Even she's not surprised after messing up lyrics

LOS ANGELES -- So, yeah. You forget the words, you go home.

After some bottom-three weirdness that saw two of the stronger singers in the competition threatened with elimination, "American Idol" booted its first finalist with a minimum of shock Wednesday night. Floridian Melissa McGhee, who botched the lyrics to Stevie Wonder's "Lately" on Tuesday night, is headed back to the Sunshine State.

But let's talk for a minute about the other two, Ace Young and Lisa Tucker. Maybe it was the way Seacrest announced their inclusion in the endangered group: Ace, but not Kevin Covais? Honestly, America? I mean -- really? And Lisa, but not Bucky Covington? You could argue Bucky did a decent job Tuesday, but how many of us really believe he has better chops than Lisa?

Judging by the loud boos when their names were announced, the studio audience was also surprised to hear their names (although not so much with Melissa. Ouch). It could have something to do with the relatively low number of votes: Ryan informs us that about 32.5 million people voted Tuesday -- or roughly 14 million fewer than last week, when the voting was spread over two nights.

But hey, at least Melissa got to do one cheesy Major Automotive Sponsor ad before she left. About that, though: Ace was fine as Bigfoot, but why the role didn't go to one-time mall Easter Bunny Taylor Hicks, who clearly has more experience playing a mythical creature, is beyond us.

Melissa accepted her fate well, acknowledging that she pretty well expected to get the hook first. We may never know if she straightened out her problems with "Lately," though -- the closing credits cut her off not more than four lines into the song.