The stars, or at least the would-be...

The stars, or at least the would-be stars, are back in alignment on American Idol after last week's astonishingly clueless vote sent the show's three divas (Jennifer, La Toya, Fantasia) into the bottom three, sparing the increasingly inept John Stevens and George Huff for another week. This time around, John and George deservedly landed with a thud at the bottom, and mercifully, the carrot-topped cadaver of crooning was put out of his and our misery.

For the last week, Idol was all the buzz. Were the fans racist, as Elton John publicly opined? (Not likely. Look at who's still standing.) Were the fans insane? (More likely. Look who was still standing. Or, in the case of George, bouncing.) The most reasonable explanation, it seems to me, was that the show's fans were too complacent in their knowledge that the divas were the best this season's Idol had to offer, and didn't bother to vote for what seemed so obvious.

Until it became obvious they had to vote for Idol's results to count. The fall of Jennifer Hudson was a much-needed wake-up call for Idol. The shock waves hit home, ratings and vote totals surged this week, and while 4 million calls still were unaccountably registered for the out-of-his-element John Boy, he was sent to the sidelines where he has belonged from the start.

And this opinion comes from someone who actually prefers the style of music that John Stevens represents over the wailing and screeching that is the Idol norm. Poor John's problem was, pure and simple, inexperience. He's a kid with an ability to parrot the Dean Martin-esque tunes he heard at his grandparents' house without truly being able to embody the spirit behind those great and enduring tunes. When asked to adapt his non-style to any other genre, he was just hopeless. It was painful to watch him perform, and even more cringe-inducing to watch him in close-up as he saw more deserving contestants enter the losers' circle. His relief that it was over was probably his most convincing performance to date.

Now on with the real show — as long as George Huff is next to go.