Idol Watch: Begging, the Question

Frank Micelotta / FOX

Quick spoilers for last night's American Idol elimination after the jump:

* You got Sarved! Likeable family man Michael Sarver went home last night, unsurprisingly, earning no judges' save after his encore of "Ain't Too Proud to Beg." (Establishing, with last week's "Jolene" by Alexis Grace, a pattern: if you sing a song about begging, you will have to beg for the judges.)

* Despite the show of discussion among the judges, it would have been a ridiculous shock if he had been saved, considering that last week the panel said they would not have even considered using the save on him. It's not like he suddenly got better. And even though we heard Kara protest that his second take on the song was improved, when Simon tried to poll the panel for their votes (a save must be unanimous), it was clear: everyone thought Michael should go home, it was just that no one except Simon wanted to be the one to say it. 

* Which brings us to a question I might as well ask: do you think the judges' save gimmick is cruel? That was the premise of a USA Today piece this week that quoted me. Personally, I think it's more of a sham than a cruelty: on the overall Idol-cruelty scale, it has to fall below Simon's "bushbaby" insult and the stringing along of Tatiana Del Toro. 

* Finally, it looks like Megan Joy, who has become Mrs. Tuned In's personal bete noire, is going to be with us for a while, as she didn't even fall into the bottom three. And if that performance didn't do it to her, it's hard to imagine anything other than time and attrition doing her in. She seems to have a genuine fan base, but I also noticed that votefortheworst.com adopted her this week, so our rockin' robin may as well settle in for a while.