"American Idol" finalists Lil Rounds and Anoop Desai aren't closer to becoming household names. Both singers were dismissed Wednesday after it was revealed they received the fewest number of viewer votes on the popular Fox singing competition.

"I'm so really disappointed," Desai said after his ouster. "I really am."

The third lowest vote-getter after this week's disco-themed performances was Allison Iraheta.
For the past several weeks, the judges have not been favorable to Rounds, the 24-year-old mother of three from Memphis, or Desai, the 22-year-old college student from Chapel Hill, N.C.
While the panel seemed to prefer Desai's rendition of Donna Summers' "Dim All the Lights," judge Simon Cowell called Rounds' performance of Chaka Khan's "I'm Every Woman" a "mess."

"I'm actually going to miss your family screaming at us every week," Cowell told after Rounds after she was eliminated.

The acerbic judge correctly predicted Rounds would be dismissed following her performance Tuesday. The once adored R&B crooner, who originally wowed the panel with Stevie Wonder's "All I Do" at her audition, had been dubbed a copycat by the judges for the past several weeks. Desai had also fallen from grace after being selected as the judges' final wild card pick.

Two finalists were sent packing Wednesday — instead of the usual one — because the judges' used their new one-time-only power to save Matt Giraud from elimination last week.

Before the double dismissal, the seven finalists donned bell bottoms and shades to perform a group number of The Jacksons' "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)," which was choreographed by Paula Abdul. The five singers remaining in the competition are Iraheta, Giraud, Kris Allen, Danny Goeky and Adam Lambert. Another finalist will be booted next week.

"American Idol" is boogeying toward another elimination.

Tuesday night's worrisome theme is "disco," and a number of finalists have impressed judges with groovy versions of '70s classics.

As expected, the seemingly unstoppable force known as Adam Lambert had Simon Cowell and the gang wrapped around his finger. The 27-year-old "Idol" frontrunner wowed the panel with his restrained, emotional delivery of "If I Can't Have You."
Paula Abdul who had a dreamy look on her face _ said she felt Lambert's "pain." The judge called the theater actor fascinating, brilliant and a shoo-in for the finals of the Fox singing contest.

In another bold declaration, she also told Danny Gokey he'd make it to the final stretch.

The four "American Idol" judges used their one-time-only veto power on Wednesday to spare Matt Giraud from being sent home after the hit talent show's fans cast the fewest votes for his performance of "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?"

"Matt, it's good news," Simon Cowell told the singer, who broke down in tears after the judges' unanimous decision allowed him to stay in the competition at least one more week. The audience, which had chanted "Save, save, save!" cheered wildly.

Giraud first had to perform the Bryan Adams song from the film "Don Juan DeMarco" one more time, and Cowell said Giraud had actually done better on Tuesday. He began by saying, "I don't really see that you have really any chance of winning" as the other judges voiced disagreement.

Cowell also told the other finalists, who surrounded Giraud in an emotional group embrace, "I wouldn't be so quick to congratulate him," because the save meant two singers will be sent home next week and the veto had been used.

Giraud, 23, from Kalamazoo, Michigan, had drawn tepid feedback with Randy Jackson saying, "You fell down more places in that song tonight ... it wasn't one of your best performances." With more than 36 million votes cast since Tuesday's broadcast during "American Idol"'s movie-themed week, fans apparently agreed.

Anoop Desai, 21, and Lil Rounds, 23, were the other bottom-three finishers for the second consecutive week. Desai also landed among the bottom three two weeks ago.

The other remaining finalists are Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey, Allison Iraheta and Kris Allen.

Highlights of Wednesday's live broadcast included the return of season three finalist Jennifer Hudson, who triumphed over what many considered a premature elimination by landing a plum role in the hit film "Dreamgirls," and winning a best supporting actress Oscar. Hudson performed "If This Isn't Love" from her debut album, which recently won her a Grammy award.

"Hannah Montana" star Miley Cyrus also performed.

"American Idol" pits aspiring singers against one another in a series of competitions that focus on a musical theme each week. It is the most-watched TV show in the United States, with more than 24 million viewers per episode broadcast by the Fox network, a unit of News Corp.

Past winners of the competition such as Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, as well as runners-up such as Clay Aiken have gone on to lucrative music careers as well as in film and on Broadway.

The winner of "American Idol"'s eighth season will be announced during a live finale in May.

Fox Revenue per 30 minutes: $7 million
Average cost of a 30-second ad: $623,000
Viewers*: 25.6 million

When it comes to prime-time viewers and advertisers looking to reach them, Idol is the Super Bowl of prime time. With a combined average audience of 26 million viewers thus far this season, an average telecast of Fox's singing competition rakes in $7 million more than that of the second most expensive show.

*The American Idol telecast varies in length throughout the season. This figure averages Tuesday and Wednesday.

Lil Rounds continued her streak of disappointment on "American Idol."

The 24-year-old Memphis mom's eyes welled with tears as judge Simon Cowell derided her performance of "What's Love Got To Do With It" Tuesday night as a "second- or third-rate version of Tina Turner."

"I have no idea who you are," Cowell told Rounds. "You're not making the impact you should be making on the show. ... You've got to start becoming more original."

She has lost momentum in recent weeks, while Adam Lambert has emerged a serious front-runner on the popular Fox network competition.

The 27-year-old actor from Los Angeles received a standing ovation from none other than Cowell following his rendition of "Mad World" by Tears for Fears.

The theme on this week's performance show was songs from the year the contestants were born. All of them — except for 16-year-old Allison Iraheta — were born in the 1980s.

Cowell and his fellow judges loved Matt Giraud's slick take on the Stevie Wonder hit "Part-Time Lover." They also gave Danny Gokey high marks for his cover of Mickey Gilley's version of "Stand By Me." They praised Anoop Desai's performance of Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors," although Cowell deemed the North Carolina college student a "singing yo-yo" for his erratic work.

And for the second week in a row, Cowell criticized Iraheta for something other than her singing. Last week, he picked on her outfit; this week, he advised the 16-year-old rocker to "start being talkative and likable. Because I still don't know much about you."

Iraheta, who has an easy laugh and can do an uncanny impression of Gokey, performed Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me." Judge Randy Jackson compared her to original "Idol" Kelly Clarkson, declaring: "She could sing her face off and so can you!"

Cowell suggested Scott MacIntyre go back to what he does best — playing the piano — after the 23-year-old from Scottsdale, Ariz., tried his hand at the electric guitar.

"It's my punk side coming out," MacIntyre joked.

Kris Allen generally gets good reviews, but the judges' panel mostly soured to the heartthrob's cover of "All She Wants To Do Is Dance." Cowell used some of his favorite words — "indulgent, boring, forgettable" — to describe it, causing audience members to shout their support of Allen: "You're hot!!!"

Responded Cowell: "So am I, but it's not about that."

One of the eight remaining finalists will get the boot on Wednesday night's results show. In a new rule this season, judges can save a contestant they feel has been wrongly eliminated by voting viewers.