When American Idol's Ryan Seacrest announced at the top of Thursday's results show that the elimination would be a shocker, he wasn't kidding.
Season 10 frontrunner Pia Toscano, 22, was voted off after having never appeared in the bottom three prior to Thursday's elimination.
Judge Jennifer Lopez fought back tears after Seacrest, 36, made the announcement.
"I have no idea what just happened here," Lopez, 41, told Toscano, who was in the bottom three with Stefano Langone and Jacob Lusk. "I'm shocked. I'm angry. I don't know what to say."
Amid audience boos, judge Randy Jackson reminded Idol fans that "no one is safe; you've got to vote for the ones you love."
Though Toscano's early exit came as a shock to fans, any dedicated Idol watcher knows she isn't the first contestant to leave too soon.
Case in point: Season 5's Chris Daughtry, who fell victim to voter apathy when fans failed to dial and text because they thought he was a lock for the final two. The presumptive winner got the boot before runner-up Katharine McPhee and winner Taylor Hicks.
Future Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson finished seventh during season 3, well behind contestants like Jasmine Trias and John Stevens. After belting out Barry Manilow's "Weekend in New England" — which Jackson called her best performance to date — Hudson was sent packing. Some fans blamed her exit in part on a power outage in her Chicago hometown, while others, including Elton John, pulled the race card. "The fact that [Hudson and fellow "divas" LaToya London and Fantasia Barrino were] constantly in the bottom three — and I don't want to set myself up here — but I find it incredibly racist," John said.
While Idol fans continue to come to terms with Toscano's early exit, tell Us: Which Idol elimination shocked you most?
By Allison Corneau for UsMagazine.com. For more Channel Surfing, click here.
