Author: Erin Carlson

FOX

Everyone, breathe a sigh of relief. Lazaro Arbos‘ improbable, Sanjaya-like run on American Idol is over: after weeks of remaining in the competition despite being talentless and tone-deaf and unprepared, the sweaty ice cream scooper was finally voted out Thursday night in an unpredictable elimination round that could sent Amber Holcomb home instead.

Last week’s cast-off Burnell Taylor, who is kinda-sorta dating Amber, tweeted: “GOD IS GOOD!”

The way things were divided up, Lazaro and Amber wound up in the bottom two with Angie Miller and Janelle Arthur in the middle and — big shock — Candice Glover and Kree Harrison on top with the most votes.

Even though Lazaro is THE WORST, a feeling of dread loomed throughout the episode: with his invisible but potent fan base (seriously, WHO ARE THOSE PEOPLE?), and his status as the only dude in the contest, and his sympathy-baiting back story, could he even be stopped?!? After the result was announced, and justice served, Lazaro — who surely knew the judges wouldn’t waste their save on him — went on to perform a surprisingly non-sucky rendition of “Feeling Good” while the panel pretended to deliberate. The cameras caught Mariah Carey crying and Randy Jackson, who called Lazaro “horrible” on Wednesday night, cackling with glee.

“We love you. You’ve been a treasure to the show,” lied Randy, faking a serious demeanor (but clearly still laughing inside). “We’ve enjoyed you but we’re not gonna use the save.”

STORY: ‘American Idol’ Producers Try to Speed Up Mariah Carey’s Comments: What You Didn’t See on TV

With that, the remaining five — all girls! — surrounded Lazaro to extend their condolences. Amber openly wept. Angie did not. (Didn’t you know? She passive-aggressively loathes Lazaro.)

America got it right once more by bumping Candice up from on-the-fence to frontrunner territory following her jaw-droppingly powerful covers of “Love Song” and “Don’t Make Me Over.” I’ll say it again, she’s too damn good for the show. So is Kree. Those two are way far ahead of the others in terms of vocal prowess and professionalism and I predict one is going to take the Idol crown come May.

But don’t rule out Angie. The bright-eyed, likable singer/pianist is clearly going places — perhaps she’ll trail Colton Dixon into the Christian rock genre — and likely has some neat (yes, I said neat, because I’m stuck in 1993 like Mariah) tricks up her sleeve. Amber, as Jimmy Iovine noted, is a major talent but lacks the kind of fan support that keeps an erratic but charismatic performer like Janelle in the game.

“Why America doesn’t get her, I’m completely baffled,” lamented Jimmy of Amber, for whom he’s harbored the most obvious crush this season. (Somewhere, Burnell is all, “Back off, old man.”)

VIDEO: Why Sanjaya Malakar Was Better Than Lazaro Arbos 

Jimmy also addressed something that bugs me about Kree: she can be really boring sometimes! As in, “Oh crap, I’m at a Norah Jones concert and there is not enough Franzia to get me through this.” The otherwise outstanding Nashville upstart’s snooze-y take on “What the World Needs Now Is Love” was painful. Just painful. “She’s gonna have to give us a lot more personality in those vocals,” quoth Jimy, doling out the tough love.

In other news, I almost stabbed myself in the eye during that Burt Bacharach/Hal David medley. What the bleep, Nigel Lythgoe. No one wants to hear that garbage. If next week’s theme is something equally awful, like Nickelback songs from the early aughts, I’m Seacrest out, OK?

Scotty “Baby Lock Them Doors” McCreery, meanwhile, graced the Idol stage to sing “See You Tonight” and Kelly Clarkson, my imaginary best friend, crooned “People Like Us” sporting day-glo makeup in the style of Nicki Minaj. Even though Kelly has a pile of awards and hits under her belt, she still geeked out over Mariah, declaring: “I’m so glad you’re not mean!!!” (Kelly, can we hang out? Please? I’ve got a box of Franzia at home. We can gossip and talk smack about Justin Guarini and Clive Davis.)

Kevin Bacon, picking up the Anthony Hopkins torch of weird celebrity cameos, sat in the audience, confessing he “would be terrified” to get on stage and sing. The actor’s appearance was far from random: his new TV drama, The Killing, just so happens to hair on Fox. WHAT A COINCIDENCE.

So many questions, Idol Worshippers: did you rejoice after Lazaro’s elimination? Will season 12 become even more boring without him? Which girl is your pick to win the Idol title? Sound off in the comments!

Twitter: @ErinLCarlson

Email: erin.carlson@thr.com

FOX

Everyone, breathe a sigh of relief. Lazaro Arbos‘ improbable, Sanjaya-like run on American Idol is over: after weeks of remaining in the competition despite being talentless and tone-deaf and unprepared, the sweaty ice cream scooper was finally voted out Thursday night in an unpredictable elimination round that could sent Amber Holcomb home instead.

Last week’s cast-off Burnell Taylor, who is kinda-sorta dating Amber, tweeted: “GOD IS GOOD!”

The way things were divided up, Lazaro and Amber wound up in the bottom two with Angie Miller and Janelle Arthur in the middle and — big shock — Candice Glover and Kree Harrison on top with the most votes.

Even though Lazaro is THE WORST, a feeling of dread loomed throughout the episode: with his invisible but potent fan base (seriously, WHO ARE THOSE PEOPLE?), and his status as the only dude in the contest, and his sympathy-baiting back story, could he even be stopped?!? After the result was announced, and justice served, Lazaro — who surely knew the judges wouldn’t waste their save on him — went on to perform a surprisingly non-sucky rendition of “Feeling Good” while the panel pretended to deliberate. The cameras caught Mariah Carey crying and Randy Jackson, who called Lazaro “horrible” on Wednesday night, cackling with glee.

“We love you. You’ve been a treasure to the show,” lied Randy, faking a serious demeanor (but clearly still laughing inside). “We’ve enjoyed you but we’re not gonna use the save.”

STORY: ‘American Idol’ Producers Try to Speed Up Mariah Carey’s Comments: What You Didn’t See on TV

With that, the remaining five — all girls! — surrounded Lazaro to extend their condolences. Amber openly wept. Angie did not. (Didn’t you know? She passive-aggressively loathes Lazaro.)

America got it right once more by bumping Candice up from on-the-fence to frontrunner territory following her jaw-droppingly powerful covers of “Love Song” and “Don’t Make Me Over.” I’ll say it again, she’s too damn good for the show. So is Kree. Those two are way far ahead of the others in terms of vocal prowess and professionalism and I predict one is going to take the Idol crown come May.

But don’t rule out Angie. The bright-eyed, likable singer/pianist is clearly going places — perhaps she’ll trail Colton Dixon into the Christian rock genre — and likely has some neat (yes, I said neat, because I’m stuck in 1993 like Mariah) tricks up her sleeve. Amber, as Jimmy Iovine noted, is a major talent but lacks the kind of fan support that keeps an erratic but charismatic performer like Janelle in the game.

“Why America doesn’t get her, I’m completely baffled,” lamented Jimmy of Amber, for whom he’s harbored the most obvious crush this season. (Somewhere, Burnell is all, “Back off, old man.”)

VIDEO: Why Sanjaya Malakar Was Better Than Lazaro Arbos 

Jimmy also addressed something that bugs me about Kree: she can be really boring sometimes! As in, “Oh crap, I’m at a Norah Jones concert and there is not enough Franzia to get me through this.” The otherwise outstanding Nashville upstart’s snooze-y take on “What the World Needs Now Is Love” was painful. Just painful. “She’s gonna have to give us a lot more personality in those vocals,” quoth Jimy, doling out the tough love.

In other news, I almost stabbed myself in the eye during that Burt Bacharach/Hal David medley. What the bleep, Nigel Lythgoe. No one wants to hear that garbage. If next week’s theme is something equally awful, like Nickelback songs from the early aughts, I’m Seacrest out, OK?

Scotty “Baby Lock Them Doors” McCreery, meanwhile, graced the Idol stage to sing “See You Tonight” and Kelly Clarkson, my imaginary best friend, crooned “People Like Us” sporting day-glo makeup in the style of Nicki Minaj. Even though Kelly has a pile of awards and hits under her belt, she still geeked out over Mariah, declaring: “I’m so glad you’re not mean!!!” (Kelly, can we hang out? Please? I’ve got a box of Franzia at home. We can gossip and talk smack about Justin Guarini and Clive Davis.)

Kevin Bacon, picking up the Anthony Hopkins torch of weird celebrity cameos, sat in the audience, confessing he “would be terrified” to get on stage and sing. The actor’s appearance was far from random: his new TV drama, The Killing, just so happens to hair on Fox. WHAT A COINCIDENCE.

So many questions, Idol Worshippers: did you rejoice after Lazaro’s elimination? Will season 12 become even more boring without him? Which girl is your pick to win the Idol title? Sound off in the comments!

Twitter: @ErinLCarlson

Email: erin.carlson@thr.com

Despite the downward spiral of his public image, Matt Lauer is managing to have a sense of humor about his tarnished reputation and all the negative media attention on the backstage drama at the Today show.

The besieged morning-show anchor hosted a UJA-Federation of New York event on Tuesday celebrating his friend, Bloomberg Media Group CEO Andrew Lack. In the New York Post, he was quoted as telling the audience that he was “a bit surprised to be asked to host this dinner. If you’ve been following the papers lately, you know it’s been a bit rough for me. These days, I only get asked to host dinners if polio is busy. Yup, I have a lower Q rating than polio right now.”

STORY: Inside the ‘Today’ Show Drama: 12 Revelations About the Matt Lauer-Ann Curry Debacle

While introducing presenter Katie Couric, Lauer cracked another joke: “Katie has a way of making headlines. Who can forget when she was co-host of the Today show? She got a colonoscopy on TV. Not to be outdone, two weeks ago, I got one in The New York Times.”

(See also: jugular-targeting headlines such as “America Hates Matt Lauer.“)

Lauer, meanwhile, is the subject of much speculation over his future on the NBC morning show, which has slipped in the ratings and fallen to No. 2 behind Good Morning America since Ann Curry was pushed out of the show last summer. Although Lauer has said the circumstances of Curry’s exit were mishandled, the public perception is that he was key in the decision to let her go.

To that end, many media observers wonder how long Lauer, whose contract runs through 2014, will remain in the co-host’s chair alongside Curry replacement Savannah Guthrie. Last month, NBC executives and sources close to Anderson Cooper denied reports that the CNN newsman had been approached about Lauer’s job: The network did reach out to Cooper, THR reported, but he is not in line to replace Lauer.

Twitter: @ErinLCarlson

Email: erin.carlson@thr.com