Lilly Scott isn't going to be the next American Idol. Not tonight. Not ever. And that's baffling. She should be. In spite of her undeniable talent, though, she wasn't even chosen to be among the final dozen contestants. Early on, before she was even cut, there was no shortage of folks (ourselves) who thought Scott would go the distance and give Crystal Bowersox -- the other clear frontrunner -- a run this year. Didn't turn out that way, obviously. The Littleton chanteuse checked out at number thirteen, after turning in a stirring but unorthodox rendition of Patsy Cline's "I Fall to Pieces."

Scott's premature departure is most likely due to her unique voice and phrasing, which was just far enough off the beaten path that America presumably just didn't know what to make of her. Funny thing is, when Scott's singing her own material, she sounds considerably more kindred to bewitching sirens like Amy Winehouse, Adele and Duffy than Joanna Newsom -- which is who she recalled on the fateful night that America handed her her walking papers.

Read our recent interview with Lilly Scott, in which she discusses her American Idol experience, and catch her first local post-Idol performance at the Westword Music Showcase with her band Varlet.

And then there was none. The stunned faces of Lilly Scott's fellow contestants last night -- particularly Katy Stevens, who inexplicably ousted Scott to move into the final twelve (The Dirty Dozen, if you prefer), and Crystal Bowersox, who now has a clear shot at becoming the next AMERICAN IDOL -- matched ours upon finding out that Scott, one of this year's most interesting and talented contenders, had been unceremoniously eliminated from the show. And Scott herself did us even one better by saying exactly what we were thinking.

"I don't know. I thought I did really well. I thought I was appealing to a lot of people. You know I put my heart into every performance. And I thought I really gave it my all every time. It's surprising. A lot of incredible talent is going home tonight. I don't know what America wants to hear. I don't. I just know there's an audience out there for me that definitely wants to jam with me."

Sad to see her go, and we now have really no reason to continue watching this season of Idol. Way to go, America. After the jump, take a look back at some of Scott's intriguing song choices and noteworthy performances after the jump, and read our thoughts over the past few weeks as she made her ascent from Idol hopeful to Idol contender.

If Lilly Scott doesn't win this whole thing on the strength of her talent, she should win just by virtue of the fact that she's infinitely more interesting than, well, everyone else on Idol this season. Really. Her song choices alone ("Lullaby of Birdland," "A Change Is Gonna Come" and "I Fall to Pieces") are head and shoulders above her yawn-inducing counterparts.

Early on, a few of the judges asserted that this was going to be the girls year and pointed out how strong the female talent was this year as opposed to the guys. Really, though, they're all pretty underwhelming. Don't really see any superstars in the bunch. Wouldn't be surprised, in fact, if this year goes down as the least memorable season of Idol.

Update: And then there was one. The results are in, and as expected, Haeley Vaughn was just voted off American Idol, which leaves Lilly Scott as the only remaining contestant from Colorado.

Wow! We just got a chance to see Lilly Scott's American Idol performance from last night. Ballsy! That's all we've got to say about this girl. Last week she offered a serviceable rendition of "Fixing a Hole" by the Beatles, and this week, she tried her hand at Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" with surprising aplomb. Girlfriend is absolutely fearless. Scott is clearly comfortable treading on sacred ground, which makes us wonder what's on tap for next week, "What's Going On," perhaps, or "Into the Mystic"? Oh, yes, next week. Something tells us there is definitely going to be a next week, for Lilly Scott. Seems like a foregone conclusion at this point that she's quickly becoming the one to beat, just based on the judges' nearly unanimous reactions.

AmericanIdol.com

Looks like we're going to have to wait until tomorrow night to see how well Lilly Scott and Haeley Vaughn do this week's American Idol. The two ladies, who made it past last week's elimination, were initially slated to sing this evening, but will now be showcasing their pipes tomorrow night instead, reports EW.com. Evidently, some sort of unnamed medically related malady is preventing Crystal Bowersox from performing tonight, so the guys are getting the nod tonight instead. And then on Thursday night, we'll find out which contestants America decides to keep.

Meant to mention this in yesterday's American Idol post, but we ended up being so preoccupied with recounting the respective travails and eventual denouement of Lilly Scott and Haeley Vaughn, the two Colorado ladies ultimately picked to be included in the Top 24, that it completely slipped our minds.

Did you happen to notice the odd song selections in Wednesday's episode? Actually, don't answer that -- it's rhetorical. We know there's no way in hell you could have missed them. The compositions in question (3:00 in the first clip, 2:00 in the second) stuck out like Snooki at a Mensa convention. And although we're still rather puzzled as to why so many hopefuls chose to sing "Man In the Mirror" in the previous episode, this time around, the oddities we're speaking of weren't on the part of the contestants, rather the program's music supervisor.

American Idol fans who visit the show's website right now in search of which 24 contestants have been chosen to compete for the chance to become the next American Idol will notice that Lilly Scott and Haeley Vaughn's mugs are conspicuously missing. But that's only because the program is still airing on the West Coast, we presume -- either that or Fox's web team is out for drinks or something and can't be bothered.

Regardless, as we learned this evening, both Colorado girls made it through to the final 24. Tonight's show was only an hour, so the orchestrated drama was mercifully kept to a minimum, with precisely half the number of tearful breakdowns we had to endure last night. After giving the nod to half a dozen or so other hopefuls and showing the door to at least as many others (spoiler alert: Thaddeus Johnson gets robbed), Cowell and company finally revealed the fate of Scott and Vaughn.

If not for her vocal prowess alone, Lilly Scott deserves to advance on the sheer merit of her unconventional -- at least in contrast to the other contenders -- song selection. She made it to this round with her version of "Lullaby of Birdland," and last night, while seemingly everyone else was had inexplicably (seriously, these folks are aware that MJ has other songs, right?) chosen to sing "Man In the Mirror," Scott wisely dialed up "Rich Girl" by Hall & Oates. It wasn't her best performance (jump to 1:54 in the video), but it was good enough to move on to the next round of cuts.

Now it's down to determining who the final two dozen will be from the remaining 46 contestants. Cowell and company narrowed it down to that number by eliminating one of the three roomful of contestants -- another baffling quirk of the process. Each contestant is ultimately judged on the merits of their individual performances, right? Yet for this stage of elimination, as with the ill-advised group effort last week, they're judged collectively. Baffling. As a result, a few made it through on the heels of admittedly clunky performances (looking at you, Janell Wheeler) while some keepers got tossed.

Unfortunately, though, it was more tedious than tense. Watching the starry-eyed hopefuls trying to pull together routines in the midst of domineering personalities and unfounded ego clashes (they're all sheep being led to the slaughter, for chrissakes) as the clock ticked was simply exhausting. An makeshift, impromptu glee club sans the glee.

America finally got a look at Ms. Lilly Scott last night on Idol. She got the nod from Simon Cowell and company to move forward to the next round of cuts after wowing them with a sterling rendition of "Lullaby of Birdland," a tune made famous by Ella Fitzgerald. If you ask us, Lilly did Ella justice last night.

"Well, Lilly, everything about you is refreshing," remarked Kara DioGuardi after Lilly sang. "I really like you. You're unique. You did your own thing. Very good."

Indeed, Kara. Indeed.