[This is a post about American Idol, season 7. You been warned, big guy. Ed.]

One of the memes of this season of American Idol has been how good all the contestants are. Sure, the judges are spouting “producer-speak” about how this is the best year ever, but I think it’s probably true. Lots of very talented singers are left in this competition. And more, with the rule change to allow the contestants to use instruments while singing, I’ve gotten a sense of some of these people as musicians, not just mouthpieces. And that’s been nice.

But this week, the first involving the final twelve contestants (an important distinction, because these twelve are the ones indentured into the American Idol Roadshow, or whatever the tour is called), this is the first week on the new set, a large stage with a big crowd, lots of lights, and lots, and lots of nerves.

And the Stage clearly separated the stars from the wannabes. The contestants who were seasoned performers, naturals, or quick learners flourished on the stage. They fed off the audience, they had fun, and it showed in their excellent performances. The contestants who were young, inexperienced, and flawed fell apart. They may not recover, and one of them went home.

Best performance of the week: Chikezie! Who knew he had it in him? It was fun, energetic, the arrangement (of “She’s a Woman”) was good, it was ambitious, and he rocked it hard. I have been pushing Chikezie! out the door all season, but from here on out he gets a permanent exclamation mark after his name. Dude earned it. And the judges were over the moon. It might actually be worth $1.99 on iTunes. At home in the spotlight: Best on the stage were clearly Carly, David Cook, Chikezie!, Australia, Brooke, and Jason, in that order. It may be that this is the order of the finalists, too. Most disastrous performance of the week: Little David Archuleta. The kid, and he showed how young he is this week, forgot the words. He forgot the words. He tried to sing a Beatles song in the style of Stevie Wonder, and he failed. And did I mention that he forgot the words? The judges were shockingly mild about it.

This week’s bottom three were:

Syesha, who dissed her past performances and her awesome hair with a song that would cause me to change stations, and a ‘do that made her look like an eighties wannabe. Kristi Lee Cook, who went way over-the-top country (causing the judges to recoil in horror that she actually took their advice) on a sped up version of “Eight Days a Week” that was just this side of the Country Bear Jamboree at Disneyland. David Hernandez, who tried to dress like Chikezie!, tried to work the stage like Chikezie!, but couldn’t hold a candle to Chikezie! Simon called it, “corny verging on desperate.”

And David Hernadez’ ouster was much deserved.