American Idol Viewers Send "Big Mike" Packing, plus Results Recap Video

Michael Lynche Eliminated after Predictable Michael Jackson Cover During Movie Week
By Joyce Lee

"Michael Lynche came painfully close to his dream of making it to the top three, but fell short when he received the fewest votes on Wednesday night's episode of American Idol.

Lynche, the 26-year-old personal trainer from St. Petersburg, Fla., left the viewers and the judges unsatisfied with his predictable performance of Michael Jackson's "Will You Be There." The judges deemed his performance safe and unimpressive.

During the results portion of the show, Casey James was the first contestant granted relief. This came as a shock since everyone assumed he would land in the bottom two with Lynche."

Next up was Lee DeWyze. Ryan Seacrest reminded the audience of the judges' assessment from last night. Lee didn't think his performance was karaoke-like, and was happy with the performance, but thought he could have done more with the arrangement. Ryan then called Mike's name, then asked him to "hang tight for a second." Then he said "Lee...friends, Lee is headed back to Chicago."

Lee DeWyze is safe!

"Instead, Crystal Bowersox was the one left standing next to Lynche at the end. But it was no surprise to hear she was saved, as she's a strong favorite to win the whole competition, or at least advance to the final two.

Despite being saved from elimination by the judges five weeks ago, Lynche had a good run. He won the viewers over early with his charm, and they were further endeared to him when his wife gave birth to their first child during the audition rounds.
Results Recap

American Idol Season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino opened the show with her performance of "Bittersweet," a powerful ballad from her upcoming album. Bon Jovi also took the stage to sing "Superman Tonight."

Later, Season 5 finalist Chris Daughtry returned to the Idol stage with his rock band and performed "September." Grammy-nominated Daughtry offered a few words of advice to the finalists.

"Stay hungry and don't compromise the music you love -- stay what's true to you," he said.

Wednesday night's results show had 37 million viewers, a record high for the season.

Next week, the Season 9 Top 3 finalists - Crystal Bowersox, Lee DeWyze and Casey James - will get a chance to visit their hometowns before hitting the stage once more, with one more contestant sent home before the May 26 finale."

On next Tuesday night's show, the Top 3 will sing 2 songs each – a song the judges choose for them and a tune they pick themselves. (At the time of writing, no theme had yet been announced for the Top 3 show. Wouldn't it be nice to have a theme-free night?) Traditionally, the contestants find out their judges' pick during their hometown visit - as if the finalists do not have enough on their minds during their whirl-wind tour of parades, ribbon cuttings, keys-to-the-city ceremonies and "God Bless America"'s.

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with additional reporting by M.S. Chloe