Scotty Eliminated, Paula Exposed

Scotty the Body's Idol dreams are over, while Paula Abdul's Idol nightmare may have only just begun.

Scott Savol, the beefy crooner from Shaker Heights, Ohio, whose tenure on American Idol was rocked by the unearthing of his arrest record, and who became the contestant of choice for anti-Idol Website votefortheworst.com, finally ran out of luck.

After being branded "Houdini" by Simon Cowell in reference to his repeated escapes from elimination, Savol's confidence seemed to expand each week as he somehow stayed afloat while arguably better singers such as Constantine Maroulis and Anwar Robinson were axed.

Last week, Cowell even advised Savol to pack his bags after a shaky performance Tuesday, only to see the contestant somehow--cough, votefortheworst.com, cough--wind up in the top three, while Maroulis was sent home.

On Wednesday, Savol appeared to think he had escaped elimination once again, due to cruel posturing on the part of a smarmy Ryan Seacrest, who was inexplicably clad in a horrendous cream-colored suit.

Seacrest began his results shtick in typical fashion by summarizing what each judge said about the contestants' performances. Anthony Fedorov, who was celebrating his 20th birthday, was the first contestant evaluated and was told to take a seat on the Idol couch.

Next came Savol, who, according to the judges, had had his strongest week yet. He, too, was relegated to the couch, and gave a "thank you" salute to the powers above for apparently sparing him.

However, the joke was on him, as Seacrest revealed that the remaining three contestants onstage--Bo Bice, Vonzell Solomon and Carrie Underwood--were actually America's top three.

After an endless series of commercial breaks, Fedorov and Savol performed their obligatory "I could be going home tonight" tunes and rejoined Seacrest onstage.

"Anthony, I'm afraid it's bad news," Seacrest said to the fragile Fedorov, whose shoulders visibly slumped. "We forgot to get you a birthday card. But we do have a gift. You're safe."

That meant it was curtains for Savol, who looked as if he were fighting back tears as he came to the realization he was headed home.

"I just want to be remembered as the guy everyone loved," Savol said at the close of his farewell montage.

Well, at least he's still holding on to some of his dreams. Meanwhile, his supporters at votefortheworst.com were also shut down after the site crashed due to heavy traffic.

There was no doubt that Wednesday's results show had an ominous vibe, not only because of the impending elimination, but also due to the Primetime Live special everyone knew was coming up on ABC after the show.

While the Idol Five didn't dedicate their show-opening performance of "Bridge over Troubled Water" to Abdul, the hefty bouquets they presented her with at the end of the song spoke louder than Seacrest's suit. (Seriously--who dresses him?)

The diminutive judge was about to endure an hour under the microscope as a primary subject of ABC News' Fallen Idol, which focused on season two contestant Corey Clark's claims that Abdul both coached and seduced him before he was booted from American Idol due to an undisclosed criminal record.

Though Abdul has denied that she had an affair or any inappropriate contact with Clark, the would-be Idol presented a strong case to bolster his claims that the "Forever Your Girl" singer had taken him under her wing as a "special friend."

An estimated 13.8 million viewers tuned in for the exposé, leading ABC to its first ratings victory in the 10 p.m. slot this season. The special didn't do much to dent the interest in Idol, however, which had the largest audience of any show on Wednesday night, drawing 25.4 million viewers.

Fox and the producers of American Idol issued a statement regarding Fallen Idol, questioning Clark's motives and accusing ABC of less-than-ethical reporting.

"We have concerns about the motives behind last night's purported news special, as much of it was filled with rumor, speculation and assertions from a disqualified contestant who admitted during the special to telling lies," the statement read. "Regardless, we are absolutely committed to the fairness of this competition. We take any accusations of this nature very seriously, no matter their source, and we have already begun looking into them."

On the heels of the special, Clark released a tell-all book about his Idol experiences over the Internet, titled They Told Me to Tell the Truth, So...(The Sex, Lies, and Paulatics of One of America's Idols). He also has an upcoming album that was heavily hyped during the special.

We're thinking his motives are pretty clear.