A good sense of humor and a wild mop of curls weren't enough to keep Chris Sligh's Idol momentum going.
The 28-year-old South Carolina native was issued his walking papers on Wednesday's American Idol after his performance of "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" on Tuesday's show proved less than magical.
Randy Jackson called the song "a train wreck," while Simon Cowell opined that it was "a mess."
Unfortunately for the Jack Osbourne look-alike, who adopted "Bringing Chubby Back" as his personal slogan on the show, America agreed with the judges.
Joining Sligh in the bottom three were Haley Scarnato and Phil Stacey, who both managed to garner sufficient favor from viewers to last another week.
Stacey was declared safe first, leaving Scarnato and Sligh to sweat it out.
"I think it's bye-bye, Curly," Cowell predicted before the verdict was revealed—accurately, as it turned out.
In a radio interview with Ryan Seacrest on KIIS-FM Thursday, Sligh said that while he expected to be sent home, he did not appreciate Cowell's cutting remark.
"Sometimes I feel like Simon just has to get his little jabs in," Sligh said. "I was just thinking, 'What a jerk.' At least let me go out with some dignity."
Decidedly not in the bottom three Wednesday was Sanjaya Malakar, who distinguished himself on Tuesday's show by rocking easily the weirdest hairdo ever seen on Idol—something that could perhaps be described as a ponytailed fauxhawk.
Malakar's actual singing was far less memorable than his hair, which may have been a good thing, as far as his standing on the show was concerned.
Despite Malakar's questionable vocal abilities, his Internet presence continues to grow each week he remains on the show. The American Idol message boards are filled with posts divided fairly equally between Sanjaya-haters and "Fanjayas," while anti-Idol Website votefortheworst.com continues to support him as its pick to go all the way.
One Idol fan has gone to extreme measures to convey her dislike of Malakar by starting a "Starvation for Sanjaya" MySpace page chronicling a hunger strike that she has vowed to continue until he is eliminated. So far, the fan, who identifies herself only as a 23-year-old woman named "J," claims to be on day 12 without eating.
"I don't even know what to say," J wrote following Tuesday's show. "If I hadn't gone on a hunger strike, and if after 11 days the urge to eat wasn't completely gone as it is now, it would be after watching Sanjaya's performance tonight."
Less controversial were Gina Glocksen and Chris Richardson, who both won positive feedback from the judges, with Cowell calling Glocksen's performance of "I'll Stand By You" her best to date, and Paula Abdul simply telling Richardson, "You're good."
Meanwhile, American Idol strongholds LaKisha Jones, Melinda Doolittle, Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis earned their usual rave reviews, with Abdul even calling Lewis the "dark horse" to win it all.
According to Sligh, the show can get tiresome for those whose vocal efforts earn less praise.
"My name isn't Blake or Melinda," the ousted Idol hopeful told Seacrest Thursday. "It's frustrating for the other contestants who aren't that person."
Gwen Stefani, who served as the celebrity coach of the pop-themed week, performed "The Sweet Escape" with Akon on Wednesday's show, effectively leaving last week's British Invasion theme in the dust.
Next week's show will again aim to please a more mature demographic, when Tony Bennett makes a guest appearance to put the remaining nine contestants through their paces.
The reality competition's apparent efforts to bridge the generation gap by hiring stars from a bygone era as celebrity coaches may not be working out as planned.
Though Idol maintained its status as the nation's number-one show last week, the ratings are down an estimated 10 percent from the same time last year.
Which in Idol-speak still adds up to an audience of 30 million.