Analysis: Little Alexis faces big nerves in her exit performance

Last night's elimination episode was all about Carrie Underwood, which was probably a good thing because the results were really dull. Carrie's performance of her latest single "I Told You So" as a duet with the song's original owner, Randy Travis, was the highlight of the night. Despite the creepy feeling one gets when seeing a man twice Carrie's age sing a love song with her, the performance was one of the purest vocal showcases Carrie has ever done on the show. But obviously the Carrie of today dwarfs her 2005 counterpart before she was given the crown.

Aside from this, the night was empty of surprises, except for the fact that DialIdol was right about Alexis going home and Allison joining her in the Bottom 3. The Ford video was a little more exciting than usual, but Ryan's failed water balloon lob at Simon was unnecessary (if it even happened). Someone should find the unlucky audience member that was allegedly pegged by the errant throw. The new feature of showing the aftermath of eliminations was a nice addition but if that is what we were waiting for the "reality portions" of the show that were being hyped up, that's really sad.

Brad Paisley's performance was boring but he sounded good, while the lip-synched group performance was pointless. It will be interesting to see how Scott handles the tour considering all he seems to do is sit at the piano. If the tour is anything like it was last year, though, he should be all set because he won't have to participate in the usual group extravaganzas.

One of the only touching moments of last night's elimination round was Michael's teary story about his three-and-a-half-year-old daughter asking him why he doesn't want to live with them (Michael's family) anymore. That got the audience to put some effort into showing emotion, which is more than can be said about its reaction to Alexis' singing for her life.

Alexis is a sweet girl, but her nerves got the best of her during her performance last night (and understandably so). This whole judges' immunity thing is really weighing the suspense factor down, as we all knew Simon was merely toying with Alexis' hopes when he said they were considering using the save on her. While she was performing her heart out, the judges were probably plotting where they would go for dinner later on while in their huddle.

Still, Alexis had nothing but respect for the judges and their decision and, in keeping with her last name, was very gracious after hearing the news, saying "things happen for a reason." With Alexis gone, that leaves just three girls left in the competition, and by the looks of things, we could be down to just one female competitor by Top 6 or earlier. Season 3, anyone?

One of the more memorable moments of last night was when Simon told Ryan that he would not take back his "indulgent rubbish" critique, rather stating that Adam's performance was much worse than he originaly thought when he watched it back, which prompted the strongest response from the audience of the night.

As for IDOL LIVE's predictions, this week was another not so good one. For my original predictions I had Jasmine going home last night, and obviously she went home last week so that was just not going to happen anyway. That makes me 0-3 for my original predictions. As for my pre-results show predix, I had the right Bottom 3, but Alexis went home instead of her Bottom 2 mate, Michael. That makes me 0-3 in that bracket, but to be fair, we never really got a straight answer on who went in what order last week, so for all I know I could be 2-3. Oh well, until official word surfaces i will not give myself the benefit of the doubt.

Looking ahead to next Wednesday (Thanks a lot, President Obama), expect some predictable song choices and a whole lot of copycat performances. In other words, see Season 3's Top 10 night.