“American Idol” time!
Are we all excited?
My father is. If Alex Preston survives tonight's cut and returns home to New Hampshire, my dad is planning on going to his rally. Or that's what my dad says. He also insists he voted for Alex 50 times last night, so it's possible he's just kidding. Or maybe he just appreciates how easy “Idol” had made it to vote this season.
So will Alex stick around?
Will we be able to get through more than two picks in the NFL Draft during this time?
Click through and follow along…
9:01 p.m. ET. “Next to the finale, this is the most brutal cut of the season,” Ryan Seacrest teases.
9:02 p.m. Hmmm… Ryan really is committing to this beard, at least temporarily.
9:03 p.m. Jennifer Lopez is pretty. And she's wearing red tonight. “This is what they would call 'the big cut,' right?” J-Lo asks.
9:04 p.m. We start with last night's post-show dinner. Caleb liked Jessica's fire and Alex's lanterns and Jena's lasers. Jena liked J-Lo showing her how to strut. Caleb liked Keith Urban's trapdoor sight-gag. Yawn.
9:06 p.m. Meanwhile, the Browns just traded up to eighth and DIDN'T take Johnny Football.
9:06 p.m. The first person heading home is… Gonna find out in a bit.
9:10 p.m. Ford commercial. They're talking about what they miss the most. And eating hot dogs.
9:11 p.m. Beignets for Harry. He's throwing sugar-covered pastries into the crowd and people are actually eating them. I'm incredulous that this is happening.
9:12 p.m. From hot-air-filled dough to… Randy Jackson time. “Jena was on fire last night,” Randy says, calling her Elvis cover one of the greatest performances in “Idol” history. Randy although thought Caleb had an amazing night. Randy felt like Jessica's third performance saved her night. He thinks the exact same thing about Alex.
9:14 p.m. For real now… The first person going home (in a good way) is… Jena Irene. She does a happy dance.
9:19 p.m. The finalists also went for a trip to the park. Yes, tonight's episode has featured five minutes of dinner with the Idols, five minutes of the Idols getting hotdogs and five minutes of the Idols having a picnic in the park. This is a horribly produced half-hour of television and FOX should genuinely be embarrassed at how far “Idol” has fallen in production quality with these results shows. That trip to the park had the production values of a public access channel.
9:21 p.m. Caleb Johnson is heading home as well. So much for concerns that Retardsgate was going to hurt him.
9:25 p.m. Reminder: “Idol” is happening next year and auditions start on June 18 in Minneapolis.
9:26 p.m. It's down to Alex Preston and Jessica Meuse.
9:26 p.m. The last person to make the Top 3 is… Alex Preston. JESSICA MEUSE is going home (in a bad way).
9:27 p.m. It's been clear for nearly two months that Alex, Jena and Caleb were the Top 3 for the season. It may not be exciting or shocking that that's where we ended up, but it's correct.
9:27 p.m. Jessica's emotion in this moment is totally unguarded and she sings her send-off song very well. I wish we could have seen Jessica do more originals this season, because she was better on “Blue-Eyed Lie” than she ever was on anything else.
9:29 p.m. It's all good. On to next week. And I hope my dad enjoys the Alex Preston rally!
You OK with tonight's results?