The intro for the Top 8 results show of American Idol 8 was highly dramatic, replete with clips of judges’ comments and images of the contestants. Paula Abdul wore opera length gloves for the evening; Randy wore his usual cardigan and Simon Cowell was, as always, in a black v-neck.

To re-visit the theme of the evening, a song from the year American Idol was born (1959) played out on the Idol big screen. The song was from Frankie Avalon, who then appeared on the big stage singing the same joint. The crowd - and Paula - seemed genuinely surprised and delighted.

I wasn’t. I spend every results show thinking “just get to it, already” - to no avail of course.

The Top 8 performed the next number, “Can’t Get You Out of My Head.” It wasn’t very good at all and went on for far too long, though I will say the end choreography was cute.

The viewers were then treated to a clip of the Idols working on one of their Ford videos next. The best part of the clip was Scott MacIntyre’s Simon Cowell impersonation - fantastic! The video itself followed the montage. The song choice was good this time - the concept was not. No surprise there, considering the Ford video history of the season.

“Now, let’s get to it, friends.” Ryan Seacrest finally started the action, reminding viewers again that the judges’ save is still usable (and will be, for the next three weeks). Adam Lambert was called to face the music first. Kris Allen and Anoop Desai stood with him, and there’s no question who’s safe in this group. The judges on the panel raved about Adam Lambert before any results were revealed. He was safe - and the first to be announced as such - yet again. Anoop Desai was then led to the bottom three - I think wrongly so.

A completely unrecognizable (to me) character then took the stage - some cat called Flo Rida. Though I didn’t know who he was, I did like the performance and the song itself. I don’t, however, think the tune was at all appropriate for the venue or, in fact, the demographic. “That was hot, man,” Ryan Seacrest complimented him at the end of it all.

More results followed. Danny Gokey was the first to rise this time - and the first to be declared safe. No shock there. Matt Giraud was also quickly declared safe, but next it was Scott MacIntyre’s turn. He’s also in the bottom three with Anoop Desai. This, too, would not have been my choice.

Allison Iraheta was the next contender to rise, along with Lil Rounds. They are the only two females remaining in the contest. Allison has been in the bottom three twice, but not on this results night. Lil rounded out the bottom group, joining Anoop and Scott at the stools.

“There’s certainly a couple people, one in particular, who we would consider saving,” Simon Cowell said of the group.

But before we could get to that, the viewers were treated to a performance by Idol alum Kellie Pickler. She looked and sounded wonderful, delivering a very entertaining performance. She sang near Simon for a moment, and he did his best not to look too annoyed. “It feels great, I’m just tryin’ not to bust a seam,” she smiled when Ryan asked her how it felt to be back on the show to perform. “Good luck!” She called to the bottom three contestants as she made her way off stage.

Lil Rounds was sent to safety out of the bottom three group then, leaving only Anoop Desai and Scott MacIntyre remaining on the stage. Thirty-four million votes were cast, but only thirty thousand existed between these two contestants. Scott MacIntyre missed his chance by just that much.

And just like that, he was on the Idol stage for potentially the very last time. Ryan Seacrest handed him the mic so Scott MacIntyre could sing for his judges’ save.

There he stood with no guitar and no piano, but at least he stood there and sang his heart out. Paula Abdul and Kara DioGuardi were on their feet through a good deal of the performance, as was much of the audience. But even this last song had to end.

Would it all be over so quickly? Would Vote for the Worst fail so soon after choosing their candidate? “I’m going to be honest with you, two people want you to stay and two people want you to go,” Simon Cowell told MacIntyre.

Ryan Seacrest turned to chat the singer up while the judges continued to deliberate, but even this had to end. “I can please you another week, Simon,” Scott made a last-ditch effort to save himself.

“Scott, someone’s gotta make a decision here…and I’m gonna say, it’s the end of the competition.” It was, of course, Simon Cowell who delivered the final word. Amidst a chorus of boos from the fans, MacIntyre was consoled by Seacrest and his good-bye clip played.

The judges’ save remains intact for another contestant. It all brought Paula Abdul to tears. She took a moment to tell Scott that he’s an “inspiration,” as well as “unique and talented.”

It was a sad results show, but that’s the nature of the game. American Idol returns next week with the very lucky Top 7.

(You can find all the American Idol 8 posts here.)