Adam Lambert, Allison Iraheta and Kris Allen Advance

The biggest surprise tonight was Kris Allen. Though American Idol producers tried to scare us with a showdown between Nick Mitchell/Norman Gentle and Adam Lambert. Surely they would have 'fixed' it had the vote been reversed. Simon Cowell admitted to praying for several hours after last nights show when asked who he thought would move on. He said, "I'm hoping me and God have a good relationship!"

We are not allowed to know the actual vote tallies of the night, Ryan Seacrest simply said over 25 million were cast. I choose to believe that Adam was the top male vote getter last night.

Allison Iraheta was the first Idol contestant to be pronounced through to the Top 12. The 16-year-old burned up the stage with her version of Heart's "Alone". Allison performed it flawlessly again for us tonight. The talent is much richer this season. Ryan asked how she was feeling, Allison replied, "I'm so freakin' happy right now!"

Kris Allen showed why he deserved the third spot in the Season 8 Top 12 tonight. I thought his performance of Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" was boring and forgettable. Kris was far more excited tonight and really got into the song. I still don't think it was a good choice, but he put more into it.

American Idol milked the drama right down to having Ryan say, "Nick, you are...not going through to the next round." Then the party started. All we wanted was another treatment of "Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones and now Adam Lambert. The more I see him the more I compare him to Freddie Mercury. Maybe that's why Adam has not been snapped up and recording yet. He is theatrical and needs a theatrical band to play along with his stage presence. Lambert was definitely larger than life on that little American Idol stage tonight.

Simon Cowell alluded to the fact that there may be a couple of others from this group to go into the wild card show. My guess would be we may not have seen the last of Nick Mitchell/Norman Gentle and Megan Joy Corkrey. Simon loves Corkrey and her 'naughty' good looks. Norman Gentle (played by Nick Mitchell) had a great response from the audience, and probably garnered a ton of votes. For all his silliness, American Idol has done worse than Nick Mitchell... much worse!