I've never been all that high on Michael Johns but was mighty surprised to see him voted off "American Idol" last night. What was really interesting was how well he processed it because moments after getting the news, he took the stage and belted out an encore of "Dream On" that was a mighty improvement over his performance on Tuesday. He owned the stage and the theater as he went out into the crowd and made the most of his swan song.

Good job!

Also in the bottom three: Carly Smithson who had an off week and who I thought was gone and Syesha Mercado who performed well and got some unfair criticism from the judges for not "connecting." After Michael lost, Carly was crying like a baby and everyone (the remaining contestants) looked stricken. Let's get real: everyone from here on out (there are seven folks left) are winners and can make really terrific careers for themselves if they make a good record. Non-winners like Chris Daughtry, Bucky Covington, Kellie Pickler, KIimberly Locke, Clay Aiken, Jennifer Hudson and on and on are doing pretty well for themselves.

So all the drama seems silly. We know it's probably gonna come down to the two Davids in the end with maybe Brooke or Carly in the third slot if they pick good songs each week going forward.