On tonight's (March 14) episode of 'American Idol,' Curtis Finch, Jr. was sent home, shrinking the Top 10 to 9. Last night, the girls outperformed the guys, so it was not surprising that one of the gents was in the bottom of the voting.

Finch and bilingual belter Devin Velez were in the bottom two. Both men are terrifically talented singers who faltered last night because of poor song choices. The judges even commented last night that they wanted to hear Finch do something other than Gospel-infused R&B and to step out of his comfort zone.

For his "save" song, he tore through R. Kelly's 'I Believe I Can Fly,' which was full of drama and his powerful, roof-raising vocal style. Finch put his guts and his soul into the perf, and the final run was pure power. He got a standing O from Keith Urban and Nicki Minaj, and the crowd chanted "Save!," and Mariah Carey spoke about their "connection."

Sadly, 'twas not enough to save him and he was the first elimination casualty of AI12.

In order for a contestant to be spared, the judges much unanimously agree to spend their sole save of the season on him or her. Before Randy Jackson said that the judges would not be using their save, we were doubtful that the panel would throw the save out this early in live shows.

We also think Jackson was the dissenter, since the other three lurved C. Finch, Jr. Minaj was vocal, saying there was not enough time to discuss using the save but that she understood it was a live program with a serious time constraint. Hmm, she didn't realize that yesterday when she was late arriving to the live show.

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