Idol Rich: Goodbye, Tim Halperin.

​The wee small RySea stunned us all last night by announcing that 40 million votes had been entered for the 10 audience-selected spots in the American Idol finals. That's what we refer to in the industry as a pant-load, people. And, during the unnecessary two hours of last night's show, there were video montages that were "zany" (silly faces, jokes, flubs, etc.) for the dudes and relatively pathetic bits for the girls. You know, cuz boys are fun and girls are emotional. Way to progress, Idol.

Anyway.

I guessed five for five on the audience-selected guys -- because I am awesome, but that's so not important. They are Casey, Jacob, James, Scotty and Paul. The audience's girls are Lauren, Pia, Karen, Thia and Haley.

T-Halp was given the verdict with Casey and Jacob -- two shoo-ins who made it really obvious he was going to be disappointed, because producers weren't going to fill that many guys' spots in one fell swoop.

During the suspense, RySea asked STyler what he would've chosen (instead of the lame Rob Thomas track) for Tim's first performance, and he suggested something "a little more alt" like a Jason Mraz or John Mayer. Hmm. I'm not sure about the "alt" title for those guys, but oddly, I agreed with the suggestions and that they are more alt than Thomas. I love Steven Tyler.

Then it was time for the Wild Card round.

The judges called for six performances, or re-auditions, from which to select the final spots. But, they did it one by one, so there was no quick way of avoiding Seacrest drama and finding out if ol' Timmy had a chance to "Sing for his life!" Not kidding, that's what he says. Sing for their lives. As though there's a death squad waiting in the wings.

So, they called Ashton, Stefano, Kendra, Jovany, Naima...and Robbie. No T-Halp. No love for the "most beautiful voice" J-Lo had ever heard. And, with that, Halperin shuffled off the stage, leaving the Metroplex with no locals left to root for. Wild card spots, for those interested, were awarded to Ashton, Stefano and Naima, turning the expected Top 12 into a Top 13.

If you need more of the Fort Worth boy than you do of the remaining Idol contestants, keep up with T-Halp on his website, or follow him on Twitter. As for us, we'll see you next year, Idol.