Andrew Lloyd Webber was the greatest thing to happen to Idol this season. Who'd have thought?! His honest, constructive criticism and advice has elevated the performances of all of the finalists. What this week was NOT...was easy to predict. First of all, Seacrest only whipped-out his Bottom 2.

With whatever image that may have conjured in your mind secure for the next several days, we learned that Syesha Mercado and Carly Smithson, both of whom have been teetering on the verge of elimination off and on for weeks, were our Bottom 2.

Our Idol Experts made their calls...

...and they have to live with them, as the world was shocked to learn that Carly Smithson has been eliminated. Talk about the drama of live television...favorites to leave Brooke White and Jason Castro looked like they were about to die upon hearing Seacrest declare them SAFE.

Carly and Syesha had to be equally as surprised, as the judges and fans seemed to eat up their performances, the most energetic and memorable either has put on in weeks.

FOX43 Idol Expert Artie put Jason, Brooke and Syesha in his Bottom 3, which, when you consider we only had a Bottom 2 this week and count all of his choices, leaves him 1 for 2. We didn't know, going in, that we'd only have a Bottom 2, so we're giving our Experts the benefit of the doubt and allowing all 3 choices to count. Artie said Brooke would go home, which was a popular sentiment. He was wrong, and here's what he has to say...

Funk: I don't want to give you any thoughts on Idol! I quit the blog! I was SHOCKED that Brooke was safe. Not even in the Bottom 2?! I disagreed with Simon's comment that the restart made her human, because...DUDE, how much more human can she be? She's cried, she's already restarted once, she...is wicked human, by now. Inexplicable save from the fans. Not that I'm unhappy about it, but confusing nonetheless. And...Syesha's gone next week. She handed in one of her best performances of the competition, and she's STILL in the Bottom 2. Maybe they're living in a cursed hotel room together, or something? I dunno', dogg. As for Carly, oh well. Catch you on the flip-side.

FOX43 Idol Expert Julie Heart put Jason, Brooke and Carly in her Bottom 3. That gives her a score of 1 out of 2 for the Bottom 2, but the one she got right was the big one! She called Jason going home, and...well, that just didn't happen. Julie, what's going on?

Heart: Seeing Brooke safe and Syesha in the bottom two was a shocker, she thought she was going home after that false start. Idol was really trying to pull out all the stops to surprise the audience by having Jason safe going up against Carly. Jason looked like he thought he was going home too. I am glad these were the two performances to hear again though, I would not have wanted to sit through Jason or Brooke’s songs after last night. It does go to show you that this competition is more about your fans than your talent. I’m sad to see Carly go home, but I knew her days were numbered.

FOX43 Idol Expert Clyde Collins selected Syesha, Jason and Brooke for his Bottom 3, and that makes him 1 for 2 on the Bottom 2. He thought Syesha and Carly were interchangeable, but went with Syesha simply because she performed first. He called for his personal favorite, Brooke, to go home...so he's got to be glad that she dodged the bullet. Right, Clyde?

Collins: First of all, to Julie, I'd like to note that your boy Cook has been lucky on more than one occasion that this show sometimes seems to be more about fans than talent. The fans got it RIGHT, doing what was best for the show overall. That said, who saw this coming? When you look at their performances, I thought Jason and Brooke were just fine. Carly was fun and Syesha was...well, at least better than usual. But the changes they made threw off whatever fans they have, and I'm glad the voters ignored the judges and gave Brooke and Jason some credit. I honestly thought Brooke would go home, and proclaimed my hate for this season of American Idol, because I have so little faith in the voters. This week...they showed me that Brooke and Jason, the only interesting things left this season, are at least popular enough to weather a storm. I hope they both stick around, and as for Carly...well, at least she went out on a high note. People will remember her for this, and she should have little trouble attempting to become this season's Daughtry. Best of luck, but it was going to happen at some point.

***** DISCLAIMER *****
The opinions expressed by the three "FOX43 Idol Experts" do not necessarily reflect the opinions of FOX43, Tribune Broadcasting or FOX.
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