The stage was set for drama on the Thursday results episode of American Idol. With lights turned low, Ryan Seacrest intoned about the importance of the vote. You see, only the Top 3 get to go home in glory, to a big hero’s welcome. The fourth-place finisher simply goes home, to wait for the Idol summer tour with the rest of the season’s rejects.

It took almost 72 million votes to determine the Thursday results. The Top 4 all scored high praise from the judges on Wednesday, each having two performances with which to impress them.

James Durbin and Scotty McCreery performed “Start a Band” to start the show. Surprisingly, the two sound pretty good together. Durbin can put a passable country twang in his voice, and they both looked like they were having fun. Watch their very entertaining duet in the video above.

Haley Reinhart and Lauren Alaina sang “Gunpowder and Lead” next. The choreography was cute, the solo vocals passionate and the harmonies ho-hum. Odd song choices for Lady Gaga week, yes? But you can still see the performance -- which is full of hair-shaking -- in the video above.

Ryan Seacrest addressed the results after the duets were over. Lauren Alaina became the first contender into the Top 3. She was in tears as she hugged the other contestants and the host. Lauren watched the rest of the show from a gold stool. The others would sweat it out a little longer.

Later, the Idols -- and their watching viewers -- were treated to footage from Lady Gaga’s tour. Wearing a bright yellow wig, she belted out “You and I” from her Born This Way album. You can see the performance at Albumista.

On the Idol stage, Enrique Iglesias performed “Dirty Dancer,” much to the delight of the crowd. Amid flashing green lights, Iglesias warbled his way through the song. It’s not a bad ditty, but the third act kinda clips along. Iglesias had to bring out balloons just to keep the crowd entertained (not a new trick, but an effective one). Watch the performance in the video above.

Season 6 winner Jordin Sparks returned to the Idol stage to debut her new single, “I Am Woman.” She’s taken her sass level way up since the last time she visited the home crowd, and the performance was thoroughly professional. Watch the whole thing in the video above.

Steven Tyler also had something to debut Thursday: his music video for “(It) Feels So Good.” You can catch it (and the week’s Ford video) at Albumista.

Ryan Seacrest read more results after it was all over, announcing that two girls would be in this year’s Top 3. Haley Reinhart grinned, more hugs were given out, and as she strutted to her golden stool James Durbin began to look positively sick to his stomach.

He and Scotty McCreery stood together on stage, suddenly looking at dismal 50-50 odds.

They had their arms around each other when the show came back from commercial. Red lighting filled the stage as Seacrest made the announcement: Scotty McCreery is in.

Shocking. James Durbin has been the darling of the press, a favorite with the judges and one of the most talked-about contestants of the year. But perhaps it's only apropos that he be eliminated fourth, in the same position as Chris Daughtry. We have no doubt we'll be seeing him on the Idol stage in the future (as soon as this season's finale, in fact).

He sang “Maybe I’m Amazed” to close the show, tears in his eyes. Maybe we're amazed at the result (Haley Reinhart over James Durbin, really?), but we won't be surprised at all if he releases a hit album in the next year or so.

In the meantime, America still has an Idol to crown. Read all our American Idol 10 posts to keep track of all the action.