'American Idol 10' - Top 11 results show recap

Naima performing "Dancing in the Streets"

I have to admit I've been positively giddy with excitement all day about tonight's results show. No, at this point I don't really care who is eliminated. What I'm looking forward to is Jennifer Hudson's performance. I've been listening to her new CD, I Remember Me, all day, and I just can't believe what she can do with her voice. I can't even think about hitting some of those notes. Amazing.

As for the show, I've got Haley, Thia, and Stefano in the bottom 3 with Haley going home. I'm putting all my pool points on her once again.

Montage of last night's performances and the judges' comments open the show. Voiceover man intros the judges and Ryan. The judges take their seats. The audience is pumped up. Ryan tells us over 30 million votes were cast. "The outcome of that result may shock you." Ryan tells us Sugarland and Jennifer Hudson will perform and then brings out the Top 11. Shocked? Crap, am I going to lose again.

Marc Anthony worked with the Idols this wee, giving them advice on how to perform before a live audience.  He then offers his own take on what the judges said. Of course, he doesn't agree with Jennifer! He says he is so proud. "What a treat for me. I'll do it again. You can get me real cheap," he finishes.

The Top 11 sings "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." Jacob leads off. I hope the shocker isn't him. They're all dressed up tonight. The guys in suits and the girls in white dresses.They look really nice.  Haley is totally off. James does some screaming. I think they did this Season 2 as I recall.
 
The opening notes for "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" start up, the curtain opens and out rolls Stevie Wonder. The Idols are lined up on either side doing backup. Awesome. After that, Stevie calls out Steven Tyler and sings "Happy Birthday" to him. The Idols have a card and a cake and Steven is blown away. Very cool.

We see the Ford music videos of the week and then it's time for the first of the eliminations. Lauren, Pia, and Scotty are first up. They are all safe. Good fakeout Ryan.

Sugarland performs. Rather random for Motown week, don't you think? The song, "Stuck Like Glue," is rather annoying. Jennifer Nettles is wearing bright green stretch pants and a pink jacket with a blue belt. You get the picture. It's not pretty. Anyway, they finish.

Video clip of the Idols talking about James' obsession with pro wrestling. Apparently he watches it all the time. They put on a fake demonstration of Pia wrestling with the boys. Good times at the mansion.

More results. James and Paul join Ryan. James is so tall. He is at least a foot taller than Ryan. Ryan tells them they're not safe tonight. "You're really not safe tonight." Scary music starts and out comes Hulk Hogan. He has good news and bad news. The good news is both of them are safe. The bad news is that Ryan is not safe. Hulk fake hits Ryan who flies into the audience. Hulk then rips his shirt and says, "This is American Idol." Have you ever seen anything more bizarre on this show? I haven't!!!

Back from the break and Ryan tosses Hulk's shirt to James. Jacob, Thia, and Stefano are called out. This could be the bottom three. But no worries. Jacob is safe and is going on tour. Ryan reads Thia's comments and then Stefano's. He's history. "After the nationwide vote, Thia, I'm sorry to say you're in the bottom three tonight." Stefano is as well.

Naima, Haley, and Casey are next. He reads comments for them all. Casey looks like he's lost a lot of weight. One of them is in the bottom three. One gets sent back to safety. And it's Naima! She has a huge tattoo on her back. "The person taking the last stool in the bottom three tonight is... Casey." No way. We got to break.

If it's Casey, I bet the judges will use the save.

Jennifer Hudson sings "Where You At."  Her voice seems so much richer to me, fuller or something. I don't know, but she blew me away.  After she sings, she blows kisses to the audience and says Hi to Ryan. Ryan gives a shoutout to George Huff, who's been singing backup for Jen during her promotional tour. George is  ebullient as usual. I love you George! Jacob is barely able to contain himself. It's a moment.

Back to the eliminations. One is safe and it's Thia. Got to be Stefano, right?

The lights dim and Ryan tells us the person with the lowest number of votes is Casey. Randy is shocked. The Idols are shocked. I am shocked. Stefano must have cursed because there is a bleep in the sound as he is hugging Casey.

Casey is singing "I Don't Need no Doctor." As he gets into it,  Randy tells the band to stop. He says, "We know who you are and we don't need to hear anymore." Steven chimes in, "This is crazy wrong,"  They're using the save.

Casey just about passes out. The audience is chanting, "Casey, Casey, Casey." Casey goes to the judges and is still in disbelief. It keeps going on and one. He falls to the floor. He get ups. I'm afraid he's going to throw up all over Ryan (wouldn't that be something). There's lots of bleeping as Casey continues to verbalize! I hope all this doesn't put him back in the hospital.

The judges tell him he needs to get back to being the musician they know he is. "You deserve to be here," Jennifer says. The rest of the Idols join poor battered Casey on the stage, and Ryan makes an announcement. Next week, two people will be eliminated, but the producers decided that if the judges used the save this week, they would take all eleven on the tour. Wow. What a night! That had to be the best results show ever!!!