Last night's American Idol delivered its first true shock of the season with the elimination of ladies' favorite Michael Johns. An informal survey of friends and my mother shows a majority believes Johns' performance of Aerosmith's "Dream On" was far better than those of Syesha Mercado and Carly Smithson, who joined him in having the lowest vote tallies of the final seven. Host Ryan Seacrest delivered the blow, but only after a cruel insinuation that he might be safe—last year, you'll remember, the results show following Idol Gives Back gave one more contestant a second chance. Not until Johns' eyes lit up with a glimmer of hope, did Seacrest hand him his walking papers: "Sorry, Michael, your journey ends tonight." Smooth, Seacrest.

Johns' abrupt exit was also a shock on the heels news that TiVo executives have been accurately predicting who has been getting kicked off for the last month, based on their ability to see which performances are being forwarded through and what ones are being rewatched. Their best guess had Mercado getting the boot. Despite his obvious surprise, Johns handled his early departure with grace.

The show also featured the previously cut speeches of the three remaining presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and self-styled jokester John McCain. They were as you might expect. The total amount raised on "Idol Gives Back" has reached $60 million, but with additional celebrity requests on last night's episode, that number is still growing.

Bonus performances came from Rhianna paramour Chris Brown and season six winner Jordin Sparks, who sang their new duet, "No Air." Thankfully, Teri Hatcher was nowhere to be found.

Idol's back on Tuesday with mentor Mariah Carey dispensing singing advice. Let the crazy begin!