Blindsided...

...but there's some comfort in knowing I wasn't the only one? Because really, without the aide of Dial Idol predictions, who would have seen that coming? Alexis had been great, was liked by judges and viewers, and was a perfectly likeable personality at this stage.

And so my Idol education continues. Weird, extremely disappointing things happen, and there's nothing you can do about it. Except vote more. And I think maybe that's the best explanation for what happened this week. Alexis' rendition of Jolene wasn't all that great, but you can see from her other scores that she'd been very well received. She was one of the favorites, even one of the rumored "rigged final four."

So I think a lot of people just assumed she wasn't in any danger and voted for their other favorites. Comeback votes for Anoop. Sympathy votes for Megan. And somehow everything broke in such a way that one of the best contestants is gone way too soon.

I refused to believe Dial Idol could be right about Allison and Alexis being in danger. I'm tempted to ban myself from peeking at the predictions, lest I continue to ignore what unfortunately proved to be good information. We see what we want to see, I suppose. At least until what we want to see is off the show and off the tour and out of sight forever.

And though I've already said I'm okay with the Save Rule in principle, last night was clearly the logical time to use it. Alexis was absolutely worth saving, unless everything the judges had said about her previous performances was pure B.S. The save shouldn't be dependent upon how well you "sing for your life" at the end of the show, because that's an impossible position to be in.

It should be used when someone who's clearly talented and more deserving than others of remaining on the show is inexplicably voted off. Alexis is definitively better than Scott, Michael, Megan, and Kris, and arguably better than others, as well. Were the save anything more than a cheap production ploy, it would have been used Wednesday night. What a tease to say they would consider saving her. A straight-up lie.

I would argue that once you get town to the top 6 or so, there aren't any true "shockers." At that point, everyone should be fairly even and someone will have to go. But because Alexis is so superior to about half the remaining field, this actually qualifies as a shock.

Surely, as we speak, Scott and Michael are drawing straws to see who should resign from the competition so Alexis can be reinstated.

Surely.