This is me - in mourning. So all those who've had it up to their necks with people moping over Michael Johns's exit from AI - I'm warning you, I ain't no different!

So I'm here in India and we get AI a whole day after - or almost after all the song and well, song routine has happened... Lately, it's a ritual - on Thursdays, when I reach my office, I rush to my desk, switch on my PC and log onto the net and google "american idol" and surely in Google News, I know the results - then I either sigh in relief (picture me last week when Miss Crinklenose left) or I tut-tut in disagreement if someone nice has got eliminated (picture me when the 3rd David was shown the door) but today... t.o.d.a.y... when the cruel Google Gods delivered the results, the ground under my feet became quicksand... and the whole day - the entire day I was babbling to myself incoherently and even in front of others "How could this happen?"  How could this happen? over and over and over again - a "googilian" times. And even as I'm trying to wonder why this happened, I'm coming with several theories - 1) Michael sang 1st and didnt exactly bring the house down, so perhaps... 2) He was the oldest of the Idols, so perhaps... 3) He wasn't really American, so perhaps... 4) The Idol fan-base this year is divided into 2 -- the Arch-angels (David Archuleta fans) and fans of the rest of the remaining Idols - so, our Michael was trying to sustain himself against all the Cookie fans (David Cook), the Carly fans and the Jason/Brooke fans... and may be this was just his bad week... - his one and only bad-voting week. So perhaps... 

 I almost wish we could protest against the results. Being an ex-contestant manager of Indian Idol - the Indian version of AI - I remember - the hottest/cutest and the best singer of the Top 4 on II gets eliminated in a shocking results night. There's pandemonium. The judges stage a walk-out on live-TV. There are riots outside the studio and his elimination makes national headlines on Primetime TV News... and as  he stands transfixed in front of the audience mentally preparing to sing his last and final song - I am 10 feet away from the stage and the world sort of freezes in front of me... that's when it hits me... this is not a sitcom - this is not "So no one told you your life was gonna be this way" and then it's alright... this is not a hospital drama where probably the biggest decision you have make in your life is whom to choose between Chris O'Donnell and Patrick Dempsey... 'American Idol' and it's spin-offs all over the world - that's real and I guess the irreparable brutality of reality TV just sort of hit me at that time... We might scoff and say "It's just a show" but I've seen first-hand what something like Idol means to the contestants... People call Carly desperate. But I sort of know where she comes from... 

Oh man, this is a real bummer...

For those of us who've fallen in love with the Australian crooner since the time he came on and especially since his sensational rendition of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' during Hollywood Week - for those of us who've rooted for Michael Johns throughout, 'American Idol' will no longer be the same. Here's a guy who can really sing; who has a deep sense of music and musicians - which is probably more than what you can say about David Archuleta - who will most likely win this competition. Here's a guy who's struggled years to make a mark in the music industry and there's someone who'll get worldwide recognition at 17 just because he's teddy-bearishly adorable (yes, you might say the Little imp is talented and can sing and blah blah... but that's not really why everyone's so crazy about him...) Also being almost exactly as old Michael Johns, I can only imagine how he must have tried to not look like a misfit amongst all his younger competitors and what Idol must have meant for him - his  last real push at making a career out of singing...

Although he was so visibly shocked after the results, his final performance of 'Dream on', was probably the best parting performance I've see on Idol. He really really pulled himself together and just let go... It was sort of his last message to his fans and everyone else - Dream On... So Michael - You continue to Dream On... you're a real rock star and people will queue up to buy your album! So long, mate!