So, it finally happened. Sanjaya Malakar's cultural reign of terror is over.

Let's break it down, folks.

OF COURSE Sanjaya deserved to go home. If we're talking singing talent, the kid didn't deserve to make it into semi-finals, much less the Top 6. No argument there. But in terms of entertainment value, the show --- and the viewers --- just lost out. Sanjaya was the only interesting story about "Idol" this year. Yeah, Jordin and Melinda are always great. Blake is always....Blake. Lakisha is boring, Chris continues to transform into a shitty prick. Phil exists. This is not a dynamic group, and Sanjaya really did always give us something to talk about. I'm seriously going to miss that little booger.

I honestly didn't watch most of the rest of the hour-long results show. I'm offended by how blatantly Fox is trying to milk this sucker at this point, and I flip the channel out of protest. (Also, I wanted to catch up on the first episode of "Shear Genius" --- that show is freaking great.) But I did catch the "What the Idols are listening to" segment, and found it somewhat illuminating. Blake tried to out-Blake us by revealing he listened to...something. Couldn't even hear it. But he was trying so hard to establish cred that his veins were bulging. I totally buy that Melinda and Lakisha would be listening to gospel. At first I thought it was charming that Jordin admitted to loving Fergie --- she IS 17, after all --- but when The Dutchess came on to perform later I couldn't help but feel dirty at the blatant suck-uppery. Phil's misguided brownnosiness reached new lows when he lied that he's been listening to Willie Nelson, whom he assures us is "awesome." And Chris continued to let his douchebag flag fly when he pretty blatantly mocked poor Peter Noone. I'm sure the guy was a self-promoting buffoon, but at least he's earned that right, CHRIS.

Speaking of Chris, I was dismayed that Simon and the show addressed EyeRollGate as directly as they did. Anyone who bothered to actually watch Tuesday night could plainly see that Simon was not dismissing Chris' well-wishes to people at Virginia Tech (more on that in a minute). It was in reaction to Chris' snotty assertion that his nasal voice is an artistic choice. How this was even up for debate, I don't know, but Simon even took pains to make sure that there was no confusion about his stance at the end of Tuesday's show. But then America decided to turn a non-issue into an issue, and "Idol" had to waste time by Zaprudering the footage to erase any doubt. Pathetic.

But not as pathetic as Chris Richardson. The shout-out to V Tech was a despicable last-ditch effort to get votes by preying on the public's sympathies. Seriously --- it's disgusting. I have yet to hear a comment from him on Simon's near-Imus-ing, and he has to take some of the responsibility for creating the situation anyway. His nasty attitude Tuesday, his smirking mockery of Peter Noone last night, this kid is a piece of work. And now that he's pissed off Simon to a possibly heretofore unseen degree, I look forward to the scathing acid baths coming his way next week. Plus, it's "inspirational" songs, and he's screwed anyway. Goodbye, jackass.

 Also: PHIL STACEY IS IN OUR TOP 6! How in the name of god is that possible?