Analysis: Last week's save costs Lil & Anoop

Tonight went pretty much according to plan. Two finalists that really had no chance to win took their final bows and performed as contenders for the last time. The interesting thing to come of this is not as much as a whimper or whine could be heard from the audience over the ousters, which supports the notion that it really was their time to leave.

This is not a knock to Anoop or Lil, as the two of them should be proud of themselves for achieving the success they have attained on this show. But even they knew the two of them had overstayed their welcome, which supports why Lil went out with a smile on her face and Anoop left with poise, although visibly disappointed.

The judges were even long on praise for Lil, with Simon saying he was still a big fan of Lil's and with Randy saying this was just the beginning for her. The judges unfortunately did not have time to address Anoop's elimination, but they probably would have echoed something similar for him had they been able to get their last two cents in that could have been made possible by shaving 30 seconds off the disco medley (what was that, anyway?)

Moving right along to the disco medley, was that supposed to get the audience on the floor and in the mood to shake their groove thing? If so: mission absolutely not accomplished. It's always great to see legends perform their hits decades after they become hits, but sometimes you can't help but feel bad for them when it comes to their performances. I mean, Freda Payne was nearly out of breath by the time she finished shuffling across the stage through "Band of Gold" and KC of KC and the Sunshine Band looked like he was going to go into convulsions while surrounded by four much younger dancing girls. Thelma Houston was not much better on "Don't Leave Me This Way," as she looked like she took a page from Big Bird Margret's styling book (if anyone remembers who I'm referencing, you get two bonus points).

Then we were greeted by David Archuleta, who really was feeling his performance of "Touch My Hand" as he did his best to command the stage. Although he has long graduated from the Idol academy, one could have thought he was just another contestant on this season. It will take a few years, but soon enough Arch will be way beyond the Idol brand. He sounded great and was nice to Anoop and Allison as they sweated things out in the Bottom 2.

Not to be overlooked, Paula's much-hyped choreographed group performance by the Top 7 of Michael Jackson's "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" did not fail to impress. There were aspects that could be seen as being extremely cheesy, and the lip-synching was beyond obvious this week that it almost took away from the dancing, but they all worked will together considering it was put together in two days.

There are a few things that should be noted following these results. For the first time ever, The Top 5 does not include any minorities. Not that this will be a major issue, but some may seize upon this fact and take the opportunity to call the show racist (which is, after all, ridiculous). Also, this is the first time there is only one female among the Top 5, although the opposite was had in Season 3 when George Huff was the single remaining male contestant of the Top 5.

As for my original predictions and pre-show predictions, I was wrong about both finalists on the former (had Matt going in 7th with Scott going in 6th), but I was half-right on the latter. I correctly predicted Lil would be leaving in 7th place, but thought Matt would go in 6th, whereas Anoop got the honor instead. Looking back at the results and keeping things in perspective, tonight was a good night overall. From here on in, however, it will be a bumpy ride indeed.