Ray Mickshaw / FOXDespite last night's Thanksgiving-inspired theme of appreciation, Simon Cowell and L.A. Reid looked less likely to break bread together than snap each other's necks.
And it made for great television.
But did L.A.'s misplaced confusion over Drew's "older person" song (um, Demi Lovato's "Skyscraper") confuse the fans? And did Astro manage to escape the bottom three after last week's bottom-two debacle? Two acts had to go, so there was plenty of room for drama...
But there wasn't much, besides the replay of Simon and L.A. butting heads last night.
First up, Drew was safe and Lakoda Rayne was out, leaving Paula Abdul the wild card judge with no more protégés in the race. (Who do you think she'll hitch her cart to now?)
Then, it came down to LeRoy Bell and Marcus Canty, both of whom sang—LeRoy a little better than Marcus, technically—about their dear mothers.
And the judges were deadlocked for the first time over who to send home, with Simon Cowell chosing to cast his vote with L.A. in favor of Marcus staying so that it would be 2-2 and the elimination would be solely by the numbers.
"We are in deadlock," Steve Jones said ominously. "The judges lose their power and we look back at how you, at home, voted."
It turns out that less of you voted for LeRoy Bell.
"I'm actually feeling OK," the charismatic 60-year-old grandpa told host Steve Jones. "It was a great ride, it was a wonderful journey, I learned a lot. I gave my all tonight and I'm OK."
He will be missed, and Nicole Scherzinger is down to one singer in her camp. Lucky for her, it's Josh Krajcik, who doesn't appear to be going anywhere soon.
Congratulations go out to Marcus, who will take the stage along with the rest of the final seven next week.
Drew, Marcus, Josh, Rachel Crow, Melanie Amaro, Astro and Chris Rene are back in action Wednesday.