They sang their hearts out during the performance round. Now, the Top 4 contenders on American Idol would find out which of them was to be sent home.  Sixty-four million votes, the highest non-finale tally in Idol history, were cast to bring us the results of the evening.

The Ford video featured 2D cinematography, the song “Move Along” and extremely bad action sequences where Idols ran toward a red car. The group number, “School’s Out,” gave us Slash on the guitar and four very helter skelter Idols who gyrated around the stage. Allison and Adam managed to steal the show again during this group run, though Slash did a fair bit of scene-stealing of his own thanks to a particularly riveting guitar solo.

During the pre-results chat, Danny Gokey called Wednesdays the “most tiring” days of the week. Kris Allen is surprised he’s made it this far in the contest. “We don’t want humble anymore,” Simon Cowell told him dryly. Gokey said his last scream from the night before must be his “funniest moment on Idol,” and was so charming and good-natured about the whole thing I’m suddenly back on him again.

Paula Abdul offered up the second performance of the night - a first for Idol. She wore gloves and sang a very techno-ish song that I hated from the word go. In Abdul’s defense, I’m just not at all a fan of techno; fans of the genre are no doubt drooling over themselves with love for the track. Paula’s skimpy outfit was surely the envy of Britney Spears, but for a woman of Abdul’s marked years it was a little bit tacky. Hemlines. All in all, the word on Paula’s performance is that I hated it - especially the ending skit where she smiled “I’m just here for the music!” Idol’s senior female judge wore a much more age-appropriate gown for her talk with Ryan Seacrest.

No Doubt then performed the very old ditty “Just a Girl.” Listen, I’m a fan. I always liked No Doubt and I even appreciate Gwen Stefani, but this wasn’t the best of their performances. She sounded out of breath from the word go, but the band was great. Sadly, this didn’t make up for Gwen’s utterly off vocals. She’s a very enthusiastic performer, however, and this can account for a lot.

The Top 3 is a very special honor on American Idol - it’s this group that goes home for the full star treatment. All this will be revealed next week. But first, we’ve got to cull the fat.

Under dimmed house lights, Ryan Seacrest turned first to Allison Iraheta. Danny Gokey was mentioned next. The host then turned to Adam Lambert, which won him rousing applause. Kris Allen, of course, followed. All four would be summarized before any real results could be known.

“I’m going to send one of you to safety right now,” he announced. That person - guaranteed to enjoy a parade next week - became Kris Allen. This was somewhat surprising, but now that we’re down to the main front-runners of the contest anything could happen.

Chris Daughtry was then featured - perfect positioning for him, as he was eliminated in Idol’s Top 4 in what I think was one of the worst years ever. Daughtry was absolutely on fire all season long, and startlingly lost out to the likes of Katharine McPhee, Elliott Yamin and Taylor Hicks. Daughtry found quite a home in the music world, however. He’s the front man for his platinum-selling band, not bad for someone who never made it back home to get the star treatment.

Daughtry’s new single, “No Surprise,” then debuted. It’s the first release of the band’s second album, and I loved it. Chris is still in fine form, and I continue to stand behind my belief that he should have won - though in all honesty, he’s probably better off. I was absolutely blown away by his vocals during the performance. I think we’ve got another hit on our hands. He was presented with a special plaque to celebrate the 5 million copies his first album sold. Not bad for fourth place. (Taylor Hicks scored a platinum rating -1 million- with his first album. His second, The Distance, was independently produced by Taylor’s self-owned label and has sold approximately thirty thousand copies. Yamin’s debut album was certified gold. McPhee’s first album has sold, so far, a little under 400,000 copies.)

It was time to stop crunching numbers after the break, however. There’s still a contestant to eliminate. Ryan Seacrest prepared to name the next entrant into the Top 3: Adam Lambert. He was pretty much a lock, but he didn’t have to look so smug about it.

This left Allison Iraheta and Danny Gokey on stage, and I like them both. Unfortunately, it was Allison who was eliminated. I kinda figured on this, but at the same time it’s sad to see her go. Iraheta’s got the sort of strong vocals and stunning stage presence that could easily make her the next Daughtry. I still stand behind one of my early assessments of Iraheta: she’s destined for stardom.

With tears still in her eyes, Allison performed her swan song on Idol…but don’t worry, she’ll be back in an upcoming season. A few years from now, we’ll see a grinning Iraheta talking about tours, new releases and how much fun she’s having. She was the consummate performer for her turn in the spotlight, putting every bit of smoky emotion she could muster into her last competition ditty. Maybe her home town will give her a parade anyway - she’s earned it.

She Allison Iraheta talking with Melinda Doolittle shortly after her elimination:

(You can find all the American Idol 8 posts here.)