Top 16 Results Show Recap

Wow. Wow, wow, wow.

You know, after five years of watching this show, I thought I had it pretty much figured out. But I can say right now that I am genuinely surprised.

I am about to reveal the results from tonight's show, so if you haven't watched it yet and want to be surprised STOP READING NOW.

Sabrina Sloan, Antonella Barba, Sundance Head, and Jared Cotter were eliminated from the competition tonight.

So, first of all, I'm not at all surprised that Sanjaya is part of this year's Top 12, even if it is at Sundance's expense. It's interesting that it was Sundance who was sent packin' instead of Phil, who arguably had a weaker performance, but I was not a huge fan of Sundance to begin with, and I've been preparing myself for a couple more weeks of Sanjaya anyways, so nothing too major there.

I'm also not shocked (although I am disappointed) that Sabrina got eliminated...as I said in an earlier post, I thought neither she or Stephanie had established enough of a distinct personality to really make an impression on the viewers. I think she's very talented and I'm sorry she won't be around longer, but I'm not shocked.

However, I thought if Sabrina was gonna get the hook, it was going to be because of the huge amount of press coverage and notoriety Antonella has amassed in the past few weeks. But nooooooooo. She got booted in favor of...wait for it...Haley.

Haley? Haley? Who the heck is voting for Haley?

This boggles the mind, because I can honestly say that I do not know one thing about Haley. Not one.

Truth be told, though, I did write the following while recapping her performance last night:

"It always makes me a bit nervous when Simon spends a good long time hammering in how unenthused he is by a contestant. I totally buy into that "audience votes to save who Simon is mean to" theory, so I sometimes wish he would just leave well enough alone and let us forget about the contestant like he told us we're going to."

I suppose people were so incensed by Simon's claim of not being able to remember her name that they made sure to spend enough time voting. That way, I guess, American would definitely know her name, as they would be screaming it out at approximately 8:47 or so...

Haley? Haley? Who the heck is voting for Haley?

Also tonight Seacrest, in his best "I'm talking about something serious" voice (although he couldn't help making a crack about a Randy vs. Borat wrestling match) also revealed the "big announcement" that has been teased for months. I want to talk more about this in a later post, after I've had time to process it (was anyone else a little confused about what is actually happening to help those adorable African children, and how Randy and Paula visiting New Orleans plays into it?), but I do think its a good thing for this incredibly successful TV show to "give back," and the "star-studded two day event!" sounds cool, so I guess I'm in favor of the whole thing. Goooooo giving back!

Oh yeah, and Carrie Underwood performed her latest hit "Wasted." She looked great (although I wasn't crazy about the hair), she's won a billion awards, she's not in Checotah anymore, she sounded great, blah blah blah

It was, as Seacrest solemnly proclaimed, "the most intense results show ever."

And here, ladies and gentleman, is your Top 12:

Blake Lewis
Brandon Rogers
Chris Richardson
Chris Sligh
Gina Glocksen
Haley Scarnato
Jordin Sparks
LaKisha Jones
Melinda Doolittle
Phil Stacey
Sanjaya Malakar
Stephanie Edwards