One last night of naked cruelty on American Idol for us to name the ever elusive top 12.

But first, we’ll have a performance from last year’s runner-up. Bo Bice (or, as my favorite radio gods Don and Mike call him, Bob Ice). And while he sounded good, I think that there are some guys this season that could outsing him in a heartbeat. It’s got to make guys like Chris, Elliott, and Taylor feel pretty good to hear him and know that his album has sold so many copies. If he can go platinum, well, it will be easy for them.

So, we finally get to the results. First, Ryan will bless us with the knowledge of the lowest vote getter amongst the girls. And he started like usual, recapping each girl’s performance and the judges comments. But when he got to Kinnik, he just stopped and told her she was the lowest. It was as if a producer was somewhere giving him the “hurry it up” signal. Oh well…we all knew she was going home anyways.

Next up is the lowest vote getter for the guys. And once Kevin is told that he didn’t have the lowest total, well, Will must have known it was him. Oh Greg Brady, we knew you well.

Finally, we get to naming the top 12. And no real surprises to start – Paris, Katharine, Kellie, Mandisa, Lisa – all fantastic singers. And I loved watching them congratulate each other, like they were genuinely happy for one another. Of course, no surprise that they made Ayla and Melissa sit through the break to find out that Melissa was the final member of the top 12. I can’t say that I’m too surprised – Melissa’s performance Tuesday was better than Ayla’s. And it seemed like this may be the first thing in her life that Ayla wanted that she didn’t win or get. Good thing she has that full basketball scholarship to fall back on. (oh…did I say that out loud?)

No commercial break before we start to figure out the top 6 guys. And, like the girls, the first few are no surprises – we all knew that Taylor, Ace, Chris would be in. Heck, the three of them, along with Elliott, could be the final four. I don’t know which was more shocking – the final guy, or the fact that somehow the Brittnum twins, clad in what appeared to be spacesuits, were in the front row. And even though my husband just said “bye bye Bucky,” Gedeon is going home.

On to the top 12…