'IDOL' WATCH: Down to 7

"Idol" lost two of its contestants tonight, a consequence of Michael Lynche receiving the judges save last week. After receiving more than 34 million votes, two contestants were voted off, bringing the number down to seven. It was a tough night, as some of the audience favorites went home, but, the remaining contestants are a very solid group that is chock full of talent.

The show began with an Elvis medley, as expected. The medley was made up of Burning Love, Teddy Bear, Return to Sender, and Viva Las Vegas. However, it wasn't one of the better medleys the contestants have sung. The rock 'n' roll Elvis songs didn't really lend themselves to the harmonies used. The whole medley felt a bit sloppy. (Did it seem to anyone else that they were lip syncing?) Overall, not my favorite results show performance.

Ryan wasted no time in eliminating the first contestant and, sadly, Andrew Garcia was the first to go. Coming out of Hollywood week, Garcia seemed to be the favorite. He was able to take songs and make them his own and his distinct voice fit exactly what a recording artist should be. Making it to the top twelve, Garcia was never really able to find his niche, going up and down week after week. Perhaps Simon was right: Garcia may have peaked too early with his incredible rendition of Straight Up.

Garcia's final song was followed by a performance from "Idol" season seven contestants Brooke White and star of the web series If I Can Dream, Justin Gaston. The two sang, appropriately, If I Can Dream, but the performance seemed a bit off throughout. Gaston seemed to miss notes all over the place and the staging was a bit odd. White sounded great; the song fit her voice perfectly. The song wasn't bad, per se, just not one of the better performances on "Idol" this season.

Last night's mentor and season eight runner up Adam Lambert gave a showy performance of his hit single, What Do You Want from Me. The song was complete with both smoke and lasers, featuring Lambert's distinctive style. He sounded great as always, hitting some fantastic notes and playing to the audience. The great part about Lambert is that he always seems to be having fun when he's onstage and the audience responds to it. It was nice to see Lambert back on "Idol" and he definitely gave the performance his all.

After Garcia's elimination, Ryan presented the audience with a new bottom three, consisting of Michael Lynche, Tim Urban, and Katie Stevens. Urban was sent back to his chair first, followed by, in an interesting turn of events, Ryan saying the person last staying tonight was not even in the bottom three. It would have been a shame to see Lynche go home after receiving the save last week and, as expected, it was Katie Stevens that was voted off tonight. Stevens consistently had trouble choosing the right song and never had the chops of the other contestants. She was a good singer and, when given the right song, I would not be surprised to see her to well in the recording industry.

Next week, the "Idol" contestants will perform, what Ryan called, inspirational songs, mentored by the incomparable Alicia Keys. The contestants will have to really up their game, as there are really no contestants that have been in the bottom three still remaining (Well...other than Urban, but the audience loves him). The next week of "American Idol" will have the top nine perform on Tuesday, April 20th at 8:00pm EST and the results show will air, April 21st, beginning at 9:00pm EST.

"American Idol" is a reality competition to find new solo musical talent, created by Simon Fuller. It debuted June 11, 2002 on the Fox network and has since become one of the most popular shows on American television. It is currently the #1 TV show in the Nielsen Ratings and is one of only three that have been #1 for five consecutive seasons. The cast of "Idol" includes judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi, and Ellen Degeneres, and host Ryan Seacrest.

The program aims to discover the best singer in the country through a series of nation-wide auditions, and subsequent viewer voting. Through telephone voting, America has chosen past winners Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, David Cook, and Kris Allen.

Several "Idol" contestants have been seen on the Broadway stage, including Barrino (The Color Purple), Hicks (Grease), Clay Aiken (Spamalot), Diana DeGarmo (Hairspray, Hair), Josh Strickland (Tarzan), Tamyra Gray (Rent, Bombay Dreams), Constantine Maroulis (The Wedding Singer, Rock of Ages), and Ace Young (Hair).

"American Idol" airs on Tuesday and Wednesday nights on Fox at 8PM EST.