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!

Ok, a little change-up to start the show off. The ladies were scheduled to perform tonight, but Crystal Bowersox was taken to the hospital this morning (no word on what the deal is), so the top ten guys will be performing. I hope Crystal's doing alright, and that she'll be back on track to sing tomorrow night.

This spurs Ellen DeGeneres to reminisce about the time her back went out and she did her show from a bed. Ryan Seacrest remembers that, and says he actually was in the bed with her at one point. That's just interesting all the way around.

So far, both the guys and girls have been lackluster in my book, but Simon Cowell thinks the girls have the edge. Either way, the two guys and two girls with the lowest number of votes will be out on Thursday night. So vote for your favorites! Let's move on and see if the guys kick it up a notch tonight. Let's hope so.

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!

I don't know about you all, but I was severely underwhelmed by the girls' first performance, so my main hope going into the Top 12 guys' performance is that it won't bore me to death. I also hope that I can get back in sync with the judges a little more tonight, because my opinions differed wildly from theirs.

Two hours later, one of these things happened. While the guys had more high points than the girls, they were generally underwhelming. However, the night was not without its funny moments and mini-heartbreaks, and at the end of it, Kara DioGuardi realized she needed to hire a lawyer.

When the ninth season of 'American Idol' kicked off this January, it was clear that the magic that's made 'AI' one of the highest-rated shows in TV history remained untarnished. But, of course, nearly a decade into the show's run, a few familiarities were inevitable. Some of 'AI''s nearly 28 million viewers may have had a sense of déjà vu after being introduced to season 9's new hopefuls, noting that they seemed eerily similar to past season's contestants ... and we don't mean "Bikini Boy" vs. Bikini Girl.

We've handicapped the remaining contestants' and recent castoffs' chances for pop success based on the qualities that remind us of some of our favorite past winners and wannabes.