The voters spoke of on Wednesday night, casting out Anoop Desai (pictured) and Lil Rounds to trim the field of "American Idol" to the Top 5.

The only surprise of the night was the other member of the bottom three: Allison Iraheta. Most had figured last week's "savee," Matt Giraud, would be in that spot.

OK, I just have to put this out there because it's the elephant in the room: Did the fact that Anoop (Indian-American) and Lil (African-American) have darker skin have anything to do with their ouster? Meantime, Allison, who is Hispanic, was also in the bottom three. Were they all there strictly because they were the weakest singers?

The four remaining white males were sitting comfortably on the couch of safety. Just a coincidence, right?

EDIT, 8:27 a.m. Thursday: OK, OK already! I hear you! I simply threw up a question mainly because I was wrestling with the relevancy of the race issue in my head and I wanted to hear other opinions. Virtually everyone agrees it's NOT an issue and I'm satisfied with that and I won't bring it up again. It's quite clear that Anoop and Lil were certainly on shaky ground, so their ouster makes total sense. And as for Allison also making the bottom three, well, that's just a result of the variability of fan voting. Stuff happens.

One last comment: I didn't conjure up this question on my own -- I've gotten several e-mails about it from readers. And let's not forget what happened when Elton John brought this issue up in 2004. But like I said, time to move on ... .

What do you think of this outcome?

Here's how the evening unfolded:

9:00 p.m.:"This ... is 'American Idol.'"

9:02 p.m.: A vignette on preparing the Idols for the group performance, with Paula Abdul doing the choreography! She's makin' 'em work up a sweat!

9:04 p.m.: The group performance: They're dancing -- and lip-synching -- to "Shake Your Body Down To The Ground." They don't even have microphones this time. Look at the Top 7 groove out! Fun stuff. A little too much Paula worshiping going on though.

9:12 p.m.: Every time Ryan mentions David Archuleta the screams begin anew from the mosh pit. And then the Ford video is shown.

9:14 p.m.: Ryan says it's time to get to the results. Ryan asks Lil Rounds to stand up first. Then he sends her to stage. I was expecting some king of group set-up but instead Ryan comes right out with it. Lil Rounds is sent home. She's singing her song again, but without quite the same amount of energy she had last night. Paula says she sang it better. Oh well.

9:21 p.m.: Time for the disco guest performances. First up is Freda Payne, with "Band of Gold." Classy.

9:24 p.m.: Next up is Thelma Houston signing "Don't Leave Me this Way." Now this song I remember.

9:28 p.m.: And now the moment we've been waiting for: Harry Wayne "KC" Casey (of KC and the Sunshine Band) sings "Get Down Tonight." Getting older is sometimes not a pretty thing. But it happens to all of us. His voice is straining. A nice salute to a legend though.

9:34 p.m.: Kris Allen is asked to stand up. Ryan says Kris is safe.

9:35 p.m.: Adam Lambert is next (cue roar from crowd). Adam is safe.

9:36 p.m.: Danny Gokey -- sans glasses -- is next. After a bit of a grumpy exchange between Ryan and Simon about what "clumsy" means, Danny is safe.

9:39 p.m.: Anoop Desai stands up. Ryan sends Anoop to the stools of doom, the bottom three.

9:40 p.m.: Allison Iraheta and Matt Giraud stand up together. Matt is safe in a shocker! Allison goes over to the stools of doom. So it's the end of the road for either Anoop or Allison. Wouldn't it be a shocker if it was Allison?

9:45 p.m.: Season 7 runner-up David Archuleta returns to the Idol stage to sing his new single, "Touch My Hand." Although he didn't write this song, the concept was his idea. On his recent solo tour it was the opening song of his show. His voice sounds deeper than last year! I think he may still be suffering the effects of a cold he had recently -- His voice wasn't quite as sharp as when I saw him last month in Reno. It was a nice touch to have him give advice to Anoop and Allison after his performance.

9:52 p.m.: Time for the moment of truth. No shocker tonight: Anoop is sent home. Anoop reprises "Dim All The Lights" as his swan song.