We're getting rid of another four people this week, getting us ever closer to a Top 12. Are we going to lose who you think we are, or is Vote for the Worst going to come in again and skew the results? These are the questions we have to answer. Well, they're some of the questions we have to answer. We also need to find out if Danny Gokey still has a career, and if we can have more than 70% of the contestants not look completely dead inside during the group sing.

We're going to look at the poll results from the last two episodes and see if who you guys think are going home are actually the ones to leave, or if we're going to get some curveballs thrown at us. Personally, I have faith in your ability to predict the future, so let's see how you do!

A whopping 27 million votes decided the fate of the four unlucky contestants who got kicked off 'American Idol' tonight


Watch the video after the jump.

We start the show off with an update on Crystal Bowersox: still no word on what landed her in the hospital yesterday, but she's back and ready to sing. We then transition into an awkward joke from Ellen about her dead grandmother, and even more awkward pseudo-flirting between Kara and Simon. It's gonna be that kind of night, I guess.

In general, the girls show a marked improvement from last week, and there are really very few horrific performances, so that's definitely a step up. I was getting a little worried about this competition, but after tonight, I feel a lot better about the whole thing.

It's the first elimination show of the year! Generally, it feels like a huge loss when four contestants are eliminated all at once, but based on the lackluster performances by both the girls and the guys, I have a feeling that unless there's some huge shakeup, few tears will be shed.

But before we get to all that, we have a (lip-synced?) Top 24 performance, and 'Idol' winner Kris Allen makes an appearance, along with runner-up Allison Iraheta. We also get to see Kara's husband and one of the contestants in a bathrobe, so let's get started!

Finally! We get the live show and our first chance to vote. How has everyone changed since Hollywood week? Are they already jaded Hollywood types? Can they sing in front of a television audience of nearly 30 million people? These are all things we'll find out tonight during the real beginning of 'American Idol.'

Other things we find out? This season's contestants really like The Beatles, and I may or may not be completely drunk right now, as my critiques match up with the judges way less than they usually do. So let's continue to see who your opinions match up with!

Last night, we had roughly 30 minutes of content spread out over two hours, so for this hour-long episode of 'American Idol,' 15 minutes of actual stuff sounds about right. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the pace with which we sped through the remaining contestants. There wasn't a lot of hullabaloo, just people sitting in chairs and discovering their fates.

There were a few surprises, but for the most part, the people you thought were going to make it did. What really worked for me in this episode is that the focus was on the people who got in, with a relatively short amount of time devoted to watching the rejected contestants cry. 'Idol' has a tendency to linger on peoples' pain a little bit too much, so it was nice to see that they refrained here, for the most part.