American Idol Top 24 Results Show Didn't Send Song-Killer Tim Urban Packing?

American Idol results shows always deliver surprises (or seem to). There always seems to be those that seem safe that get booted, and those that seemed destined home to find themselves taking a seat and hanging around for at least one more show. The first results show of Season 9 on American Idol brought two surprises (both in the Top 12 guys), but the most shocking of all the eliminations came when Tim Urban was told by host Ryan Seacrest he was safe. However, Janell Wheeler's elimination from the girls' half of the Top 24 came as a surprise to absolutely no one.

And Ryan Seacrest wasted no time delivering Janell Wheeler up to the chopping block, either. Six up, one down. Janell Wheeler then butchered "What About Love?", the powerful Heart love ballad, one more time for the American Idol viewing audience and was gone.

The second six young women stood up and Ryan sat them all down, except for Ashley Rodriguez. The American Idol judges had panned her performance the night before, although it was passable, but apparently not enough for just enough people to vote for her. She sang "Happy" by Leona Lewis and was gone.

Of all the Top 24 performances, two seemed to be a given for elimination on the results show - Janell Wheeler and Tim Urban. So when Ryan Seacrest counted off the top row of guys to be eliminated and got down to Joe Munoz and Tim Urban, it seemed rather obvious who was going home - until Ryan Seacrest told Tim Urban to have a seat on the Sofa of Safety.

Tim Urban arguably gave one of the poorest performances on American Idol in recent memory Wednesday evening, maybe even the worst Top 24 performance ever. He chose "Apologize" by OneRepublic and simply could not sing it. Like Janell Wheeler, he butchered the tune and should have been led to the American Idol center stage chopping block. Instead, Joe Munoz was sent packing.

Sometimes the American Idol viewing audience gets it completely wrong. Remember Chris Daughtry, Jennifer Hudson, Clay Aiken, Katharine McPhee?

The fourth elimination came down to Alex Lambert and Tyler Grady. Looking at the dejected face of Alex Lambert, it certainly looked as if someone had told him earlier that he was a goner. So when Ryan Seacrest announced Tyler Grady was going home, it was somewhat of a surprise, although listening to a second helping of the weakened arrangement of "American Woman" (where were the guitars?) was thankfully cut short by the program's end (reminding us that sometimes live is a good thing).

Fans of Season 8 got a treat as Allison Iraheta and Kris Allen returned. Allison sang her newest release, "Scars." It wasn't the greatest song in the world, but Allison showed us how she made the Top 4 last year. She also showed that she's still the same quirky teen we grew to love as she talked to Ryan afterward. American Idol Season 8 winner Kris Allen sang a moving acoustic and piano rendition of the Beatles' "Let It Be" for Idol Gives Back, the American Idol charity organization. The live iTunes single was made available for download after the show and all proceeds will initially go to the disaster relief effort in Haiti, reverting to the Idol Gives Back charities after.

So Janell Wheeler, Ashley Rodriguez, Joe Munoz, and Tyler Grady got the axe from the Top 24, leaving the Top 20 (the Top 19 if you're of the opinion that Tim Urban is on borrowed time).

The one good thing about Tim Urban surprisingly not being voted off on Thursday's results show? The American Idol audience didn't have to sit through a farewell performance and another complete evisceration of "Apologize."

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Sources:

AmericanIdol.com

"American Idol," Fox Television