In the end, 29 million Americans couldn't come together in support of David Hernandez.
After a foray into the Lennon-McCartney songbook resulted in a changing of the guard as far as American Idol's talent-based frontrunners are concerned, it was the 24-year-old Arizona State student (and, one more time, former stripper) who was forced to take an early bow.
"Things happen for a reason," Hernandez mused after learning he had been eliminated Wednesday. But "you'll see me at the top. This isn't it for me."
Although technically a strong singer, Hernandez went into hyperdrive on Tuesday with what Randy Jackson deemed an "overdone" rendition of "I Saw Her Standing There."
"I thought it was corny, verging on desperate," Simon Cowell said, one of several kisses of death doled out on Idol's first-ever Beatles night. (They're going to have another one next week.)
Also plummeting into the bottom three were Syesha Mercado, who urged no one into her corner with "Got to Get You into My Life," and Kristy Lee Cook, who was advised to go country and ended up in left field with her honky-tonk "Eight Days a Week" arrangement.
The question of how Idol was going to fill some of that extra time, now that the Wednesday eliminations have stretched into an hour-long format, was quickly answered when Mercado was asked early on to repeat Tuesday's performance—just in case that was it for her.
So the audience was "treated" to three possible swan songs instead of one definite fare-thee-well, meaning we also had to hear Cook rebutcher "Eight Days a Week." (Seriously, even Paula Abdul admitted she "didn't get it.")
Although the logic behind making contestants relive their worst moment on the Idol stage to date is still questionable, the new "everybody sing!" format at least allowed Hernandez his full moment in the spotlight, as opposed to a few bars and a quick cut to the evening news.
Wednesday also marked the debut of Idol's new farewell dirge, this time around a cover of Kenny Loggins' "Celebrate Me Home" sung by season-two champ Ruben Studdard.
But while some fell (David Archuleta forgot the words!!), others rose, including David Cook, whose rockin' "Eleanor Rigby" so impressed Simon that the oft-acerbic Brit said he could picture the 25-year-old bartender winning the whole thing.
"I thought it was brilliant," he raved of Cook's performance, eliciting a spirited jump and fist pump from the singer, who once said it was a good thing it was America he had to win over rather than Simon.
Brooke White also hit it out of the park for the third straight week, touching hearts—even Simon's—with her straight-forward take on "Let it Be," the Beatles' last single as a cohesive foursome.
And finally living up to the hype (not to mention finally loosening up) was Carly Smithson, who tore into a version of "Come Together" she perfected in front of the Saturday-night crowd at the San Diego bar where she sings on weekends.
"That felt amazing, didn't it?" Jackson said. "You were strong, confident, you were having a good time…there wasn't a note out of tune. Stellar performance!"
The show also featured a still-intact top 12 singing a Beatles medley and a performance by season-five runner-up Katharine McPhee of the George Harrison-penned "Something."
To prolong the suspense (and kill more time) at one point, host Ryan Seacrest had the judges answer questions submitted by fans, although he deftly sidestepped one viewer's query, which began, "Simon is sexy…"
Jim Carrey was in the audience—and in the top 11 at one point, after he figured he could slip into one of the remaining musical chairs unnoticed.
But instead it is the two Cooks, Mercado, White, Smithson, Archuleta, Chikezie (he's dropped the Eze, perhaps because Paula persisted in pronouncing it incorrectly), Ramiele Malubay, Jason Castro, Amanda Overmyer and Michael Johns who will be around to dip yet again into the works of John Lennon and Paul McCartney next week.