American Idol: Gokey, Grace and Oil Rig Guy Advance

Aretha's blues earned Alexis a spot in the Top 12

Last night on American Idol, widowed power balladeer Danny Gokey, pink-haired pixie Alexis Grace, and oil rigger Michael Sarver advanced into the Top 12, leaving nine contestants to pick up the pieces of their shattered Hollywood dreams (sniff). While Grace impressed by slaying Aretha Franklin's "I Never Loved a Man" and Gokey delivered on Mariah Carey's "Hero", it appears that the power of red state America's legions of robodialers propelled Sarver into the next round, as his karaoke-ready rendition of Gavin DeGraw's "I Don't Wanna Be" didn't impress this Idol critic in the least... or the judges.

Read all about this week's episodes in my American Idol Recap.