Down goes Daughtry!

So, America doesn't want to rock, and I grow old ... I grow old ... I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. These are the only conclusions I can draw from the baffling American Idol result on Wednesday. How else to explain the elimination of Chris, who had been roundly praised for weeks by the judges and was the most consistent and confident performer? I am clearly out of touch with the AI voting demographic, but I think I can live with that, just like I can live without fantasy leagues, TiVo and a MySpace profile.

My prediction was about as accurate as my first round NBA playoff picks, but I should have respected history a bit more and my own preferences a bit less. Taylor has yet to sit in the hot seat of the bottom two or three, whereas the other remaining contestants had taken turns recently. Elliott had a very strong night on Tuesday, and Katharine must get some credit for being the only one of the four who would draw a second look if you saw them on the street - assuming Taylor was just walking like a normal human being, not thrashing about like he does on stage.

I've been a Taylor fan since he ambled into the room playing a harmonica in one of the early shows, and I think he should win running away, but I would rather have watched him duke it out with Chris for the next two weeks. Last month, the Washington Post's Lisa de Moraes wrote an interesting item about measuring Taylor's popularity based on eBay sales. It's old news now and maybe the sales figures are skewed because of his kitschy appeal, but it's still worth considering.

With Elliott and Katharine - along with Paris, the top three tear shedders - still in the competition, the only certainty is that there will be a lot of weeping when the final winner is announced.