Welcome back to "AI Aftermath," where we explore Idol's past. Each installment, as one more American Idol hopeful is eliminated from the competition, we take a look back at contestants past who were eliminated at the same point. We'll examine how they did on the show and what they've been up to since their eliminations. In honor of Syesha Mercado's elimination this week, we'll be looking at other fourth place finishers.

This week: 3rd place finishers, featuring featuring Nikki McKibbin (Season One), Kimberly Locke (Season Two), Jasmine Trias (Season Three), Vonzell Solomon (Season Four), Elliott Yamin (Season Five) and Melinda Doolittle (Season Six).

I'm not ashamed to admit it. I grew up with the Paula Abdul vs. Janet Jackson rivalry. Janet had a better singing voice, but Paula was the better dancer. Now, here it is six hundred years or so later and while Janet's never stopped recording, it's been awhile since we've seen Ms. Abdul sing and dance. If you missed her Super Bowl performance, now she and Randy Jackson have released the official music video for their new single "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow."

For a woman of 45, Paula looks and moves great. Her vocals are about what they've always been, but nevertheless this has a great dance hook and should do very well in the club scene. Maybe this will be the beginning of a full-fledged comeback for her.

On Wednesday night, many of us were shocked to see "resident pro" Melinda Doolittle get booted from American Idol. But more shocking than that, many of us swore we heard Ryan Seacrest mistakenly announce her upcoming ouster prematurely.

Here's what happened. After Elliott Yamin performed, and before a commercial break Ryan said, "We've got more music coming up live from Maroon 5. Plus, more emotional results and Melinda Doolittle goes home."

American Idol's season five finalist, Elliott Yamin, has a new look to go with the release of his debut album. He'll be promoting his CD with upcoming appearances on The Ellen Degeneres Show (March 27 at 4 PM), and Jimmy Kimmel Live (April 4 at 12 AM).

Last year, I wasn't on the Elliott bandwagon. Every time I looked at him, I pictured Mr. Tumnus from Narnia. Unfortunately, I didn't appreciate how good Elliott's voice was, until he was gone. I don't think that any of this year's male finalists even come close to matching Elliott's vocal talent. Simon Cowell even called Elliott "potentially the best male vocalist in the history of American Idol."

Judge for yourself. You can listen to samples of Elliott's music, by going to his MySpace page.

Hey, Brigitte here with TV Squad Daily. I'll be covering the TV stories I find interesting each day, Monday through Friday, in this video blog.

Today on TV Squad Daily:

• Yunjin Kim of Lost shares some advice for men on winning the woman of their dreams that would have many women thinking about a restraining order.
  
• What's your online persona wearing? Lauren Conrad from MTV's The Hills has a new line of virtual clothing.
  
• When you think of Elliott Yamin, former American Idol contestant, think of salad.
  

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I'm no fan of veneers, but in the case of Elliott Yamin, I'm glad to see it. Elliott placed third in last season's edition of American Idol. He was dubbed 'snaggletooth' for his extremely crooked teeth-- something that I have to admit I found distracting.

Elliott told People magazine that he spent 20 hours in the dentist's chair to get his new chops because he has been embarrassed about his smile since he was a kid. He said he figured out how to smile, and even how to sing, by showing the minimum amount of teeth. Elliott's new teeth are worth $50,000 but he got them for free from an LA dentist... just in time for the release of his first album, which is due early next year.

What do you think of Elliott's new look?

If I tried, I couldn't make this up. People reports that former Idol contestant Elliott Yamin is recovering from surgery for a broken finger. That's all well and good, but the bizarre part is how he broke his finger. Apparently, after a night out, Yamin was picking up rocks and throwing them at a sign. Somehow he managed to get his finger "caught on a rod holding down a rock."

The hell? How big was that rock? When I go out for a round of throwing rocks at signs I generally stick to the smaller stones. They are generally much less likely to be rooted to the earth with rebar. A plate, two screws, and a cast later Elliott seems to be on the road to recovery.

Elliott Yamin, voted off American Idol last night, believes there's a music career in his future. Today, he told the Associated Press that, "I'm going to do whatever I can just to be heard and be successful." He said if that means doing an Old MacDonald Has a Farm remix, he'll do it. He also said he doesn't want to lose his individual style. Huh? What style?

Ahhhh. He's sweet. Sadly, I think poor Elliott is going to go the way of other American Idol contestants like... uh... what's-his-name and what's-her-name.

You know what they didn't have a lot of back in the old days? Lyrics. Yeah, I know that the lyrics of most modern songs kind of suck. But never before did I realize how many times the chorus is repeated in older songs. It had to be you. It had to be you. It had to be you. But they are beautiful songs. But the outfits were ugly.

Not Rod, of course. He always looks sexy in his skinny, high-water suits. But Chris...