It’s a boys’ club on ‘American Idol’

Teen rocker Allison Iraheta goes home, leaving three men in the finals

By Craig Berman
msnbc.com contributor
updated less than 1 minute ago

On a night where No Doubt played its anthem to girl power live on stage, ‘American Idol’ said goodbye to the last of its female finalists.

Allison Iraheta was always a longshot to win. She was in the bottom three during the second week of the finals, and twice more before this week. Even her feisty back-and-forth with a critical Simon Cowell wasn’t enough to win over an audience that had always liked her less than the judges did.

Still, the 17-year-old managed to hang around long enough to outlast the remaining four women in the competition and impress the show’s host.

“I know — I know — that I’m going to be playing you on the radio real soon,” Ryan Seacrest said as he bid her farewell.

From fourth place to five million: If Allison needed comforting, one of the live acts this week served as an example that fourth place doesn’t mean failure. Three years ago, Chris Daughtry was sent home in one of the most shocking results shows in “Idol” history. On Wednesday, he was back with his band performing “No Surprise,” the debut single off his second album. The first album sold more than five million copies, earning him kudos from Ryan and a nifty plaque from 19 Entertainment. “At the time it felt like the world was going to end,” he said of his exit from the show, but added that he recovered about 30 seconds later.

Boys' Club: With Allison gone, it’s an all-male final three that heads back to each singer’s hometown this week for the obligatory footage of fawning disc jockeys, screaming cheerleaders, and keys to the city. Kris Allen, Adam Lambert and Danny Gokey all moved on, and while Adam's got to be the favorite, it's still anybody's season to win.

The scream: Danny in particular has reason to be optimistic, since he survived a glory note that caused dogs to riot and windows to break across the nation. According to him, his own family members felt the need to mute the final notes of Aerosmith’s “Dream On.” He took the misstep with good humor. “My funniest moment on ‘American Idol’ is that note,” he said. “I definitely made a name for myself with that scream last night. I think it’ll be in a movie soon.”