'IDOL' WATCH: The First Results Show

The first results show of "Idol" brought about at least one unexpected decision from America's votes, as "Idol" said goodbye to four of the Top 24 competitors. The night featured performances from two performers from last year's "Idol," as well as the four losing competitors.

The episode began with the Top 24 performing American Boy by Adele (a song that has been featured a surprising number of times this season.) While the choreography seemed a little chaotic, the song was enjoyable and the arrangement likable. Aaron Kelly's voice stood out during his trio, sounding rather good on the upper notes. Overall, a nice showing from the full group.

Janell Wheeler was the first to receive the bad news from Ryan. Wheeler's performance Tuesday night was not her best, sounding thin and pitchy at times. Simon called her out for only giving 65% of her ability on the night. Wheeler was good, but not a completely unexpected choice.

Fourth place from season eight of "Idol" was Allison Iraheta, who sang her single, Scars, on tonight's show. I was never Iraheta's biggest fan last year, but she was excellent tonight, seeming both in control and seasoned as a performer. The song itself was quite good, too.

Next to take the stage for her last performance was Ashley Rodriguez, who Simon told in her initial audition that he thought "she might have it." Ashley sang Battlefield by Leona Lewis and the song was much too big for her. The performance didn't show case her talents and was definitely one of the weakest performances on Tuesday night.

The first gentleman to take the fall was, surprisingly, Joe Munoz. Ryan called the gentlemen to let them know who was to be sent home, coming down to Tim Urban and Munoz for the last spot. Urban seemed shocked when he found out he was safe and, as he was easily the weakest of the male performers, one has to wonder if websites like VoteForTheWorst.com are making an impact on the results. Munoz didn't seem discouraged and took the news well, and it was sad to see him go.

Last year's winner Kris Allen made his first appearance this season, playing for the charity "Idol Gives Back," with all proceeds of his performance going to benefit the rebuilding effort in Haiti. Allen had spent time in Haiti, lending his hand in the effort, and his performance was an excellent tribute. The song was heartfelt and an excellent showing from the "Idol" winner.

The last of the contestants to be sent home tonight was rocker Tyler Grady. Grady's performance last night seemed played and didn't improve on what we had already seen from him in Hollywood. Grady said he felt that he didn't receive much constructive criticism from the judges in Hollywood, but it seems that he just wasn't as good as many of the other performers. Grady seemed to spend too much time concentrating on his performance instead of his vocal technique, "style over substance" as Randy called it, and didn't bring enough variation in his performance to deserve to move on.

The results show was surprising (I was correct on only one of the four), but, hopefully, a wakeup call to the contestants, many of whom did not have as good a showing as they might have hoped. Next week will feature performances from the Top 10 women on Tuesday and Top 10 men on Wednesday, before another results show on Thursday, where four more hopefuls will be sent home.

The next episode of "American Idol" airs Tuesday, March 2nd, at 8PM EST on Fox.

"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), Josh Strickland (Tarzan), Tamyra Gray (Rent, Bombay Dreams), and Constantine Maroulis (The Wedding Singer, Rock of Ages).

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