Four Contestants Given Their Walking Papers on "American Idol" on Thursday, March 4, 2010

Thursday, March 4, and the four contestants who bit the bullet this night were John Park (of NorthPark, Illinois, a Northwestern University student), Germaine Sellers of Joliet, Illinois (the church singer), Haeley Vaughn (the black C&W wannabe singer who played guitar) and Michelle DeLaMor (the pretty curly-haired whole package person).

My own personal take on Didi Benami surviving the brutal tongue-lashing she took on Wednesday is that a backlash vote developed to save her. As for Tim Urban, he's cute: what can I say?

I was surprised by the elimination of Michelle DeLaMor, not because she was vocally that great in her performance (before or after being cut) but because she typified more the "total package" that the show seeks. However, they still have Katelyn Epperly of West Des Moines and my two personal favorites, Crystal Bowersox of Elliston, Ohio (who auditioned in Chicago) and Siobhan Magnus, for the girls.

Crystal Bowersox returned from being hospitalized overnight to sing well and earn kudos from all of the judges. For me, she is the front-runner, the one to beat.

And for the boys, LeeDeWyze and Michael Lynche and the other front-runners were safe. I was not surprised to hear that John Park, the only Asian in the group, was being sent home early. His rendition of John Mayer's "Gravity" was singularly lacking in emotion. It came out flat and uninspired. Another adjective that would apply is insipid.

The group has now been reduced to 8 girls and 8 guys. Shots of Katelyn Epperly, Katie and Siobhan crying added to the emotion expressed by Ellen, when she said, "I'm sad because, every Thursday, it gets harder."

Danny Gokey returned to sing an upbeat song from his new album called "My Best Days Are Ahead of Me" and talked about his upcoming tour. He shared the information that the song he sang ("My Best Days Are Ahead of Me") was written by a songwriter who had also lost his wife, as Danny Gokey did. He said thathe no longer wanted to be known as "the guy who lost his wife." His

Stay tuned while the remaining 16 duke it out next week, in what Simon said would require, "killer, killer instinct now."

This year's crop of singers is devoid of the drama of David Archuleta versus David Cook or "What will Adam Lambert do next?" There aren't any truly outstanding singers of that caliber in the group, although Crystal Bowersox, Siobhan Magnus and Lee DeWyze are among the best...which is not to ignore the extremely tall Lilly Scott. Things are going to heat up in the upcoming weeks.