom Three. Jimmy thought Hollie did a good job with her Queen song and he loved her version of "The Climb." Jimmy was impressed with Joshua's up-tempo Queen performance and with his second performance as well. "If Joshua gets voted off tonight, there is something wrong with the competition, the voting, the whole ball of wax," Jimmy says. 

8:37 p.m. After the vote... Hollie is in the Bottom Three. Joshua's in the Top Three. That's the way it should have been, but I clearly overestimated the power of a well-received Miley Cyrus performance for Hollie.

8:41 p.m. Katy Perry time. I... don't get the military theme or what it has to do with Katy thrusting her camo-crotch in the faces of the audience. This is a failure of imagination on my part, I assume. After Stefano Langone's song, this is practically dance-hall Bob Dylan.

8:44 p.m. That was a very energetic performance. It's no surprise that Katy's out of breath by the end.

8:48 p.m. Skylar and Phillip Phillips are our last duo. This will be an interesting test case. Phil-Phil basically dared America to put him in the Bottom Three last night. If he escapes unscathed, he's totally unbeatable. Jimmy thought Skylar was "very competent" on her Queen song, while he found her second performance "self-indulgent." Yikes! Harsh words from Jimbo. There are even more cautious words from Jimmy for Phil-Phil, who Jimmy says has been less-than-will. Jimbo feels like Phil-Phil left an opening for somebody else to make the finale. Wow.

8:53 p.m. The last person in the Bottom Three is... Skylar. Wow. This show is all over, kids. I mean, it's been over for months. But this confirms it, for me at least.

8:53 p.m. Skylar didn't spend very long in danger. She's safe. Duh. That means either Hollie or Elise is going home, which probably isn't wrong.

8:57 p.m. Everybody's all huggy with Elise and Hollie and Ryan has to shove them away.

8:57 p.m. Tonight's eliminated contestant is... Elise Testone. 

8:58 p.m. Farewell to Elise, who cheated death for many more weeks than I'd have guessed when the season started. In many ways, she was the class of the competition this season. In other ways, she's probably better off not having to roll her eyes through weekly judging.

8:59 p.m. Elise's "Whole Lotta Love" was pretty darned good. J-Lo stands up and grooves. For a professional dancer, J-Lo's a strangely awkward dancer, Eh?

9:00 p.m. It was a good run for Elise. Hollie should have gone out before her, but this still isn't a miscarriage of justice or anything.

Are you shocked by Thursday's results?

Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor

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A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.